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New Scale In Line With Other Area Divisions, Colleges
Buena Vista City Public Schools will be moving to a 10-point grading scale at the beginning of the 20242025 school year.
This change was initially presented to the School Board last December and will be voted on as a change to the student handbook on July 25.
Under the new scale, grade requirements will be shifted. For example, a score between 90 and 100 will be qualified as an A, as opposed to 93 to 100 under the previous scale.
Superintendent Tony Francis said that this decision helps keep Buena Vista in line with other divisions and colleges.
“Most school divisions use a 10-point scale,” he said, explaining that this move will make it easier for transfer students and for those who take classes at local community colleges.
”A lot of our students take dual enrollment classes, and they use that scale, so we wanted to be consistent with that and to align with most postsecondary education, because most colleges are using a 10-point scale.”
A letter to parents posted in June also cites consistency as a benefit of the 10-point system, as well as clarity and precision, saying that “The 10-point grading scale offers greater granularity in assessing student performance, allowing for more precise feedback on academic progress.”
Members of the community and of the division were able to offer input on this decision.
“We … surveyed parents, students, and staff, and I would say the response was overwhelmingly in favor of this scale,” explained Francis, saying that 94% of those responding were in favor of the change.
“We felt like that was the best route to go to keep us aligned with the dual-enrollment and with postsecondary
education.”
Rockbridge County and Lexington public schools currently use a 10-point scale.
- Arrival and departure times for Buena Vista’s Enderly Heights and Kling elementary schools will be shifted for the 2024-2025 school year.
Both schools’ beginning and end times will be shifted five minutes earlier, to accommodate bus schedules.
This change was announced at the June 27 School Board meeting.
