East Peoria Community High School District 309 Superintendent Cliff Cobert, principal Paul Whittington and curriculum coordinator Jennifer Hamm conducted a community forum meeting Wednesday night to discuss the new grade level classification proposal.
The new classification system would use academic standards and the number of credits earned as the determining factor for grade level classification.
Currently, a student is classified as a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior based on “seat time.” A student in his first year is a freshman, second year sophomore and so on.
Graduation requires a total of 22 credits. In the current system, however, a student could be classified as a senior no matter how few credits they may have earned as long as they have been attending the high school for more than three years.
While the credit system and graduation requirements would not change, the criteria of applying grade level labels would be linked to the current credit system.
For sophomore status, a student must have a total of five credits earned, with two semesters of credit each in science, math and English.
For junior status, a student must have a total of 10 credits earned, with four semesters of credit each in science, math and English, and one semester each of government and economics.
For senior status, a student must have a total of 15.5 credits earned, with six semesters of credit each in science, math and English, two semesters in U.S. history and one semester each of government and economics.
The proposal also calls for a reclassification of students twice a year, once in January and once in July.
“Reclassifying the students twice a year will help us with tracking the students’ progress and need for possible intervention. It is meant to be one more tool for both the school and parents,” Hamm said.
She explained that if a student is found to be “credit deficient,” he or she can be placed in the high school’s credit recovery program that allows students to take extra classes to get back on track to graduate in time.
In addition to helping the school and parents keep track of a student’s progress, Hamm and Whittington said the proposed classification system could also motivate students who want the privileges attached with class status. Privileges associated with junior and senior status include eligibility for a parking permit, attending prom and other class participation.
Whittington said students who currently have privileges associated with junior or senior status will be grandfathered in for the remainder of the 2009-2010 school year.
Parents questioned the decision to implement the new system in the middle of a school year and to apply it to all students. Many parents suggested starting the classification based on credit earned with the incoming freshmen of 2010.
“The benefit of doing it now and not waiting until next year is that it’s really important to implement this as soon as possible so we don’t lose any more ground with students who are already struggling,” Whittington said.
The District 309 school board will vote on the proposal during its meeting Oct. 19.
