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Senate debates revisions to school‑grading system; bill advanced to third reading
Summary
Senate Bill 209, which revises school grading to allow separate K–6 and high‑school grades, changes handling of non‑tested students and sets an ACT readiness threshold, advanced to third reading after extended floor discussion about comparability and equity.
Senator Adams presented Senate Bill 209, a package of revisions to the state school‑grading system. Key changes include allowing new and alternate schools temporary exemptions, bifurcating grades into K–6 and high‑school categories, a cumulative ACT college‑readiness threshold of 18, and replacing a long regression‑based normative growth model with a year‑over‑year growth measure.
Opponents raised concerns that the new SAGE assessment and replacement of UCAS norming complicate comparability and could disadvantage Title I and refugee‑serving schools. Senator Jones noted cases where schools with fewer resources received very low grades under prior systems and questioned whether the new approach fairly accounts for differences in funding and student populations.
Supporters said the changes address problems where some schools received failing grades due to low test participation and argued the year‑over‑year approach is fairer and easier to administer. After discussion and several senators explaining their votes, the Senate read SB 209 for a third time (17 yay, 8 nay, 4 absent) and advanced it for further consideration.
The floor debate focused on technical comparability between assessments, equity for disadvantaged schools and the mechanics of growth measures.
