No A’s, B’s or C’s for thousands of South Bay students. On Monday, students in the San Jose Unified School District received an email letting them know they will either pass or fail.
The grading decision is just one of multiple being decided on by Bay Area school districts as they try to handle the challenges of grading during the coronavirus pandemic.
Los Gatos High School is giving students a choice. They can take spring semester courses credit-no credit or opt to receive grades.
Simar Malhotra is a junior taking four advanced placement classes. She opted to receive grades.
“I've worked hard all year trying to maintain my grades this year, and I'd like the colleges I applied to to see that,” she said.
Other students who have found online learning to be challenging are opting for the credit-no credit option.
Sequoia High School in Redwood City is offering the pass-no pass option.
“Everybody is subject to kind of life-altering change from forces that they have no control over, so whether you're grieving a canceled prom or a relative, there's struggle everywhere and there's no predicting where it's going to come from," Sequoia High School Principal Sean Priest said.
Priest said the University of California system has said it won’t penalize students during the admissions process if they receive a pass-no pass during spring semester.
In San Jose, the East Side Union High School District is planning to award grades, but students can’t fall below the grade they received March 13 before the pandemic closed schools.
