Parents and community members praise board vote to end standard-based grading for grades 6–12 and press for wider rollback

Several parents and community members at the Elmwood Park CUSD 401 Board of Education meeting praised the board’s recent decision to pause or end standard-based grading (SBG) for middle- and high-school students and urged the district to address implementation problems at the elementary level.

The public-comment speakers said the board had acted in students’ interests by moving away from SBG at Elmwood Park High School and Elm Middle School. Parent/commenter Damien said he wanted to “congratulate all the students” and thanked the board “for voting to end standard based grading at the middle school and high school levels.”

Why it matters: Parents said the board’s action will affect college preparedness and classroom practice for older students, and they asked the district to extend the rollback to elementary grades if SBG implementation problems persist. A parent group delivered petition results at the meeting showing 697 signatures collected from Elmwood Park residents supporting elimination of SBG for grades 6–12.

Several speakers described a specific implementation concern at the elementary level: under the district’s SBG framework, students receive one of four scores (1, 2, 3 or 4), but parents said teachers have not been giving students any opportunity to earn a “4.” Parent Bria Ponce said she was told, quote, “We are currently not offering great fours in 2nd grade,” and that the district’s curriculum and instructional coaches were still creating opportunities for fours. Ponce said withholding the top score removes 25% of grading outcomes and called the omission “hugely disappointing and unacceptable.” She asked Derek Naglak, identified in public comment as the director of curriculum, why a full 1–4 scale had not been implemented and suggested the district fully implement one curriculum before adopting another.

Another speaker, Jack Bauer, commended the board’s decision and used his comments to promote an upcoming League of Women Voters candidate forum for local library trustee and school-board candidates on Feb. 11 at the Elmwood Park Public Library. Maria Castona, another parent, thanked the board and described volunteer door‑to‑door work that produced the petition signatures.

The board did not take new public action on SBG at the meeting beyond receiving comments and the petition during the public-comment period. Speakers repeatedly asked that the board ensure elementary students have full access to the 1–4 scoring structure and recommended pausing or holding rollout of multiple new curricula until practices align with the grading framework.

End note: Speakers who addressed SBG at the meeting included parents and district community members who identified themselves as having children in district schools and as petition organizers.