Parents at Henry County school board meeting allege grading harm, raise concerns about Emerald Education spending
Summary
At a December 2025 Henry County School Board meeting, students and parents criticized a new rolling gradebook as stressful and argued it reduced opportunities to recover grades. A parent organizer alleged board bylaw changes and large payments to Emerald Education that she said suggest a conflict of interest; the board did not respond with a formal reply during public comment.
At the Henry County School Board’s December 2025 meeting, students and parents urged the board to revisit recent grading changes and demanded transparency about a district contract with a private vendor.
Student Lily Tatoi, a Laurel Park Middle School pupil, told the board that “this new grading system doesn't show our true understanding and adds extra stress,” saying the policy makes it harder for students who previously improved their grades to recover. “In case y'all forgot, we are just kids,” she said, urging a return to the traditional grading approach and calling state SOLs “a memory test.”
Parent Mindy Mullins said the district’s rolling gradebook has increased stress for households and led some families to remove children from district schools. Mullins accused the board of not owning the change and said teachers she knows are resistant to the system; she urged board members to acknowledge parents’ and students’ concerns.
Parent organizer Melissa Zayer, who identified herself as a Ridgeway District parent and organizer of a parents consortium, told the board she believes recent bylaw revisions adopted in May 2025 give the superintendent authority to take major operational actions without board approval. Citing district spending figures she said she reviewed, Zayer alleged that about 33% of year-to-date instructional spending (she described the year-to-date instructional budget as ‘‘over $300,000’’) has gone to a single vendor, Emerald Education. She also said the district paid for a $71,000 study and a $124,000 purchase order for roughly one and a half days of in-person training. Zayer said she has filed conflict-of-interest forms and archived online records she says show links between the superintendent and the vendor; she called for the board to halt payments to Emerald Education and to restore board authority over grading and curriculum changes.
The board did not offer an extended response during public comment. After time limits were enforced, a board member said, “Appreciate your comments, but time is up.” No formal investigation, vote, or staff directive was recorded in the meeting minutes on the public record during the meeting.
The claims about vendor spending, the bylaw change, and any connection between the superintendent and Emerald Education were made by public commenters and were not confirmed on the record by district staff during the meeting. Zayer said she had filed documentation and archived web pages supporting her assertions; the district did not present an immediate rebuttal during the session.
The board moved on to other agenda items after public comment. The transcript does not show a formal board response, staff report, or vote addressing the grading policy or the vendor allegations at this meeting; those matters remained unresolved at the meeting’s close.
