East Aurora School District May Have Given Incorrect Grades for Years

The East Aurora School District may have been incorrectly calculating grades for some students for as many as four years.

According to the district, the error occurred in multiple subjects with multiple teachers over seven semesters.

A weighting issue between major and minor assignments is said to be the cause of the errors. The district’s software is able to make the appropriate weighting adjustments provided a calculating button is clicked when the class is set up for the semester. Over the last four school years, dozens of teachers failed to click that button, resulting in a potential miscalculation of student grades, according to a district press release.

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The district is taking immediate steps to correct the most pressing issues and ensure that 2016 graduation is not affected while maintaining a long-term commitment to addressing the systemic failures, according to the release.

“By Wednesday, all students affected by a fourth-quarter progress grade change had a face-to-face meeting with a high school staff member,” the district said. "The progress reports that will be mailed home to students on Friday will show the corrected grades.”

The staff has begun the process of going back to correct grades in previous quarters and semesters. Any current students who had a grade changed will have a meeting with a staff member. Grades prior to the 2015-16 fourth quarter will not be changed to a lower grade. If students are not contacted for a face-to-face meeting with a staff member, their grades were unaffected.

The error was uncovered April 12 when a high school teacher raised an issue with how her grades were being calculated. Another staff member said the grades may have been calculated incorrectly due to the missing calculation step.

Staff then raised the question of whether other teachers could have made the same error. High school staff, District administrators, and the district’s technology team began to analyze student records for that semester, then previous semesters, and then previous school years, the release said.

The staff was eventually able to determine that there was a possibility that some grades as far back as the second semester of the 2012-13 school year could be affected by the weighting error.

The district has apologized for the errors and ensured that any student who should have received a higher grade will have their scores corrected in district records and official transcripts.

“Students should enter their classroom with a belief that their grades will be properly calculated, and the district failed to provide this basic level of assurance to all students,” the district said. “When the immediate issues are corrected, the district will be looking at where the system failed, and how this can be prevented from happening again.”

For more information about the error and what the school district is doing to fix it, click here.