She Said Principal Had Lowered It : Passing Grade From Teacher Stands

The San Fernando Valley junior high school principal who reportedly lowered a student’s grade over objections of the child’s teacher said Friday that the teacher’s original grade will stand.

Los Angeles school district officials said they would not take any disciplinary action against the principal, even though the state Education Code prohibits administrators from changing a student’s grade except in extreme circumstances.

Marion Vogler, a Sutter Junior High School English teacher, reported to officials of the United Teachers of Los Angeles that Principal Edward Moreno had lowered the marks she had given to a seventh-grade student.

Vogler had given the student a D in English and two “satisfactory” grades in cooperation and work habits. In the Los Angeles district, a D stands for “barely passing.” Vogler told union officials that Moreno changed the grades to show a “fail” and two “unsatisfactory” grades.

The union forwarded letters exchanged between Vogler and Moreno over the grade dispute to top school district officials. A brief investigation was launched. On Thursday, Moreno, Vogler and a union representative met to discuss the matter.

Grades ‘Reviewed’

“I told her that the grades had been reviewed and would stand,” Moreno said Friday.

Vogler referred all questions on the dispute to union officials.

Roger Segure, the union’s director of grievance processing, said he told Vogler to write a letter to the mother of the student and instruct her to go to the school and ask to see her son’s cumulative grade file to make sure that the grade had been changed back.

The state Education Code does not specify any mandatory penalties for an administrator who changes a student’s grade. But disciplinary action has been taken by the Los Angeles district in previous cases. Two years ago, the former principal of Granada Hills High School received an official reprimand from the district for removing a “fail” grade from a student’s record.

To add muscle to state law, the union has added a section in its new contract that it hopes will give teachers a formal appeals process.

If ratified by the Los Angeles Board of Education, the new contract will make changing a grade a “grievance procedures” subject. This means that, if the district fails to respond to the formal complaint in a “timely manner,” the person making the complaint has the option of taking the issue immediately to an arbitration hearing.