Luxemburg-Casco, Kewaunee schools modify grading criteria because of COVID-19 pandemic

Many school districts across Wisconsin temporarily have changed how they assign grades to their students, and of Kewaunee County's three districts, Luxemburg-Casco and Kewaunee are making some changes.

The changes are the result of schools being closed since March 18 under orders from Gov. Tony Evers for the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools continue to teach remotely, mostly via the internet, but many are changing their grading procedures for the fourth quarter because of possible disparities in students' abilities to complete their homework this way. Some districts in the state are modifying their usual letter-grade systems, others are moving to a straight "Pass/No Pass" option for this quarter and others are not making changes.

Luxemburg-Casco Superintendent Glen Schlender said his district is implementing a modified letter grade. Students will receive a grade for the semester that's no worse than the one they earned in the third quarter — if they continue to perform the classwork and make the effort they normally would if school was open, so it's not a free pass.

Schlender said the idea is to recognize the work students put in before the schools were closed while acknowledging that some could experience difficulties working all day on the internet in a rural county with well-known problems relating to high-speed broadband access.

"What we're trying to do is be as accommodating as possible in terms of assignment completion and grading procedures," Schlender said. "Our mantra has been, we don't want the kids to be held accountable for things outside their control."

The Kewaunee School Board voted Monday night to retain letter grades across all classes for the fourth quarter but with modification to the grading criteria in 4K through fifth grade. It also went to a Pass/No Pass system for second semester grades, for reasons similar to those cited in Luxemburg-Casco.

"With the knowledge that there are some equity issues right now, we do not want to penalize student who may have inconsistent access or little access to the learning opportunities being provided by our teaching staff," Superintendent Karen Treml said.

The Algoma district made no changes.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Luxemburg-Casco, Kewaunee schools modify grading criteria because of COVID-19 pandemic