Elitist or Fair? : C-Minus Diploma Policy Draws Mixed Reviews

A tough new policy in the Saddleback Valley school district denying high school diplomas to students whose grades average less than C-minus is drawing praise from administrators but criticism from some students.

The policy will ensure that a high school diploma has meaning, even if it takes some students a year or two longer to get, administrators say. They say the new requirement means D- and F students who need remedial help will have it and will leave high school with a respectable education.

Some students, however, say the C-minus requirement will hurt the students who need that diploma most: those potential dropouts who aren’t college-bound and whose only ticket to employment and a future is a high school diploma.

Recently, student government leaders at Mission Viejo High School said they are concerned about the freshmen arriving this fall, when the policy goes into effect.

‘Just Naturally Underachievers’

“There’re some students that it’s not a matter of they won’t do it; they just can’t do it,” said Kyle Arndt, 18. “I don’t think they’re helping those kids, especially those in the vocational programs.”

Tim Duray, 17, added, “Some people are just naturally underachievers. If they don’t get their high school diplomas, they’re not going to be able to do anything.”

School officials, however, say the district’s high schools--Mission Viejo, El Toro, Laguna Hills and Silverado Continuation--will provide remedial help to students who slip behind a C-minus average.

Peter A. Hartman, superintendent of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, said the schools will be helping students to raise their grades well before they become seniors.

“We have summer sessions, and in some cases it may be much better for a student to repeat a course,” Hartman said. “Our policy is to allow the higher grade if a student repeats a course and gets a better grade the second time. A student sometimes needs to take a course a second time. Not all students are equal. We don’t expect all runners to finish a race at the same time, and I could never understand why some people expect all students to complete something at the same time. In some cases, it may be wise for a student to take 4 1/2 years to graduate.”

But at the Exeter School District in Central California, which two years ago adopted a C-average requirement for graduation, a “substantial” number of freshmen and sophomores already are falling below the C-minus level, Exeter High School Principal John Parrot said.

Shortage of Counselors Cited

While he would not disclose the exact figure, he said more help, or remediation, is needed for them. The school board of that Tulare County district is reviewing the C-average policy.

Grace Won, 17, at Mission Viejo High, said she is worried that the same thing will happen in Saddleback. The district, she said, may not have enough counselors in its high schools to help students who start falling behind.

“The board is set on academic standards. They’re looking to schools back East. But I don’t think we have enough counselors in our schools to help the people who need it.”

But Hartman said he doubts that the number of those students ever will be large.

If the C-minus policy had been in effect last year and “if the students had received no prior warning or help, our district would have had about 4% of its seniors not eligible to graduate,” Hartman said. He said the total would have been around 60 students .

Hartman said he strenuously disagreed with criticism that the C-minus policy may increase student dropouts, promote grade inflation by sympathetic teachers and negate the D as a meaningful grade.

“A D grade still means something,” Hartman said. “It means you passed and don’t have to take the course again.”

Nor will teachers boost a borderline student’s grades under the new policy, Hartman said.

No Dropouts Increase Seen

“We’ve had a tougher, C-average policy for sports and extracurricular activities for the past two years, and that hasn’t resulted in grade inflation,” he said.

“I don’t think you will find more dropouts or suicides or anything like that under this new requirement. I’ll tell you what you will find. You’ll find students doing better. Our research shows that most of the students now with below C average are very bright. They are just the kind who say, ‘My diploma’s the same as yours whether I have a D average or an A average.’ ”

School board member Louise Adler said she also believes that the new policy will motivate able students to do better.

“There were some who said this is elitist,” she said. “We don’t see it that way. We see it as the reverse.” She noted that since the grade C is average, a C-minus is a below average grade. “What kind of society is it if we say we can’t have a minimum standard that is below average?” she asked. “I think it’s a very lenient standard.”

But student Jeff Higashi, 17, said of the C-minus policy, “I don’t think it’s fair. Some people are just below average and can’t help it.”

Mostly A-plus Comments

School board President Kristine Kister said that so far, “I’m getting mostly A-plus type comments” on the new graduation policy. “I think people in the district are encouraged by our action. We may be the first (in Southern California) in doing it, but on something like this, I don’t mind being the first out of the chute.”

Bob Metz, principal of Mission Viejo High, said he has heard of very little opposition from parents. “I haven’t received more than five calls” about the policy, he said.

The principal author of California’s massive education reform legislation (Senate Bill 813) two years ago, state Sen. Gary Hart, D-Santa Barbara, said he sees no danger in Saddleback’s new policy as long as it is phased in. Tougher graduation requirements are a good sign of continuing education reform, he said.

“This is the sort of thing I support,” said Hart.

And even the young critics of the new Saddleback Valley policy, including the student government leaders at Mission Viejo High, indicated that they admire their district’s emphasis on scholarship. They said they disagree with the C-minus policy, but not the overall goal for educational excellence.

Arndt noted that Saddleback Valley Unified has widespread student participation at school board meetings.

“This is something that our district does better than any school district in the state,” said Arndt. “They allow students to be heard.”