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Parent urges Plainview ISD to restore weighted GPA for homeschooled transfers
Summary
At a regular Plainview ISD board meeting, parent Jessica Thornhill urged trustees to revisit a recent change that removed weighted credit for accelerated courses completed before enrollment, saying it harmed her children's GPAs and could deter homeschool families from enrolling.
Jessica Thornhill, a parent and resident who identified herself during the public comment period, urged the Plainview ISD Board of Trustees to revisit a recent change to the district’s weighted grade-point-average policy that she says removed weight for accelerated algebra and geometry courses her homeschooled children completed before enrolling.
Thornhill told trustees she enrolled her oldest child at Plainview High School in 2021 and that PISD previously accepted the child’s accelerated Algebra I and geometry credits. She said the district later changed its policy to assign additional weight only when an equivalent course is offered to the same class of students in-district, and that the district removed the weighted value from her children’s GPA calculations for courses completed before transfer.
“The timing of the change suggests a reactive, not neutral decision,” Thornhill said, arguing the policy was being enforced in a way that produced a predetermined outcome that depressed class rank and could affect college automatic-admission eligibility under Texas law. She asked the board to examine the policy and to restore her daughter’s weighted GPA by the July 2026 board meeting.
Thornhill also asked trustees to consider how policies affecting homeschooled students influence other families’ decisions about enrolling in Plainview ISD, saying families who “value academic excellence want to know that students will be recognized fairly for the work and accomplishments they’ve earned, regardless of the educational path they took before enrolling.”
Board president acknowledged Thornhill’s comments for the record; no immediate staff response or motion addressing the policy was recorded during the meeting. The board will have an opportunity to place the matter on a future agenda for formal review.
