Grading

Following weeks of patchwork and often conflicting or waffling guidance coming from the state, the Cove Board and Administration took the lead and adopted a plan for instruction for the closure period - quite possibly the remainder of the year.  During a well attended virtual Board Meeting on March 31, the Cove School Board approved an administrative proposal for a temporarily adjusted grading scale during spring quarter.  For any teacher who assigns letter grades Grades 5-12:  Teachers may only assign the grades of A, B, C, or P (pass) during the time of the school closure.  At the end of the term, those students earning a passing grade may choose between the letter grade earned or a "P."  Note that this refers to quarter grades – not grades on individual assignment.  For 9-12 students, if they did not pass the course with a C or better, there is to be no indication of the quarter’s course on their transcript.  Think of this as part one of the “Hold Harmless” approach and their work is considered supplemental.  For 8th grade and below students who fail, grades will simply be blank next to the name of the course failed as these are not for credit.  During the April 21 meeting of the Board, action is expected to lower the graduation requirements for current high school students by 1.5 credit hours.  Cove School currently exceeds the state requirement of 24 credits with its graduation requirement of 26 credits.  24 credits is likely to be required for the next 4 years pending any further discussion and Board action.  We must adhere to the state laws as a minimum but do not have to match the state - we can have higher standards.  We currently do and we will continue to have higher standards that the the state.  Whenever it may happen that the state adjusts the pathway for graduation requirements due to this extended closure, we will have already addressed it and know our direction - even if the state makes no change to the graduation requirements.  This is the second part of the “Hold Harmless” response to the closure of our school. Cove teachers know what framework to design their instruction for and have already begun teaching our students.