Trimble Banner, Bedford, July 24, 2015
School board continues study of adding D to the grading scale
By TODD POLLOCK
The Trimble County Board of Education met last Wednesday evening for their regularly scheduled meeting. The board introduced Susan Meredith as the new director of federal programs and curriculum in the district. Meredith started her career in education 24 years ago and has been employed at the Trimble County Middle School for 13 years and served as Vice Principal for the last ten years. She will be filling the position recently vacated by the retirement of Becky Moore.
In other business, Tony Walker, Chairman of the board, brought up the discussion about bringing the letter D to the high school grading scale again. Walker and board member Kim Temple tried to reinstate the grade a year ago but was outvoted by board members Jill Simmons, Haley Turner and Scott Burrows.
Since then, Simmons and Turner were defeated in the general election of 2014.
The letter D was removed from the high school grading scale back in 2007, which meant the first year without the D was the 2007-’08 school year. Board member Kerry Callis argued in favor of bringing back the letter D because he insisted there are students who could use the extra few points to pass a class.
Board member Scott Burrows submitted that it would be lowering the standards of the district.
What wasn’t mentioned is that after the letter D was taken out of the grading scale, dropout rates increased and test scores continued to decline until the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) declared TCHS a priority school. KDE has been at the high school for the last three years and plans to leave this fall because of the improvements they have seen under the direction of Principal Rachael Adams.
The grading scale at the high school is as follows; 100-90 is an A, 89-80 is a B, 79-70 is a C, and anything below 70 is failing.
Walker’s proposal, which has the support of Temple and Callis, would make 69-65 percent a D grade. Vice Principal Kerrie Stewart remarked, “We need to get to the underlying causes of why they’re (students) are failing.”
Chairman Walker said he would like to hear from the teachers at the high school as well as parents at the next board meeting on August 3, 2015 at 6pm. Principal Adams was not present at the meeting but has previously said she would like to see more research on the impact of bringing back the letter D so that a decision can be made based on facts instead of personal beliefs.
The board also discussed the poor condition of the newly renovated athletic facility behind the high school. The football field has not been adequately maintained and looks to be in poor condition. The board agreed that someone should contact the person who acted as a consultant for the surface of the field to determine how to best care for the Bermuda grass.
The next board meeting will be held on Monday August 3, 2015 at 6 p.m. in the school board office on Wentworth Avenue in Bedford.