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North Kingstown School Committee pauses overhaul of 6–12 grading policy after teachers and parents raise concerns
Summary
After extended public comment and committee debate, the School Committee voted to return the proposed 6–12 grading policy (IKA) to administration for further revision, citing unresolved questions from high school teachers and parents.
The North Kingstown School Committee on June 17 decided not to adopt the proposed revision to Policy IKA (grading, grades 6–12) and instead voted to send the proposal back to administration for further revision after public comment and lengthy committee discussion.
Several teachers and parents used the meeting’s public comment period to urge caution. Susan Erickson, a chemistry teacher at North Kingstown High School, asked the committee to “please consider postponing approval of this policy tonight and really consider sending it back for a significant rewrite,” arguing a single policy for grades 6–12 did not reflect the range of student needs in middle and high school. Jordan Albernaz, a teacher with 14 years in the district, told the committee the policy’s retake and makeup provisions could “impact different cohorts in different ways” and asked the committee to postpone implementation for a year so classroom‑level rules could be aligned to course levels.
During committee discussion members said the board had spent more than a year working on alignment and that the draft addressed some longstanding inconsistencies, but several members said there remained “unresolved questions” about how retakes, work‑completion rules and passing thresholds would operate in practice at different grade levels and in different courses. One committee member cited data showing that 1.29 percent of high‑school grading sections last year had final grades between 65 and 69 percent and said that statistic informed the committee’s deliberation about keeping a 70 percent passing threshold at the high‑school level.
After discussion a motion “to not amend the policy as proposed and send it back to the administration for further revision” passed. Committee members said they expect administration to take teacher feedback into account and to return a revised proposal that better addresses distinctions between middle‑ and high‑school instructional practice, clarifies retake parameters and outlines how families and students will be informed.
The vote means the current grading policy remains in effect while staff and the policy subcommittee continue revisions. The committee directed administration to continue outreach to teachers and to summarize outstanding issues when the next draft is returned.
