Students wouldn’t lose credit under changed policy
Students in Montgomery County no longer will lose credit for cutting class if the school system moves forward with a proposal to divorce truancy from grades.
Currently, high school students with at least five unexcused absences or 15 unexcused tardies can be given a failing grade. But the policy has incited worries among administrators that instead of motivating students to be at school, it motivates them to leave once they have hit that threshold.
In addition, the policy has disproportionately affected minorities. Data compiled by the county government shows that in 2008, about 9 percent of Asian and white freshmen lost credit in their first semester of high school due to absences or tardies. In contrast, 39 percent of black freshmen lost credit, as did 41 percent of their Latino peers.
“It has been unevenly implemented,” said school board President Pat O’Neill. Dropping the policy “doesn’t mean that teachers won’t be able to use classroom participation as a grade.”
O’Neill said most principals are on board with getting rid of the policy by the start of next school year, and that other measures would be put in place to counsel class cutters. Not all teachers are so confident.
“It’s another step back for rigor in Montgomery County,” said Gary Frace, a 36-year social studies teacher at Silver Spring’s Springbrook High School.
“I think it’s one of the worst decisions we’ve made in a long time.” Frace said the system has provided effective leverage to keep youths in school, and that an appeals process has helped ensure fairness. Students who felt they deserved credit, or who redeemed their performance, could argue their case to the teacher and, ultimately, to the school administration.
Montgomery teachers union President Doug Prouty said that a survey conducted in the fall showed that teachers were evenly split on their support for the policy. Students’ positions have sounded more unified.
“There was a lot of cheering in my classroom, and kids saying ‘Who’s going to come to school?’ ” Frace said. A student quoted in a Springbrook student newspaper didn’t quite cheer, but almost. “Even though I think that if there were no [loss of credit] policy, more kids would not come to class … it would make school a lot less stressful,” she said.
