Santa Barbara Unified May Stop Giving Ds and Fs to Students

After reporting a major increase in students receiving Ds and Fs during the pandemic, the Santa Barbara Unified School District considered getting rid of them entirely on Tuesday.

The proposal — which aims to adapt to the pandemic learning changes and protect students from the inevitable inequities caused by it — only gives letter grades A-C. If students don’t make a C grade or better, they are either given an “incomplete” or a “no credit.” 

“Grades are not the only measure of student success; they are also, however, an important gatekeeper of student access to future learning,” said Shawn Carey, assistant superintendent of secondary education. “The grading policy has to honor the rigor of an instructional program and ensuring we are holding students harmless, especially from what’s out of their control.”