House passes bill to remove A to F grading system of schools in Virginia

The House of Delegates in Richmond has passed bill HB 1672 – legislation that will remove the A to F grading system of school districts in Virginia.

The grading system is for school districts, not for individual student’s grades.

The A to F grading system for school districts was first implemented after bill HB 1999 was passed during the 2013 General Assembly session.

Support for the new legislation to remove the earlier grading system was immense, as the system had unintended consequences on schools.

“When the [original] bill was passed a couple of years ago, we were all concerned about what it would do to some of our schools – and the various categories they would be placed in. [We felt] that some of our schools and students would be disenfranchised by this piece of legislation, and it had the potential of penalizing some schools in a way that would not be reflective of the [school’s] efforts and their stance academically,” said Delegate Luke Torian.

The grading system was used on school districts, based upon their “student growth” defined in HB 1999 as maintaining proficiency on state assessments and growth and improvement based on a statewide average.

Schools with a low-grade rating on the scale would be in jeopardy of losing their accreditation, according to Torian.

“[Schools] were given a particular rating, based on certain criterions that were presented in the [earlier] legislation…The legislation was just too broad, in general,” said Torian.

Now that the bill has passed the floor of the House, it will now be moved to a Senate floor vote, before being placed in front of Governor McAuliffe for final approval.

While the legislation removes the current school district grading system, it does not articulate a new one. Torian stated that the originating legislator of the A to F system, Delegate Thomas Greason, will be working on legislation to implement a new system.

“I think what Delegate Greason is doing – he’s looking at some other alternatives…He will be talking to the leading educational organizations here, to design a new bill that will serve his intent. But right now what we don’t want to do – we don’t want to put forward something that is going to adversely impact schools,” Torian commented.

The legislation is considered a relief for many school districts, such as Manassas City Schools, whose school board outlined the removal of the A to F system as a legislative priority for 2015.

“The Board believes it does not indicate a division’s success in preparing students for career/college readiness,” said Almeta Radford, Public Communications Coordinator for Manassas City Schools.