LOCKHART, Texas (KXAN) — Lockhart Independent School District reports an 18% increase in failing grades for high school students compared to the same time last year.
In an email to KXAN, spokesperson Christina Courson said last year at this time, Lockhart High School had 11% of students with failing grades. That number has jumped to 29% this year.
“We are not happy about any increase, and we are working to engage those students, provide support, and help close the gaps,” Courson said.
Courson says Lockhart High School discovered that several of its teachers were not following grading guidelines. Some had only entered a couple of daily assignment grades, rather than the required one per week.
“At the six-week mark, if students have only had the opportunity to earn two or three grades, they were not provided an opportunity to earn additional grades, unfairly providing greater weight to those few grades — all because some teachers did not comply with the district’s grading policy,” Courson explained.
Courson said campus administrators met with non-compliant teachers on Monday and told them to enter any incomplete information for all students that showed a failing grade “and to make up those required opportunities for students to fairly earn grades.”
Courson said the high school principal also reviewed grading requirements with all staff members on Wednesday.
“What we have asked of our teachers is for students to be graded fairly and in compliance with policies. Most of the teachers at LHS are doing just that, and we are asking those who are not to comply with the policies”
Christina Courson, Lockhart ISD spokesperson
Many high school student athletes are also failing and have become ineligible to perform or compete under UIL rules.
“That is because they are truly failing, not because some of their teachers didn’t comply with the grading guidelines,” Courson said.
However, Courson said those students still have a chance to become eligible once again by improving their grades over the next three weeks, by the nine-week grading mark.
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