Students given option to change letter grades from ‘20-’21 to Pass or No Pass

August 27, 2021 — by Selina Chen
A screenshot of the grade change request form
Assembly Bill no. 104 gave California students the option to have their 2020-21 classes graded on a "Pass/No Pass" system. Selina Chen investigated what that means for Saratoga High students.

When the school transitioned into remote learning during the 2020 spring semester, the district gave students the option to choose Credit or No Credit grades, although the change had to be made for either all courses or none.

With the passage of Assembly Bill No. 104 on July 1, students could also choose to change letter grades to Pass or No Pass for specific courses taken during the 2020-2021 school year.

Principal Greg Louie said the law doesn’t address whether P/NP grades will be accepted by the majority of colleges. However, all CSUs and some other schools, including 10 UCs, have been mandated or have agreed not to discriminate against students who pick P/NP.

The bill gave students until Aug. 10 to apply for the grade change through the district website. The window of time was short because the Assembly recognized that schools shouldn’t have to deal with last year’s grades well into a new semester, Louie said.

According to registrar Robert Wise, ​​43 SHS students (3.3 percent of the population) requested a grade change to P/NP. A total of 156 courses underwent AB 104 grade change, spanning every possible grade mark from A through F.

“The district had no recommendation either way,” Louie said. “It was completely up to the student and their family to consider how their choice might impact what they want to do after high school.”

Tags: grading
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