Superintendent: D’s should suffice

SEATTLE – Seattle public school students could be able to graduate with a D average if a proposed change in policy is approved by the school board.

Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson has recommended the board do away with a requirement that students earn a C average to graduate.

Parents surveyed by the district last year favor keeping the C-average requirement.

But officials, who planned to talk about the issue at a school board meeting on Wednesday evening, said they were following policies at other school districts.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the proposals Oct. 7.

Among other changes, the district is now counting an E grade when calculating grade-point averages, which it hadn’t done for seven years. And for two years, students have had to pass a state test to graduate.

“We are, in fact, increasing rigor,” said Susan Derse, a principal on special assignment who headed up a staff committee that made the recommendations.

District officials said they could not find another large school district in the state that required a C average for graduation, although a number require students to pass more classes than does Seattle.