SM-FCSD Brings Back Letter-Based Report Cards

In response to the pleas of parents and teachers, the San Mateo-Foster City School District elected Thursday night to return to using letter-based report cards.

The district board of trustees unanimously approved a recommendation by Superintendent Cynthia Simms to eliminate the current standards-based report card, after members of the school community expressed overwhelming frustration with the grade system.

The change will take place immediately at Borel, Abbot and Bowditch Middle Schools as well as Bayside S.T.E.M Academy. North Shoreview K-8 Montessori school will use a report card with letter grades and a check mark to indicate mastery of core curriculum.

Simms said her recommendation came after she gave great consideration to the criticisms made by district parents and teachers of the current standards-based grading system at the last board meeting Nov. 3.

Since 2008 the district has used a standards-based report card, which utilzes an arbitrary number system to gauge how well students are learning and retaining information, as well as track their progress grasping a subset of categories related to a subject.

But critics said the system was confusing and did not adequately convey whether a student was learning their lessons in the classroom.

Jim Remington, a teacher at Bowditch, thanked the district board and administration for responding to the wishes of the public, and said he believed the move was reasonable.

At the previous board meeting, Remington openly attacked the standards-based system and described it as "meaningless gibberish," while calling for the implementation of the A-F report cards.

Going forward, as part of Simms' recommendation, the district will convene a committee comprised of teachers, parents, administration and other community members to develop a grade system that the district will eventually adopt permanently.

During the interim, the district will stick with letter-based report cards.

Trustees Colleen Sullivan and Ellen Mallory Ulrich lobbied for the rest of the board to approve a motion guaranteeing that letter-based report cards will become the district standard.

"I don't want us going back down here," said Ulrich. "It's a very definite reality that we may go back, and I don't want to see that."

But the effort was not adopted due in part to concerns expressed by board Chair Mark Hudak that taking such an action would predetermine the findings of the committee charged with studying what is the future best practice regarding report cards in the district.

Part of the committee's outreach will be to surrounding high school districts in order to gather input on what type of grade system translates best beyond the elementary and middle school level.

Critics of the standards-based system expressed concern that students coming from the San Mateo-Foster City School District were placed in remedial classes once they reached high school because outside guidance counselors were unfamiliar with how to interpret the students grades.

As well, the board approved implementing some form of web-based monitoring system that would allow parents and students to view real-time grade updates online.

Trustee Julie Chan, who had been an advocate for standards-based system in the past, said she believed that the board's action was fair and that it provided an opportunity to develop a report card that best fits the district.

In other business, the district administration and trustees recognized Hudak for his eight years of service on the board. Hudak chose not to run for re-election, and will be replaced by Audrey Ng.

Hudak, who is an attorney at Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn law firm in Burlingame, will continue serving the district on its fiscal advisory committee.

He thanked the district staff and fellow trustees for allowing him to contribute to the board.

"I've learned more, and taken away more, from the board than I've given," he said. "That has made me a better father, lawyer and board member."

Hudak is also the Assistant City Attorney for Hillsborough.