New grading system to be implemented at FHS

“In a sense, students are rewarded for taking a more difficult class,” FHS principal Tim Everson told the board of weighted grades.

A weighted grading system offers an equal credit for a lower grade in a more difficult class. The system would add 0.5 points to grades A-C. Everson said grade point averages are important to students and weighted grades give them more of an incentive to enroll in a more rigorous class.

“In the past, we've had students drop tougher classes second semester of their senior year so they don't hurt their GPA,” he said. “If there is a weighted grade for that class, they might take the chance with that class.”

The idea was suggested by students last spring and a committee was established to evaluate the issue and determine if it would be a good fit for the district.

Everson said many schools in the northern part of the state have adopted a weighted grading system.

“Weighted grading has been around for a long time,” Everson said.

While the system has gained support from affected students and staff at Falls High School, some students in the respective grades weren't as thrilled.

Junior and seniors enrolled in the Post Secondary Enrollment Option Program at Rainy River Community College approached the board Monday with a request to consider weighting their grades as well.

“Classes that are being weighted follow the exact same course outline as the college classes,” said PSEO student Madison Foss. “But the college classes are not being weighted.”

In September, FHS math teacher Timm Ringhofer told board members PSEO grades would not be weighted under the committee's proposal.

Along with seven of her classmates, Foss told the board they are each taking 17-18 credits at the college and found it unfair that their grades would not be weighted under the new system.

Foss said when she previously met with Superintendent Nordy Nelson and counselor Thane Grewatz, she was told the grades at RRCC are not the high school's to weight and administration doesn't have control over the classes at the college. She argued that concurrent enrollment classes, or college-level courses taught at the high school for a college credit, would include weighted grades.

“I would like to ask the board if they have any control over the classes at the high school when they are community-college approved?” Foss asked of concurrent enrollment courses. “I believe you have just as much control over what goes on in the high school classes as you do at the college if they are university approved."

Foss said if administrators at the college approve concurrent enrollment at the high school, they approve the curriculum for that course and it should be no different than classes taken at RRCC.

Nelson, however, reiterated concurrent enrollment classes are taught at the high school and follow the high school's grading procedures.

"(FHS administration) doesn’t interfere with (RRCC) grades,” he said. 

In addition, Foss said she was told by an FHS staff member that “no other schools weight grades of PSEOP students.”

Foss said she emailed the Minnesota Department of Education and was told, “it is up to the districts to make their own policies. Not all districts choose to use weighted grades...There is no rule, however, either from the state or from the Minnesota School Board Association directing schools not to weight PSEO grades.”

“So there is no other school that weights (grades) according to the (FHS) office people I talked to, but it is up to the district to or not to weight them,” she said.

In other business Monday, the board agreed to consider hiring a consultant to help the district set long-range goals.

Board members agreed a presentation and a quote from the consultant needs to be established before moving forward.

Jenn Windels is a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel, which is a made up of 22 community members who meet to brainstorm ideas to better the Falls school district. In August, she said the panel suggested that a professional consultant be hired to best discuss what kinds of goals need to be set for the district and how to communicate those goals with community members.

Windels presented the board Monday with a list of reasons a consultant would be beneficial to the district. The list includes:

• Strategic planning can place Independent School District No. 361 on a path towards greater success.
• To gain more ownership and investment in the district, it is worthwhile to collect input from all those invested in the success of the school – administration, teachers, support staff, students, families and community members.
• The information put forward will be streamlined to assist in creating specific short- and long-term goals for the school district.
• A well developed strategic plan will illustrate the direction of the district to all those involved and will serve as a guide for policy making and resource allocation.
• A three- to five-year plan will guide the district leadership despite possible changes in sitting board members or changes in administrative positions.
• A plan can illustrate to families and community members that the district is making clear and positive changes which may help with student retention
• Hiring an outside consultant who is perceived as experienced and objective helps make the process appear well organized and transparent.

Board members agreed with Windels and took her suggestion of contacting a consultant based out of St. Cloud.

“If we're going to hiring a consulting firm to work on a strategic plan, we don't want to put it off for very long,” board member Gordy Dault said. “We need to get going.”

Board member Michelle Hebner said long-range planning has been on the board's radar for several years. She said with changes in administration, bringing in an outside source to create a plan that could be maintained, despite staffing changes, would be a benefit to the district.

Also Monday, the board agreed to hire Kelly Blair as the head boys and girls golf coach for the 2014 golf season.

Blair is a 2012 FHS graduate and will replace Bill Mason, who resigned from the position in August. Mason held the coaching position for 18 years.

The board also agreed to hire Jay Boyle as the assistant girls basketball coach.

A recommendation to rehire Boyle as the coach had previously been put on hold twice by the board amid concern over the situation with teachers who coach being out of the classroom too often.

Boyle, a math teacher at Falls High School, has coached all three seasons as the head football coach, assistant girls basketball coach and an assistant track and field coach.