Glenbard School District 87 Superintendent David Larson is encouraging high school teachers to "be creative" in grading this semester.
"Leverage this unprecedented time to develop unprecedented solutions," Larson wrote in a memo.
In the April 23 email Larson asked faculty and staff to focus on failing grades.
“Given your unusual journey this year, it’s critical that we pause our typical grading framework and think differently,” Larson wrote.
Larson admitted that more students are failing than ever before in Glenbard School District 87.
“[W]e are observing high than average failure rates,” Larson wrote.
Larson also directed teachers - as they determine grades for the 2021 spring semester - to “look at data from previous years and set goals.”
Larson and the school district were subjects of rallies to return children to in-person instruction.
In September of last year parents rallied to get kids back in school.
“There’s been a big drop in motivation. People my age, it can be really hard to stay focused,” Glenbard South High School senior Colin Murphy told Fox 32.
At the time, via statement Larson told parents hat school may return in-person in October 2020.
Due to the length of absence from in-school learning experts are saying about half of students across the country are suffering from “learning loss.”
School was entirely virtual for about a year for some students. Students returned to in-person instruction in March.
Larson also received criticism last year for distributing a video that included a Black Lives Matter (BLM) resource page and features ways to donate as well as vote, sign petitions and a map of protests.
At the time Black Lives Matter's Chicago chapter was openly advocating for looting.
Glenbard School District 87 is home to 8,029 students and includes four high schools- Glenbard East, Glenbard North, Glenbard South and Glenbard West.
Larson takes home $252,000 per year in base pay in addition to several perks of the job, including a $600 monthly car allowance.
In 2017 Larson appealed the property taxes on his home valued just under $1 million. He has been an advocate for higher taxes.
Larson’s language is not explicit in telling teacher to change grades, but it is close.
Grade-changing scandals have popped up across the country since computer-assists data analysis is more easy to determine statistical anomalies.
In 2019 in New Orleans students at John F. Kennedy High School were not allowed to graduate after it was discovered teachers had changed their grades to make the school’s performance seem better than it actually was.
In 2017 in Memphis teachers at were caught changing grades at Trezevant High School. The superintendent in that case was received a raise and a longer contract as the scandal was unfolding.
In 2009 Atlanta-area educators were caught in a cheating scandal in which 178 teachers filled in the correct answers for students on assessments test.
See the full memo below.
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