LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Board of Education is set to discuss a controversial grading floor policy at its meeting on Tuesday, but it’s not clear if any action might be taken.
At the recommendation of Superintendent Tommy Lowry, the school system’s grading floor, which is the lowest grade that a student can get for a nine-week grading period or a final grade, was set at 59 in October. A grade of 60 is considered passing in the school system’s current 10-point grading scale.
Lowry is expected to discuss the policy, but it is not listed as an action item on an agenda for the meeting.
The local school system previously used a grading floor of 65, but that was part of a letter-grade system that used a seven-point scale, with a 69 or higher needed to pass. Under the new policy, teachers are allowed to enter what students actually scored on homework, test and project grades.
While some teachers say the grading floor prevents hardworking but struggling students from falling too far behind, others worry that some students would take advantage of the safety net and not complete their work.
Lowry has defended the grading floor, saying it will keep students in school, that students still have to work hard on final exams to pass a class and that other school systems have similar policies.
School board members divided into three camps after discussing the policy during their November board meeting: those in favor of keeping the grading floor at 59, those who wanted to lower it and those who wanted to throw it out entirely. Three motions were put forth in the meeting, but none garnered enough votes to pass and board members agreed to seek input from teachers and principals.
Board members Jo Ann Lowery and Loistine DeFreece echoed Lowry’s arguments at that meeting, saying that the objective of the grading floor was to help students, not give out grades.
“When I was an educator, I wanted to give students the opportunity to redeem themselves,” DeFreece said.
Board members Steve Martin, Randy Lawson and Dwayne Smith, voiced concern that the grading floor would allow students to receive grades that they did not earn.
The board is also expected to discuss pay scales, honor society guidelines and a facility needs study and present awards for Christmas card design, bus driver of the month, certified and classified employees of the month and a math teacher award.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Public Schools of Robeson County’s central office on Caton Road.
