Editorial: SMSD’s fourth quarter grades policy puts teachers in tough spot, leaving some students struggling and unmotivated

Adjusting to the impacts of COVID-19 is a constant work in process, with one of the major adjustments in the lives of East students being the move to online learning. Given the circumstances, the decision to cancel school makes sense. But what doesn’t make sense — and frankly, isn’t fair — is the decision made by the Shawnee Mission School District to not allow teachers the ability to give students fourth quarter grades. The coronavirus may have taken our school year, but there’s no excuse for it taking opportunities to raise our grades with it.

According to information released by the SMSD for parents and students, “[third quarter grades] will become the second semester grades,” meaning whatever grade a student finished third quarter with would serve as their semester grade on an official transcript. However, the district said not only can work assigned prior to spring break be completed and submitted for points, but students could meet with teachers to discuss any improvement of third quarter grades. Essentially, more points can be added to third quarter grades, but there will be no new fourth quarter grades. 

This policy isn’t fair to the students who fell behind on classwork while trying to deal with seasonal affective disorder in the winter months. It isn’t fair to the students who struggled with certain concepts and saw their grades suffer because of it, but spent mornings and afternoons with their teachers working to get better and learn, hoping to set themselves up for a successful fourth quarter. 

Potentially the most notable part of the district’s guide was the resolution that grades “may go up, but will not go down.” Because attendance and participation in fourth quarter academics aren’t mandatory, you could completely check out from school and your grade would stay locked. As per the district’s wording, teachers are not mandated to provide ways for students to raise their grades in a class or collect points on new assignments during continuous learning — but they should be. 

The district’s current plan leaves ample room for students to remain squandered with undesirable grades — and that room stems from the lack of proper communication from the district on how teachers should handle grades across the board.

While seniors in AP English have the ability to raise their overall grades by 10% during quarantine, some students in Honors Pre-Calculus or IB Biology classes aren’t given the opportunity to raise their grade even a fraction of a percent. Students shouldn’t have to beg via email for extra homework and other opportunities just because their teachers are under the impression they can’t provide their students with new points. 

And though teachers are technically allowed to make their own decisions about grade changes on a student-to-student basis, there has been rightful confusion on instructors’ sides as to how exactly they’re supposed to give students opportunities to increase their grades. 

Many teachers have made the decision to provide students with new opportunities to raise grades beyond locked-in third quarter grades, but there are still those who’ve merely posted their office hours and taken off. To avoid leaving eager-to-work students hanging, the district should have mandated a uniform policy from the get-go to avoid any discrepancies among teacher policies. 

For some students, the district’s grading policy may appear to provide them with a perfect setup. Teachers can’t wrangle you out of bed every morning for a 9:30 a.m. Zoom call, and you won’t get a “missing assignment” ping on Skyward for the Conjuguemos you didn’t do — so why should you even care about changing your grades? Now’s the chance to smooth-sail into an early summer, right? 

But every student is stuck in a different situation, and the difficulties the district’s grading plan is pigeonholing some teachers in can seriously impact students’ academic futures. 

Fourth quarter grades are important for the freshmen who had a hard time adjusting to the rigor of high school and were just starting to get the hang of it. They’re important for the sophomores whose parents told them they’re grounded for the summer if they don’t round that 79.1% to 79.5%. They’re important for the juniors desperately laboring to raise their cumulative GPAs in time for college applications. They’re important for the seniors so close to securing scholarships but still depending on another quarter of grade opportunity. 

We may not be in the halls of East every Monday through Friday, but we’re still here. For those of us who are willing to put in the effort, it’s only fair to offer the same opportunities we would’ve been given had a virus not infected our lives. If we’re willing to do the assignments and sit through the Zoom calls, read the textbooks and write the essays, we should be allocated the points we deserve for our work — points we would be offered under any other circumstance.   

SMSD teachers have been through a lot this year between contract negotiations and now a complete 180 to their routine. As students, we can’t imagine what it’s like to take it all on in only a few months. But we stood with you in the board meetings where you argued on behalf of what you believed to be fair, many of us walking out in support of your cause. We tried to do right by you where it mattered. This pandemic isn’t fair to anyone, but you should be given the tools to do right by us. 

We’re grateful for the teachers still making efforts to provide academic material. But their efforts are only matched with our motivation if there’s an incentive — which is why the district should’ve allowed for fourth quarter grades and point opportunities. Our year may have been cut short, but class is still in session. We’ll take the notes, do the homework and come to the lectures. All we ask for in return are the grades — and resulting opportunities — we deserve.