Be a part of Kealakehe High School’s grading policy

As some in the community many be aware, Kealakehe High School has (perhaps temporarily) changed its grading policy to revert back to the state of Hawaii’s grading policy of an A, B, C, D, F. The two additional options are an “I”, meaning that a student’s work has been evaluated as incomplete by the classroom teacher due to circumstances warranting an extension, and “W” that means a student was withdrawn from a class (again for a myriad of reasons) and will not receive credit or a letter grade for the course.

For a few years the school had instituted a policy to remove the D grade, requiring students to achieve a C (70 percent) to pass a course. Additionally, the “I” was used as a grade for students achieving a 60-69 percent who were then allowed a period of time to either bring up their grade to a C or receive an F.

The intent was to have our students increase their effort and performance in today’s competitive work/college environment. Some student may have not graduated due to this policy and there were students who may have transferred because of this policy.

Unfortunately, the school failed to follow the procedures to get a waiver for the “I” system that was in place. The waiver policy is specific in that each year the following must be accomplished:

1. The local community be allowed to voice their opinions through the School Community Council (SSC)

2. 66 pecent of the faculty agree with the waiver moving forward

3. Both the Department of Education and Hawaii State Teachers Association agree with the waiver.

Our School Community Council and Kealakehe faculty should be having discussions about whether to file for a waiver to eliminate the D at Kealakehe High School. Please be a part of the discussion!

As a teacher, I would like to know what skill sets and standards the community believes Kealakehe High School graduates should have achieved. Please come to the next SSC meeting and be a part of helping the next generation of graduates succeed.

Derek Monell is a world history/economics teacher at Kealakehe High School who lives in Captain Cook

My Turns are the opinion of the writer and not of West Hawaii Today.