Board Says Students Can Appeal Their Fs

Moorpark High School students in danger of failing classes due to a hotly debated testing program will get a chance to appeal their grades, school board members have decided.

Trustees of the Moorpark Unified School District asked Supt. Tom Duffy on Tuesday to set up a system for reviewing situations in which students get Fs because they failed to pass a series of tests, quizzes or projects covering basic concepts in each class. Under the program, called mastery objectives testing, students must pass the entire series before they pass a class.

Students who have not passed an objective by the end of the semester fail the class, even if their other course work adds up to an A.

Responding to parents’ complaints, the board asked for the review system as a temporary measure while the district studies possible changes to the program.

“This will take care of some of the more extreme cases we’re hearing about,” board member Clint Harper said.

The board has previously discussed giving students more time to retake failed objectives or making the objectives just one part of the overall grade for a class. A committee made up of teachers, administrators and one parent critical of the program is expected to make recommendations on the proposed changes in March.

Parents had asked that the entire system be suspended until those recommendations are released. But school board members, who see the program as a way to hold students accountable for their educations, rejected the idea.