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LBUSD School Board Votes 5-0 To Deny High School Students Opt-In Choice To Receive Letter Grades In COVID-19 Impacted Semester

1,600+ online signature petition and student/parent testimony said it would leave LBUSD students less competitive in college admissions than other districts; Board incumbents Kerr (NLB) and Benitez (Central LB) supported action citing equity factors


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(May 21, 2020, 3:55 p.m.) -- On May 20, 2020, the Long Beach Unified School District's school board voted not to change a policy announced on April 16 by LBUSD staff (without a prior Board vote) that doesn't let LBUSD high school students seek the option of receiving grades they earned in the current COVID-19 impacted semester. The action will leave LBUSD students in grades 9-12 with a "credit/no credit" mark, not a letter hrade. on their records for this semester.

The contrast couldn't have been more stark. LBUSD's staff and board position was that the action is consistent with a declared "do no harm" policy. But students, parents and some grandparents said LBUSD's stance may or will do harm by leaving LBUSD students less competitive than students from other school districts in seeking college/university admissions.

The board vote effectively dismissed a 1,600+ signature petition and testimony mainly from ELB students and their parents. Board incumbents Kerr (NLB) and Benitez (Central LB) justified the action as consistent with equity considerations>

In the public interest, LBREPORT.com makes available on-demand below quick launch audio of the May 20 LBUSD proceedings.

All of LB's School Board incumbents voted to accept LBUSD staff's recommendation which doesn't allow an "opt-in" for letter grades for LBUSD students in the current COVID-19 impacted semester. The Board's May 20 action came despite an online petition that garnered over 1,600 signatures, its text written by Millikan High sophomore Riley Cantrell:

[Riley Cantrell petition, 1600+ signers] [LBUSD's credit/no credit policy] means that students could have all D’s and still receive the same credit had they gotten A’s which seems completely unjust. Colleges won't see students’ grades for this semester which heavily lowers their chances to get scholarships or to go to college. AP classes will not be accounted for in GPA’s as well...For me, I have always wanted to get straight A’s, if the credit/no credit system is used, all of my hard work, dedication, and perseverance will be for nothing. Students have put hours and hours into their school work...I implore the school board to give students the option to have grades...

[Scroll down for further.]



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Public testimony

On May 6 public testimony was unanimous (previous LBREPORT.com coverage here) and on May 20 nearly unanimous in urging the School Board to let students "opt-in" for the letter grade they'd earned. Some examples from May 20 testimony (emailed, read aloud LBUSD staff during a board teleconference.)

  • Corliss Lee: President, Eastside Voice: "Students are still going to have compete for seats in university and colleges and their GPA matters...[I]f they have done the work, they deserve the grade. Taking away a grade they worked for is an unnecessary penalty."

  • David Poerschke, a Millikan High English teacher, said not allowing students to receive a letter grade "does many of our students a disservice...I can't help but sense that in the next three years, an LBUSD high school students’ transcripts with credit for courses this semester and grades for all the others will not be given the same consideration [in college admission decisions] as the student from another district who has letter grades for all semesters on his or her transcript..."

  • Christy Brown: "... My child has a chance to become a National Merit Scholar based on his PSAT score in which he scored in the 99th percentile. Taking away students' grades...could harm students' ability to receive merit and academic scholarship. This could harm students financially...". .

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    Rebecca Snellen: "...For the students such as my son, who is in WAVE at Wilson and taking 5 AP courses with straight A's as of March 13, 2020, well he serves these grades on his report card...I tell my kids that their grades are their paychecks. Imagine you went to work every day and performed tasks beyond your duties, working overtime. At the end of the week your employer says 'great job this week, here's a couple of gift cards instead of a pay check.' You can't pay bills with a gift card, just like our kids cannot get into college with credit/no credit...We have no idea what the colleges and universities are going to do

    Dov Mile [sp?]: "......I feel the board is trying to build equity on the backs of other students, thus creating a new inequitable situation. I feel like you are not choosing equity by discriminating against a student population who has the motivation and resources to achieve their own personal academic goals. Every school, whether Wilson or Jordan, has students who strive to do their best and want to see those accolades reflected on their transcripts..."

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    Ann Cantrell. a retired teacher and grandmother of petition-initiator Riley Cantrell, said not allowing an opt-in for a letter grade would clearly harm LBUSD students who enrolled in especially challenging AP (Advanced Placement/college level) who could have received 5 GPA points (instead of 4) for an "A" grade. "Their cumulative grade point average will be lower than students from those districts allowing a choice," Ms. Cantrell said.

    Petition-initiator Riley Cantrell reiterated her plea in May 20 Board testimony: "Plenty of other districts around the country are giving their students a choice. We are the minority who cannot choose what we want. Students with letter grades will have higher GPA's than ours. They will be accepted into colleges over us. We are at a higher probability of failure. [A]ll our countless hours spent studying and completing assignments will not be accounted for..."

    The sole public testimony against an opt-in provision came from Californians For Justice, which described itself as working for "educational equity and racial justice by building the power of youth, communities of color, immigrants, low income families and the LGBTQ communities." It urged the Board to "not provide an opt-in option. Passing a last minute opt-in option will further exacerbate inequalities and the achievement gap within the district for the benefit of a privileged few. To keep expectations of grades the same when folks are worried about having stable housing, food to eat and family members who are essential workers that are putting their lives at risk [is] inhumane. It does not center equity or inclusion for all LBUSD students..."

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    LBUSD School Board response

    LBUSD Superintendent Chris Steinhauser told the Board: "Staff is not recommending that we change that policy for numerous reasons why we started the policy.. And just for clarification there are many districts in the state as well as the nation that are doing a credit/no credit policy. Just a few in California are San Francisco, Palo Alto, Irvine, Garden Grove, Long Beach just to mention a few."

    School board member Dr. Juan Benitez (represents Central LB) made a motion to continue current policy regarding grades. ..He stated in pertinent pary:

    Boardmember Benitez...Is it equitable for our students with limited to no opportunity, for our students with limited to no resources, for our students with varying levels and degrees or varying ability, for our students with limited to no options, to compete with some students that because of their opportunities and resources and privileges. And it's not to blame one of the other, but because of these privileges and resources and capital that they've been afforded that they would get much further ahead and would get the opportunity to get much further ahead...No matter how hard our struggling students are trying, they're not an equal playing field...[T]he philosophy behind our "no harm" policy on no grading upholds our commitment to equity for all.

    ELB are School Board representative Diana Craighead (whose district includes Millikan High) seconded Dr. Benitez’s motion but didn't respond to his description of "privilege." She said a PressTelegram story had indicated that L.A.’s school district lets its students receive in June whatever grade they’d earned by March 13 with no risk of a lower grade. "I kind of take offense to [comparing] our policy of credit/no credit when you're being put up against this policy of giving grades when there's not a true value to those grades." Ms. Craighead said LBUSD is "doing the right thing" and supported the district’s policy.

    Boardmember Megan Kerr (whose district includes North Long Beach) said she’d made her feelings known on her public Facebook page. On May 12, Ms. Kerr wrote on her Facebook page in pertinent part:

    Boardmember Kerr: [Fabebook page text, May 12] ...Allowing students an opt-in for letter grades to enable them to ‘get ahead’ or to ‘be even more competitive’ is fundamentally unjust. It does a grave disservice to those who do not have the opportunity, through no fault of their own, to invest additional time in their studies during this pandemic. It would exacerbate the already large opportunity gap we experience in our district."

    At the May 20 Board meeting, Boardmember Kerr added: [W]e're not harming folks by not allowing them to get an advantage over their peers. What we're saying is...no student has control for what's happening in the world and in their home and with their employment status and so we're going to relieve the burden of feeling like they have to over-perform just to stay even with their peers."

    Immediately before the vote, ELB Boardmember Craighead added: "[F]or those students who are high achieving, for those students who have an excellent work ethic and for those students who have goals of attending the school of their dream and everything else, stay at it, keep working, stay motivated, you will be rewarded for your efforts and just, you know, congratulations on doing so well but continue to do that."

    What's next

    Two lopngtime LB School Board incumbents (Jon Meyer and Felton Williams) are retiring; Meyer's successor (representing SE LB) has already been elected (exiting LBCC Trustee Doug Otto). A successor to Williams (representing west/central LB) will be decided in a November 2020 runoff. Erik Miller (who has stressed "equity" issues in his campaign) is endorsed by all LBUSD incumbents. Mr. Miller faces former LB Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga endorsed by multiple LB area Democrat party electeds..

    Following last night's (May 20) School Board vote, LBREPORT.com asked candidates Miller and Reyes Uranga (via messages to their Facebook campaign pages) how they would have voted on the opt-in issue if they had been on LBUSD's board. As of 3:00 p.m. May 21 we're received no response from them.

    Three of the incumbents, Kerr, Benitez and Craighead, represent LBUSD areas with elections next scheduled in March 2022. By that time, some of the students impacted by their May 2020 board action will likely be old enough to vote.

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