Charlotte’s Board of Education policy committee members will meet Thursday to develop a written policy for the district’s high school credit recovery program. There’s been criticism and confusion surrounding the nearly 10-year-old program, which allows high school students who fail a course to retake online the portions they are deficient in.
Students who pass, receive credit toward their graduation requirements. But many students say they were not aware that their failed grade would remain on their transcript and their GPA would not change.
To address the confusion, the North Carolina Board of Education is requiring all school district officials to develop a written policy for credit recovery programs. Charles Jeter, CMS’ policy administrator, says the new mandate is a good idea and overdue.
“We had students who thought it was going to affect their GPA, they went through the Credit Recovery, it didn’t affect their grade point average, they got irritated, understandably so,” Jeter said. “This is an effort to let everybody know what the rules are on the front side, to put the rules in place, down on paper for everyone to see them. This is not an intent to change what we do currently and there will be no change in how we implement credit recovery after this policy is passed.”
During local board of education hearings, members of Students for Education Reform have called for students’ GPAs to change when they pass the credit recovery course. They say it would improve their chances of getting into college. Jeter says only state lawmakers can change the law.
“Our board has been sympathetic to the Students for Education Reform who have come before the board over the past two or three years,” Jeter said. “We are willing to discuss it but our response has always been is that this is a state law and we can’t change it.”
