Sarah Banholzer

April 16, 2020

Community opinions about PUSD decision on 2nd-semester grades

Today, April 16, 2020, PUSD held a virtual school board meeting to discuss and decide on how
grades will be determined for the second semester of this school year.

The board voted for option 3, a blended version, issuing letter grades for students with an A, B,
or C in the class and a credit/no credit grade for students with either an F or D. But before
voting, Patric Gannon, PUSD’s Coordinator of Communications & Community Relations, read
comments from the public.

The time elapsed for the reading of public comments neared an hour and people did not fail to
express their opinions on the decision ahead. PUSD community members shared their pros and
cons for all three of the grading options and their beliefs on why a certain option would be best
for the school district.

Many argued that option 2, credit/no credit grades, was the best option to relieve students’
stress and allow for equal opportunity among all students.

“In any situation, 3rd quarter grades are an inaccurate representation of the whole second
semester. Third-quarter grades have always been little more than glorified progress report, a
poor measure of the student’s achievement and an incomplete reflection of subject mastery.
Issuing letter grades for the semester when not even half of it has been conducted at school
would be detrimental towards students. For these reasons I strongly believe that option adopting
option 2 is the simplest way to reduce the stress which is built up for everyone and give the vast
majority of students another chance to achieve their potential,” said ​Amador student, Class of
2021​.

Others argued that option 3 should be adopted because the majority of Pleasanton students
already have passing grades and do not want to see their good grades be written off as
pass/fail.

“Seeing the data that was provided during this broadcast it is clear that the majority of
Pleasanton students have A’s (54 percent of students). B’s and C’s are also represented very
well with around 40 percent of students. Pleasanton students have demonstrated great
determination and commitment to their education and have shown they will work regardless of
incentive. Please don’t punish us, we have all worked very hard for our grades,” said ​Amador
Class of 2021 student​.

Juniors seemed the most in favor of letter grades due to the reliance of second-semester
grades being on their transcripts for colleges and counting into their GPA’s.
“I am Junior at Amador and I feel option 1 or 3 is the best option because I have worked very
hard to get all A’s in the third quarter. If we go to credit/no credit [grades], then I and all of the
other hardworking students will effectively lose all that progress because colleges won’t count
this semester into our GPA. This will hurt a lot of juniors who were expecting to get a GPA boost
this year,” said ​Amador student​.

Others argued that option 3 was the best of both worlds because it allowed student’s
achievements to be rewarded while also aiding students in higher need of assistance at this
time.

“Based on my personal experience and the concerns that have been expressed by some of my
peers I find option 3 to be the most realistic option at this time. While I understand the equity
issue and issues inherent to the blended grading policy, I do think that this is the best option
given the circumstances. It mitigates the effects of COVID-19 on the college admissions process
while still looking out for her some of our more vulnerable students. Additionally, the college
admissions process is fluid right now as schools continue to announce their policies in response
to this crisis, and I feel that we should be proactive in our own policy,” said ​Pleasanton high
school student​.

Among the PUSD school board members, many agreed with the benefits of the blended option.

“The struggle is balancing the kids who’ve really worked hard for their letter grades and
balancing the kids continuing to have some challenges. That’s the crux of the whole thing. Then
when you think about, “what’s the best decision for all of our students as a group?”, to me it just
seems like option 3 is the best option because it gives most everybody what they need,” said
PUSD board member Jamie Yee.

The other board members agreed with option 3 being the option to best encompass the needs
and wants of all Pleasanton students. The board concluded the meeting with a unanimous vote
for option 3.