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Plainview ISD board denies parents' grievance over transcript changes and dual-credit crediting
Summary
Parents Jessica and Chris Thornhill argued district staff removed credits without notice and treated dual-credit English courses inconsistently; the board upheld administration and denied the Level 3 grievance after hearing presentations from the Thornhills and district staff.
The Plainview ISD Board of Trustees voted to deny a Level 3 grievance from Jessica and Chris Thornhill challenging the district’s handling of student transcripts and the crediting of certain dual‑credit English courses.
The board’s decision came after a hearing in which the Thornhills asked the district to stop making unannounced changes to student transcripts, to award 1 full high‑school English credit for a Wayland/Wayland Baptist University (WBU) British literature dual‑credit course, and to stop limiting the number of English courses that count toward GPA/class‑rank to four. "Plainview ISD did not notify us that they were deleting credit from our senior's transcript," Chris Thornhill said during the hearing.
The Thornhills said they filed a Level 1 complaint on April 23, 2025, and that the district denied their requested remedies at Levels 1 and 2. They appealed to a Level 3 hearing after receiving a Level 2 response dated May 22, 2025; the transcript of the Level 3 hearing records the appeal as filed May 29, 2025. The Thornhills presented documentary evidence and argued the district’s crosswalk and crediting practices treated students in the Plainview Collegiate High School (PCHS) program differently than students at Plainview High School (PHS).
Daniel Fitzgerald, Plainview ISD senior director of teaching, learning and CTE and the Level 1 grievance officer, told the board the district’s review of course alignment and crediting follows Texas Education Agency standards and local procedures. Fitzgerald said the transcript the Thornhills produced (postmarked Jan. 28, 2025) had been issued and stamped in error by an uncertified employee and later classified by the district as an unofficial, working transcript because the student had not completed the semester; he described the issue as a clerical error and said the district has changed procedures so certified staff will handle sealing and embossing transcripts going forward. "It was determined that a clerical error had occurred," Fitzgerald said.
On the dual‑credit complaints, Fitzgerald said Plainview ISD’s review of syllabi and the district crosswalk determines equivalency to state TEKS for awarding high‑school credit. He said Angelo State University’s (ASU) British literature course was reviewed and determined to align to a full English credit in 2024–25 because it was taught by a PISD teacher who also served as an ASU adjunct and could intentionally align TEKS into the semester course; by contrast, the district’s review concluded the WBU (Wayland) British literature course aligned to a half credit under the district crosswalk for that academic year. Fitzgerald told the board the district has completed a systematic review of dual‑credit offerings, will post an expanded crosswalk and a curriculum catalog on the PISD website before the 2025–26 school year, and will train counselors on the updated crosswalk so parents and students can view consistent, published guidance.
After hearing questions from trustees, the board moved to deny the grievance and uphold the administration’s determinations. A motion to deny the grievance was made by a trustee during the meeting and carried on a roll‑call of the board; the meeting record shows the motion carried (vote recorded as 6‑0 in favor of denying the grievance). The board did not adopt the Thornhills’ requested remedies.
District staff told the board they will: (1) assign certified staff to seal and emboss official transcripts and revise procedures to prevent future clerical errors; (2) post the dual‑credit crosswalk and a curriculum catalog for 2025–26 on the PISD website; (3) train counselors on the updated crosswalk so they can advise students and parents during registration; and (4) continue collaboration with higher‑education partners, including Wayland/Wayland Baptist University and Angelo State University, to improve syllabus alignment where appropriate.
The hearing record shows procedural limits on the Level 3 process: each party was allotted 15 minutes for presentation, with up to five minutes reserved for rebuttal if time remained. Board members said they could also choose to grant the grievance, deny it, or make no decision and deliberate further. The hearing concluded when trustees voted to deny the grievance; the hearing record then closed and the meeting proceeded to other agenda items.
