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Marion City Board adopts new Harding High grading practices and GPA scale, to phase in with class of 2032
Summary
The Marion City Schools board approved updated grading practices for Harding High School and a new GPA weighting system that will begin with next year’s incoming seventh-grade cohort (class of 2032), citing fairness for future course selection and alignment with regional standards.
The Marion City Schools Board of Education voted April 20 to adopt a set of new grading practices for Harding High School and a revised GPA weighting scale, changes school officials said are intended to increase consistency and align the district with local and state norms.
Principal Todd Snyder told the board the changes will take effect in two parts: the grading-practice elements — standard late-work rules, syllabus requirements, grade-book expectations and a 40/40/20 semester weighting — would begin in the 2026–27 school year. The new GPA scale, which reinterprets course weights (standard courses on a 4.0 scale; honors on a 4.5 scale; AP, CCP and CTE level‑2 courses on a 5.0/5.3 scale), will roll in for the cohort entering seventh grade in fall 2026 and graduating in 2032.
"This new scale impacts students depending on the courses they take," Snyder said, explaining the district wants to avoid changing rules mid‑career and instead introduce the new weighting for a rising cohort so families can make informed course choices.
A member of the grading committee summarized the group’s work, saying the committee met repeatedly and included teachers across departments to craft consistent policies on late work, missing assignments and syllabus content. The committee member described returning to clearer expectations after a period of uneven practice: "We wanted to pull the pendulum back from the COVID era where the late-work policy was ambiguous," the committee member said.
Board members asked how the district will monitor and communicate the change. Snyder said the district will prepare communications — informational videos, newsletter links and parent nights — and will configure PowerSchool so course weights are accurate before grading begins. The administration also said it will monitor early indicators for the 2032 cohort and adjust communication or supports as needed.
Supporters on the board said the proposal addresses an equity concern: committee members said the current eight-point scale unintentionally disadvantaged students who take certain career and technical or life-skills classes. "We have disincentivized kids from taking wonderful classes in our building," a committee member said, arguing the revised scale reduces that distortion and better aligns students’ course choices with postsecondary expectations.
The board moved and approved the grading-practices package and the phased-in GPA scale on a roll-call vote. The handbook will be updated to incorporate the new grading language; the board noted an outstanding AI policy remains pending and will be added to the handbook when finalized.
The decision will next be implemented by school staff and communicated districtwide over the summer; administration said they will produce family-facing resources to explain how weights and GPA calculations work and what they mean for students’ transcripts and course planning.
Ending: The board approved the changes and directed staff to prepare communication materials and PowerSchool configuration so the policies can be applied beginning with the 2026–27 school year and with the class-of-2032 cohort for GPA recalculation.
