A revised grading policy will be implemented Oct. 21.

Revising the current grading policy is a great idea, but the new outline needs major improvements.

The policy now states that core classes can retake up to an 80, pre-AP 75 and AP 70. It also states that you now have a two-day grace period for requesting retakes.

The new grace period is fine, but the maximum retake is a complete mess. First, the faculty claims that the higher-level classes are harder and should require more skill. So instead of giving the harder classes the higher retake, they give them the more restricted grade. They’re giving the college level classes less to work with grade wise rather than helping them. Then to add on top of that, they’re leaving core graded classes alone. They shouldn’t leave the maximum retake grade untouched, if anything they should give AP classes an 80 and give the core graded the 70.

Instead of asking the students what they thought of the new policy, they asked the staff instead. The biggest red flag that goes up here is that the views of grading are almost polar opposites on the scale. Teachers think that the students should be graded harder and be held accountable for everything they do, while the students think that the grading policy is already restrictive enough with some even wanting to loosen its grip. They should have questioned students and listened to their opinions rather than disregarding them completely.

What the board should do is leave the grace period alone, but take another look at the maximum retakes. They should give the AP classes the maximum 80, and the core graded the 70. or, they could just call it even and give everybody the maximum of a 75. Even if they do not change the policy, they could at least listen to the students. Maybe then they might hear the mass disapproval the student body is emanating.

The revised grading policy implementation will begin Oct. 21, and for the souls of every student in MISD, I hope that they see their flaws and do something about them.