More than 300 Robbinsville students petition to reverse new weighted grading system, tell board it harms grades and welfare
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Summary
Students presented a petition signed by more than 300 people and several students said the district’s new weighted gradebooks have reduced grades, increased assessment frequency and harmed mental health. District officials said the change was a year‑long revamp to improve consistency and acknowledged growing pains while offering continued communication and supports.
Students and parents told the Robbinsville Board of Education that a districtwide shift to weighted gradebook categories has produced unintended consequences for students’ grades and well‑being.
“Over 300 students from across different grades at RHS and Pond have signed a petition to revert back to the old grading system,” said Stella Jang, vice president of the Class of 2027, presenting student testimonials and a petition the students compiled during public comment.
Jang said the shift has “artificially lowered” grades in some courses and has led to anxiety, sleep loss and other harms she attributed to the change. Student speaker Jacob Grezick said heavy assessment weights — he cited an example where assessments accounted for 80% of a marking‑period grade — leave little room to recover from a single poor test.
What administrators told the board: Mr. Fazio (curriculum/gradebook lead) said the district pursued a year‑long gradebook revamp so courses in the same subject would align across teachers. The district moved from a total‑points system to weighted categories, he said, and implemented the changes on day one of the school year after a year of departmental proposals.
“We did this to ensure consistency and equity across the same courses and content areas,” Fazio said in the presentation and subsequent answers to board questions. He acknowledged mixed feedback and “growing pains,” and said teachers retain discretion to apply adjustments such as bell curves or extra credit within their courses.
Why it matters: Students and parents said the change has reduced motivation for daily work, increased test anxiety, and created situations where a single assessment can heavily affect a term grade. Administrators said they will continue outreach, publish examples and provide curriculum office support to teachers, students and families.
Next steps: The district encouraged families to contact the curriculum department with questions; board members suggested more concrete examples from departments and additional communications to explain weighted categories and the research behind them. No policy reversal was announced at the meeting.