LTHS Concerned With New Grading Policies: Official

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School board members this week expressed reservations about the school's new grading policies, to repeated applause from the audience.

During Tuesday's school board meeting, Superintendent Brian Waterman said the school had "significant" concerns with the changes.

Among them were no-harm finals and the loosening of the test retakes policy, he said. With no-harm finals, students can opt out. Even if they take the exams, their scores cannot lower their semester grades.

Waterman said school officials have heard local concerns about the policies.

Many parents have opposed the changes, even starting a Change.org petition, collecting nearly 1,800 signatures.

One of the controversial changes is that the school no longer grades homework. Under a proposal, the administration would count homework as 10 percent of the grade, but if it lowers a grade, it would not be counted.

Waterman said he would provide an update to the board in early July on the proposed changes for next semester.

Board member Michael Thomas said he appreciated the "tweaks" to the policies.

"But I think that we have seen through the past year that the whole policy is just not working with the implementation that we have done," he said.

He said homework should be graded and not be optional. He also said the school needed to continue to instill rigor in its grading.

Those attending applauded his comments a couple of times.

Member Dawn Aubert was also critical.

"I still have ongoing concerns that the time it is taking to review and make the changes is causing us to miss kids along the way, to miss opportunities along the way," Aubert said. "While shifts in education have the best intentions in mind, there are unintended consequences, unintended impacts."

Aubert also said she wanted to make sure that the school's "pivots" were the right ones for the start of the next semester.

She questioned the school's new policy of applying the same standards for every class.

"In my mind, I cannot rationalize that a course like Dance Fitness is being obligated to hold the same grading scale as AP Physics," Aubert said. "It doesn't make sense to me."

The audience clapped.

Member Alison Kelly said the "tweaks" needed to be stronger.

"I just want to have these kids prepared for the next stage," she said, requesting the board discuss what the administration comes up with.

Board President Kari Dillon responded that the board's job was to govern, not manage. So the administration would decide on the specifics, she said.

Thomas said the board wouldn't necessarily micromanage, but he said it was important it give feedback on proposed policies before the start of school.

One of the board members, Julie Swinehart, said some changes, including the ban on extra credit, are widely accepted.

"There are elements of the grading policy that are done deals and are not getting much attention," she said.

During public input, parents criticized the new policies, including no-harm finals, describing the changes as "completely irresponsible" and "ridiculous."