To the editor:

We received word earlier this week that the board had made a decision regarding the grading system for the rest of the year. And that decision was one of the most bizarre I have ever seen, even from a school district that has shown an astounding level of incompetence for years. The district decided the system would be a A/I, or an A/Incomplete. This, frankly, is a slap in the face to those that have been working hard to earn straight A's this year, along with signaling a disturbing gap between reality and fantasy in the minds of Superintendent Juneau and the board.

Giving everyone 4.0's makes GPA's in out district useless going forward. The district has been recently making steps to achieve "equity" in schools, phasing out Honors at the high school level and attempting to bar access to HCC and Spectrum programs for elementary and middle schoolers.

Now, they are choosing to, essentially give everyone A's for the rest of the school year. What is this supposed to accomplish? It punishes those who actualy work for their grades, and rewards those who slack off.

Of course, there are exceptions to this, such as people who do not have access to technology at home, but that's what they are. An exception. There are not enough of these exceptions to justify holding back an entire district in a major metropolitan area consisting of tens of thousands of kids. Not only is the reasoning behind this policy flawed, the grading system is insulting.

Making a pass an A is equating two things in a child's mind that should not be equated.

An A means that a student is exceeding standards, and a C means that they are squeaking by. In what world are these two the same thing? The only thing that this new system does is handicap students and teach them life lessons that simply do not hold up in the real world. Thank you so much, Seattle Public Schools. You have done nothing but harm me and my peers, but we can and will overcome the barriers that are your preposterous policies and unintelligable rules.

All we ask, Superintendent Juneau, is that you do your job; work for the good of all students, not your self-serving agenda. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Joseph Lee

Student

WSHS Class of 2023