Othello School District officials described a series of grading and campus-access changes at a special board meeting Monday, telling the board they will roll out standards-referenced reporting in many secondary classes, make student grades live in Skyward, limit late-work extensions to two weeks and retain a 40% “grade floor” for traditional (points-and-percent) classes.

The discussion, led by Dr. Meek and Othello High School administrators, framed the changes as efforts to make grades “clear and accurate indicators of what students know and are able to do,” and to couple academic measures with a new “graduate profile” giving feedback on collaboration, communication and other dispositions.

Dr. Meek said the district’s goal is accuracy in reporting student learning and that staff spent the summer addressing teacher feedback. “Grades should always be clear and accurate indicators of what students know and are able to do,” Dr. Meek said.

Under the plan described to the board, the principal changes are:
- Live grade reporting through Skyward (parents, students and staff will be able to see grades as teachers enter them). The district has replaced its prior system references (Empower) with Skyward and an internal app called Ollie for family access.
- A shortened late-work window: teachers will allow up to two weeks of late submission as the default; teachers retain discretion to extend deadlines for specific assignments when appropriate. After that period the teacher may record a zero to indicate no evidence was provided.
- Continued use of a grade floor (currently 40%) in traditional, percentage-based secondary classes. Administrators said the floor remains an F and is intended to reduce the statistical impact of single zeros that can make it mathematically near-impossible to recover a term grade.

Will Von Brockton and other administrators explained the statistical rationale: in percentage-based systems a single zero can disproportionately lower a final average, while a standards-referenced scale (1–4) behaves differently when missing or low scores occur. Board discussion included teachers’ and students’ concerns that a student who shows effort but misses some work might receive the same final letter grade as a student who largely does not engage.

Principal Kat Atchison described several operational steps tied to grading and student accountability at the high school. She said campus fencing and new gates installed at Othello High School will allow the district to treat leaving campus at lunch as a privilege tied to academic and attendance standards. “We’re gonna be making sure they’re going to a Saturday school,” Atchison said, describing plans to require students who lose off‑campus privileges to attend academic support sessions (including Saturday school or morning interventions) so they do not fall off track to graduate.

Administrators said the initial rollout will be eased in to address capacity and allow families and staff to adapt. Examples and clarifications given to the board included:
- The district plans to convert standards-referenced scores to letter grades in Skyward so parents first see a familiar letter grade; parents can click into proficiency scales to view the underlying 1–4 ratings.
- The two-week late-work window is a default; teachers retain discretion for extensions based on assignment type.
- The grade floor primarily applies to a handful of traditional classes still using percentage grading; many courses have already moved to standards-referenced reporting.

School leaders listed several supports intended to pair high expectations with intervention: weekly administrator/counselor case reviews, Saturday school and targeted remediation, bus transportation for Monday morning interventions, and a commitment to provide clearer teacher-level reporting through Skyward so administrators can monitor whether gradebooks are up to date.

Administrators provided quantitative context: the district said roughly 1,500 secondary students are enrolled, about 80% of students historically left campus for lunch and about one-third of those returned; as of the meeting roughly 549 students had parental authorization to leave campus. Principals said those numbers are part of the reason the district will stage the change and ensure nutrition services and space can accommodate more students remaining on campus if needed.

Board members and student representatives pressed on equity and incentive questions: several board members voiced concern that a student who works but struggles could end up with the same transcript letter grade as a student who does not engage, and asked how the graduate-profile dispositions (collaboration, communication, advocacy) would be communicated to future employers or colleges. Administrators said the graduate profile will appear alongside academic grades and that teachers and counselors would discuss those behaviors in family conferences and recommendations.

Votes at a glance: the meeting included routine procedural votes earlier in the agenda. The board approved the special meeting agenda (motion passed, 5–0); approved required approvals (motion passed, 5–0); and approved early accounts payable warrants 2 (motion passed, 4–0 with 1 abstention). No action was taken on the grading policy itself at the meeting; administrators presented the implementation plan for board review and discussion.

The board recessed into a 20‑minute executive session at the end of the public meeting to discuss potential litigation and performance of a public employee; no action was announced following that session.

The district plans to implement the operational pieces described (Skyward live reporting, two-week late-work default, continued 40% floor in identified traditional classes, gated campus with ID scanners and weekly privilege reviews) with the start of the school year and an anticipated phased approach to full campus enforcement in the weeks following the opening of school.