Somers Central to report high-school grades on A'F scale; district emphasizes F remains 0.0

A Somers Central School District board member opened a public meeting by saying recent headlines had created confusion and that "there will absolutely still be zeros at Somers High School when that grade is a student that is that when that is the grade the student has earned." The board then invited Pete Rodriguez to present a proposed change to how Somers High reports grades.

Rodriguez said the district is proposing to move external reporting from the familiar 0—00 numeric scale to a plus/minus A'F system on a 4.0 scale. "Any notion that we'll stop giving zeros is false," he said, adding that in the new system an F would be recorded as a 0.0. The change, Rodriguez said, is not a lowering of standards but a shift in how the district communicates performance to families and colleges.

The district showed example cutoffs for letter bands and a plus'minus breakdown (as presented): A-minus for about 90'92, A for roughly 93'96, and A-plus for roughly 97'100. Rodriguez said AP, IB and dual-enrollment courses will continue to carry higher weightings on transcripts; in some cases AP and IB would carry a higher percentage than under the current system.

Rodriguez framed three core reasons for the proposal: to focus students on learning rather than small point differences, to correct what he called a "mathematical flaw" in the 100-point system, and to create consistent external reporting across the school'level frameworks (MYP, IB, AP, and evidence-based grading). He said the move is intended to reduce anxiety over whether a 90 versus a 92 will affect a student's future and to give colleges a clearer, more consistent transcript.

On timing, Rodriguez said the district plans to send current rising seniors (class of 2027) transcripts to colleges this year in the familiar 0—00 format. At the end of the 2026'2027 school year transcripts for those seniors would reflect the new A'F system; the district would send explanatory notifications to colleges. For students entering the classes of 2028 and beyond, the A'F system would be used at the start of the school year.

Several participants asked how the change would appear to students and how classroom practices would be affected. Rodriguez responded that students may still see numeric scores on individual assignments (for example, short online quizzes or rubric raw scores), but those raw numbers would be translated into A'F grades within Schoology for in'progress reporting. In courses using evidence'based or standards'based scales, Rodriguez said teachers intend to translate proficiency scores to the letter'grade system so students would generally see A'F reporting in the learning management system.

On teacher-level decisions, the district said course'level consistency is required: courses with the same course code must align on category weights, though distinctions by level (for instance, honors versus standard sections) are treated as different courses. The presenters acknowledged unresolved questions, including how two'year course sequences will roll grades between years and how late work will be represented within the district'wide self-management category; those items will be decided with further staff input.

Responding to concerns about students who receive zeros, Rodriguez told the group the district uses student support teams to address individual cases and stressed that the policy change does not eliminate zeros. He said one goal of the change is to create a more proportionate scale so that movement between letter bands feels less arbitrary and encourages adjustments in grading practice and collaborative teacher calibration.

Rodriguez said the district is working with Infinite Campus and Schoology to ensure the technology will support the reporting change and that the district does not view the change as a short trial but as an implementation that will require evaluation and revision. He described success measures the district would monitor: reductions in student anxiety about single'point differences, student feedback on understanding grades, and observable progress toward standards' and skills'based grading practices across teachers.

The board invited continued questions and community feedback. No formal vote or policy adoption occurred at the meeting; staff presented the proposal and recorded community questions and concerns for follow-up.