No F grades sounds good but there are some disadvantages

Rebekah Harrell
Feature Editor 

Online school has been tough for most students this year, but does that mean that SHS should change the grading system? The new grading system has changed an F or fail to a U or incomplete. This means that instead of an F affecting their GPA there will be a U which will not affect their GPA. This grading system may just encourage students to do better or to just not try at all. 

“Due to Covid-19 we are allowing students to earn a U (Unsatisfactory) instead of an F (Failing) on their transcript for courses they don’t pass during the school year.  The only real difference is that an F would lower a student’s grade point average and a U would not. It is an extra safety net for some of our most struggling students given that they are doing school through Distance Learning,” SHS Principal Kimberly Ball said.

Some positives of having this type of grading system is that it will not change students GPAs if they fail a class. This means that their GPA will be higher, but they won’t get credit for the class. Students will have to retake these classes if they are a requirement, but if not, they will not change their GPA.

Some negatives to this type of grading system is it may give some students an excuse to fail their classes. This type of grading system could sometimes discourage students to put extra effort in to raise their grades. Also in certain situations if a student has a D in a class they might see the incentive to stop working and let their grade drop to an F so it doesn’t mess up their GPA.

Also, even though a U does not affect your GPA it will appear on your official transcript. Some more competitive colleges could still look at this and take it into account during the admission process.

“It does not allow [students] to earn credit towards graduation so ultimately they will have to retake the course or take credit recovery to earn the credit if they need it for graduation,” Ball said. 

This new grading system will mainly help out the underclassman because most seniors need these this year’s final credits in order to graduate, but freshman and sophomores have an extra 2 to 3 years to make up the lost credits. 

In the end, this new grading system is a great way to protect students’ GPAs but it could also lead to students not trying in their elective classes.