by Nina Rennard

In addition to the possible block scheduling change, the Site Based Decision Making Council has considered changing the grading scale. This means HC’s grading scale would no longer be 92-100 is an A but instead 90-100 is an A. Many believe that this leaves more leeway for grades and allows more opportunities to get KEES Money. HC Counselor Sharon Wesley-Porter proposed the idea to the SBDM at the Jan SBDM meeting.

“I’m representing all seven counselors at Henry Clay,” Wesley said at the Jan. 15 SBDM meeting. “We do want to consider this change, because it does put us on a more level playing field with other high schools. Right now, Frederick Douglas, LCA, Sayre, Clark, Madison, Jefferson, Woodford County, are all on ten point scales.”

This has accompanied the talk of comparing HC to other schools when it comes to academics. At this meeting, Wesley was only asking for a motion to submit a waiver to the FCPS Board of Education so the council can move forward with changing the grading scale.

“We’ve researched about every college that is a public university or college in the state of Kentucky and they are all on a ten point scale,” Wesley said.

The changing of the grading scale can help those who are at the borderline between letter grades.. It is able to improve GPAs and help with KEES money. Parents alike have voiced their concerns about their children being at a disadvantage when getting into college.

“I don’t understand why we are one of the few schools [that aren’t on a 10 point grading scale],” HC Parent Carla Vanhorn said. “These kids could really use it. It could make a difference in a kid getting into college and not getting into college. The Kees money changes for my kids.”

One of the major areas of concern is the amount of freshman not on track to become sophomores. With this grade scale change, it would drastically improve the amount of students who are failing.

“We had over 100 students earn 117 failing grades that were between the 60%-64% range semester alone,” HC Counselors Bonnie Barnes, April Cain, Josh Edwards, Ashley Harris, Rachael Howard, Lyndsey Timothy, and Sharron Wesley-Porter included in a proposal to the SBDM. “This scale would lower our retention rate and improve our graduation rate.”

The end of the meeting concluded with the SBDM approving the counselor’s request to receive a waiver from the FCPS Board of Education so they can move forward with implementing the new grading scale. This will include numerous meetings discussing the pros and cons and will result with the council voting on whether or not it should be implemented at HC.