Updated 5.4.2020
General Grading Policy Guidelines
Beginning May 15, all KSK high school students will have the option to select “Pass/No Credit” in lieu of the traditional A-F scale for each of their Quarter 4 classes. This option is only for Quarter 4 grades and will be available by Google Form. The Final Exam and Semester 2 grades will still reflect with the traditional A-F scale.
The process for implementing the Pass/No Credit for Quarter 4 will be:
- Faculty will continue to award letter grades for Quarter 4 classes by entering their grades into KS Connect during the regular grading period.
- Courses already established as Pass/Fail will continue to use those designations.
- Seniors will finish instruction on May 15th. Grades must be uploaded in SMS by 3:30pm on May 18th.
- Freshmen-Juniors will finish instruction on May 21st. Grades must be uploaded to SMS by 3:30pm on May 22nd. Once faculty have entered their grades by May 22, students will be able to view the assigned grades in KS Connect over the weekend through May 26th.
- From May 15-26th, students may choose to retain their letter grades or convert their letter grades to the Pass/NC designation for one or more classes. This notification will be completed via Google Form.
- Students must complete their Google Form by 12:00PM on May 26th. The grades will be final and will include a notation indicating this is a “semester disrupted by COVID-19” on the transcript.
For the purposes of this policy, Pass (P) may be awarded for a Quarter 4 grade of D- or higher. Establishing credit at a D- allows for those students opting for the Credit option to continue to meet the requirements for entry to other required courses, as well as prerequisites for courses in a sequence. The Pass (P) designation will not be counted in the GPA.
Students with a Quarter 4 letter grade of F may opt instead for No Credit (NC). But if it was a graduation requirement or pre-requisite, the course may need to be re-taken. If they opt for No Credit, that course will not be counted towards their Quarter GPA.
- PE 1 and PE 2 are semester courses that for any student who took it in the 2nd semester will have the opportunity to mark this as a Pass/No Credit for this year only.
Implications
Within the KS System, students will be “held harmless” by the choice to select P/NC in Quarter 4, 2020. Furthermore, academic probation will be extended to the following quarter for any student who does not move off academic probation based on their Quarter 4, 2020 grades and/or GPA.
While earning a low grade can bring a student’s cumulative GPA down, choosing the P/NC option and not earning a letter grade may also have potential negative impacts:
- Course selection, grades earned in courses, and cumulative GPA will be considered at varying levels for certain college programs and college admissions
- Cumulative GPA may be used in awarding merit scholarships
- NCAA core course GPA impacts student athlete’s initial eligibility
Class Rankings, National Honor Society and the Honors Diploma are determined by Semester Grades and so this policy will have no effect on these three programs.
Exceptions:
Due to policies at our partner colleges, as well as a letter grade being necessary to transfer college credit, students enrolled in dual credit do not have the option to take dual credit course for “no credit”
- IF the current COVID-19 situation has students concerned that they may earn a low grade in a dual credit course, please reach out to their grade level counselor ASAP.
Some professional accreditation organizations may not permit alterations to the grading process. In such cases, a very limited number of exceptions may be granted upon request to the Poʻokumu’s Office.