In late May I was informed that the principal of East Ridge High School had directed all teachers to implement a “strategy” of no grade lower than 50 in October 2022. Teachers were directed to revise all first quarter grades to a minimum of 50. Students would also receive a minimum grade of 50 on all quarterly and semester grades for the 2022-23 school year, regardless of the actual grade earned.
Since that revelation I have met and discussed this issue with Superintendent Justin Robertson and central office staff. Dr. Robertson’s official title is the director of schools. After our first meeting on June 12, 2023, I requested all documentation regarding his grading strategy. Dr. Robertson responded with the following email message,
“We do not have a list of schools that implemented the grading strategy [the grade of 50]. This is a school level decision and there are other strategies that have also been implemented at schools.”
“I do not have the document that provided optional strategies to schools. I will see if a copy of that document can be located.”
It was pointed out to me that the Class of 2023 was in the ninth grade during the 2019-2020 school year. However, this grade policy change also awarded grades of 50 for all students at East Ridge High School during the 2022-23 school year. The class of 2024 was in the 8th grade and the class of 2032 was in kindergarten during the COVID year. When will the excuse of COVID finally be over?
On June 23rd I received an email with the “Grading Guidance Hamilton County Schools (HCS)” document from October 2020. This document included six strategies which could be implemented during the 2020-21 school year.
“The following options are presented as immediate strategies to address student failure rates, in the wake of school reopening after 10 weeks of school disruption last spring due to the COVID-19 global pandemic”.
“Each school is expected to implement one (1) or more of these strategies to address failing grades for the first quarter and over the course of the school year.”
One of the options was the "Baseline of 59" for 2020-2021. The stragegy stated, "All gradebooks set the lowest grade possible to a 59 for all assignments. Give students the opportunity to submit an assignment to earn the baseline grade, rather than a zero."
This of course begs the question of how the strategy changed from “Baseline of 59” to “no grade lower than 50.” Supt. Robertson claimed HCS policy gives the director of schools the authority to approve this grading policy option because “it is an operational decision, not a policy decision” because the policy was already in place for principals to select.
HCS Grading System Policy 4.601 states, “The Director of Schools shall develop an administrative procedure to establish a system of grading and assessment for evaluating and recording student progress and to measure student performance in conjunction with board-adopted content standards.”
In addition, HCS Policy 4.200 under Curriculum Development-Implementation states, “The primary responsibility for the effective operation of the curriculum program and activities shall be delegated to the director of schools and/or his designee.”
Assistant Supt. Sonia Stewart oversees community superintendents and K-12 learning.
Policy 4.601 also states, “The grading/assessment system shall be uniform district-wide at comparable grade levels. The Director of Schools shall submit a copy of the grading, reporting, and assessment systems to the Board before the system is implemented.” These approved guidelines shall be communicated annually to students and parents/guardians.
This connects to Tennessee Board of Education Policy (TN BOE) 2.103 Section VI “Credit Recovery” which states students must receive a grade of at least 50 to qualify for credit remediation by taking an online course. Edgenuity is the company which supplies the TN BOE with online courses for every subject taught in Tennessee high schools. The policy also states that “students who mastered below 50% of the course standards ... must re-take the course.”
Implementing a strategy of no grade lower than 50 rewards some students who make marginal, if any, attempts on course work, but nothing substantial to warrant even a grade of 50 as directed by TN BOE policy. What about the students who do their best and earn a grade of 50 over the course of a semester?
The HCS Board of Education and the TN BOE have established a standard of proof regarding assessment and grading. The Baseline of 59 and the no grade lower than 50 implements a different standard of proof for mastery of coursework. It damages grading integrity and lowers curriculum standards.
The Directors of Schools did not follow the district’s policy under 4.601 which requires approval “before the system is implemented.” It is the school board, and only the school board, which is empowered to decide whether a significant change in grading guidelines is an operational decision or a policy decision.
Larry Grohn
Hamilton County School Board
District 8
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I read Larry Grohn's piece entitled 'Hamilton County Schools Lowers Academic Standards Due To COVID 19'.
It could have stopped before 'Due To COVID 19'. The double-speak responses Mr. Grohn received from the school system's representatives leaves very little doubt that there is a tendency by our "educators" to sacrifice any semblance of educational integrity in favor of political expediency.
As was the case in virtually every governmental agency during 2020, the school system buckled under to the pressure created by the 'COVID hysteria'.
Also, like many other entities (governmental and otherwise), the school system has chosen to lower standards to the point that we'll have far more uneducated graduates than ever before.
I can only hope that our School Board will insist that the so-called educators do the jobs for which they were hired, instead of choosing to be babysitters.
Thanks to Larry Grohn for telling the taxpayers what's really going on.
Dennis Massengale
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Actually, the pandemic really ended before the most recent school year and the “untruth in grading” policy continues with no sign of reversion to the previous standard.
The policy appears to have been implemented under Assistant Superintendent Sonia Stewart who, as principal at Pearl Cohn High School in Nashville, implemented her own unilateral grading policy without proper authorization from higher, accountable authority. As school board member Grohn points out, the grading policy is required to be uniform throughout the system. But when you treat those who tried but failed the same as those who didn’t try at all, what message does that send to students throughout not only East Ridge High School, but throughout the system?
Like inflation devalues the dollar, such grade manipulation devalues the quality of education at the Hamilton County Schools. Standards should be clear and consistently enforced to mean anything.
The bottom line is this perfunctory, unapproved standard also lets maladministrators off the hook – which to this cynical but veteran observer was likely the point.
The question is, what is the elected school board going to do about it? The board’s response will tell us a lot about the board’s own standards of excellence. Or mediocrity.
Brendan Jennings
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I can remember when the Chattanooga schools were close to the top in a list of other public school systems in the south. I do not think that lowering the standards is what needs to be done, I would raise them and if students need to be held back, so be it. They certainly held them back when I was in the system from 1948 to 1960. If students need to learn reading, promote reading, but let them read in subjects in which they are truly interested. If they need to learn math, that is where the parents come in to play. The real board of education is the dining room table and it is there where parents and students need to sit down and go over homework.
Parents in many systems have taken over the education of their children and that is not how the system is supposed to work. Some parents are going to teacher/parent meeting to scream and holler, some have taken guns. What those parents are doing is chasing good teachers out of the classrooms. Florida teachers are leaving the profession in the public schools and because of DeSantis’, laws, state college and university professors are leaving and finding jobs in other states. In the 60s and 70s that was called a “brain drain” and Florida, at that time, was hiring very good professors out of Mississippi during the 60s because of the race problem. Now professors of that quality are leaving Florida. Let the teachers and professors teach and leave them alone. Let the teachers teach. It is the parents' role to teach morals, ethics and religion to their children.
I graduated City High School in 1960. The graduating class was large, I think 625 students, and it outperformed all of the private schools in the city. Not much good at football, pretty good at basketball, those things did not interest me much. I went there to learn and was accepted at every college and university that I applied for.
When you allow parents to control the schools, you are putting the fox in the hen house.
Raleigh C. Perry
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"When you allow parents to control the schools, you are putting the fox in the hen house" reminded of the old days when the school board meetings were held in secret. The public (that's us, folks. You know, the ones that pay for everything) was not allowed to attend. When the Sunshine Law was put into effect, they fought it tooth and nail to get them excluded from having to comply. Perhaps they were designing nuclear weapons or strategies to win the cold war, I don't know. I do know this: when the hens aren't doing what they are elected to do, maybe a fox needs to bring them back in line.
I also don't think that inquiring about the grading system is either prying or out of order. The teachers and administrators are paid with tax dollars. The schools are funded and maintained by tax dollars. And who pays those tax dollars? Parents. And we have a right to be concerned about our children and their time at school. And I truly believe that most parents feel the same way.
Ed Bradley
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I don't know what parallel universe Raleigh Perry lives in if he thinks one can compare our local schools to the 50s. I also graduated from Chattanooga High School in 65 and the only students I saw at UT as well prepared for college as I were the ones from Oak Ridge.
Here are some of the differences. We had two sexes, male and female. We had one language, English. But we were also offered Spanish, French and I believe the only public school in the state to do so, Russian. Remarkably every kid paid for his/her own lunch. We also had a principal named Creed Bates who was 6'4" and was a Colonel in WW ll. Therefore we had very few discipline problems; skipping school, smoking in the bathroom (cigarettes) and an occasional fist fight that were resolved very quickly.
But the biggest difference was that 95 percent of us from all over the city went home to a two parent family. The problem today is not the parents, but the parent. Did you know seven out of every 10 babies in the black community are born to a single mother. How about 52 percent of Hispanics and 28 percent for whites. And a paltry 12 percent to Asians.
Did you know there is almost a 100 percent correlation for babies born to a single mother and scoring last in educational achievement? You ever drive by an engineering school and see how many Asian students there are? And after last weeks SCOTUS ruling there will be a lot more. Imagine that, actually admitting the most qualified students. What a novel concept.
Douglas Jones
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Douglas, your sudden love for Asians falls flat. After all during the height of the Covid crisis, weren't you one of the many jumping all around, bumping into one another with your chants of Wuhan! Wuhan! Sending out dog whistles all over and every that led to attacks against people with Asians features? My Asian kinfolk and friends aren't buying into this sudden love coming from your side. Neither are my MiddleEastern kinfolk and friends. They still have carved memories of all the attacks many endured during the height of the hate spewed against them, during those periods of attacks and "hate anyone who even remotely looks MiddleEastern." Footages of being chased from Walmart were the least of what took place, And then my kinfolks and friends mistaken for recent immigrants crossing from south of the border. Although their American lineage often dates back to well over a century. They're not buying into sudden love just because the hate has returned full circle to the original group so often targeted for hate. They realize it all could change in a second without notice, and they'll once again be the crosshairs of hate.
And thank the universe for the Sonia Stewarts in the educational fields. Because school rules, specifically the ones surrounding discipline, aren't applied across the board. Be they school rules or school board rules.
My two sons attended a predominately white school locally. No white student caught with drugs on campus, caught openly smoking weed, or even openly seen with a weapon was ever suspended or expelled. However, the school did once try t o suspend a busload of out of zone black students when the school bus was running off schedule and the bus arrived at the school late. My sons weren't out of zone to attend the school but, being black and male, they were often mistaken for it.
When the counselor, a black woman, noticed white students showing up at school high, hungover, and reported it, you'd think the school would address the problem. The school addressed it alright, by having the black school counselor transferred to another school.
Long before the recent school mass shootings that so paralyzed the nation took place, there was a planned shootout by some of the white students, with their parents' approval, who allowed them to use their cars to drive to school with the weapons in the trunk of their cars. Even some of the school staff was aware of what was going to take place. Their targets were meant to be the handful of black students who attended the school at the time. Again, thank the universe, it was thwarted before it could be carried out. And thank too, the white students and a few teachers who dared take a stand at the expense of themselves becoming targets. A special thanks to Mr. Crawford, now deceased. Shelley, a student and the others who openly stood up, risking their own safety.
But that's the hate that hate breeds, and spreads like wildfire, engulfing and consuming everyone and everything in sight, even the haters.
Brenda Washington
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In my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions, this "no grade lower than 50" policy sounds a lot like a "no bail" policy or a "pre-arrest diversion" program, but why are we shocked?
Thank you, Larry Grohn. This week you get the award for most effective school board member in Hamilton County, Tn. You are using your position to inform the public, bring the truth to the public square, and allow taxpayers to have a little peek into the scheme that Hamilton County Schools likes to call education. Bravo, Larry.
Thank you, Larry, for letting us know that Assistant Superintendent Sonia Stewart oversees community superintendents and K-12 learning. I wonder why she chose Hamilton County.
Sonia wrote a book. It's 93 pages of restorative practices, social justice, equity, and holistic care. It contains her thoughts on "increased school counselors." Didn't the Hamilton County school board just commit millions in taxpayer dollars by approving 76 SEAD coach positions and many more social workers and school counselors? Hey Hamilton County Commissioners, I think you have been duped.
Sonia's book is filled with race-baiting quotes like "It feels like a white school," "Most white families in America do not want to send their students to school with black students," and "Our society does not believe that black kids can be responsible with the freedom to choose where to go, with whom to sit and how to spend their time." I just checked the profile data on the TN State Board of Education site, and in 2022 in Hamilton County, 49 percent of the students were listed as black, Hispanic, Native American, ect. Someone, please help me understand why the deputy superintendent of Hamilton County Schools is allowed to attack 49 percent of the student body in Hamilton County Schools.
Deputy Superintendent Sonia Stewart's book is called "All Children Are Our Children, A Pearl in the Heart of the City," and you can purchase it on Amazon.
On pages 67-69, in a chapter titled "Breaking the Law," Sonia writes, "This is a story about a time when I broke the law. I could say that this is the only time I broke the law as a principal in a situation like this one, and that may or may not be true." She goes on to explain how she violated TN State law because, after a student's second offense in possession of marijuana, she was required to expel him for a full calendar year, but instead, she chose to break the law. She ends the story with this heartwarming line, "I suppose some laws may just be meant to be broken."
Is this the type of person we want leading our taxpayer-funded schools? Do you go to work and bust your rump every day, making money that will be paid to the county for your property taxes? Well, if you do, just know that these taxes will be given to the public school by our county commission and used, in part, to pay the salary of Sonia Stewart.
The next school board meeting is Thursday, July 20. I hope to see you there.
Feel free to do your research. You can find out a lot about a person by what they choose to list on their publicly available resume.
Sonia Stewart's Employers:
HCDE - Deputy Superintendent - Jan 2022 Present - Annual Salary - $143,303 - Funded by your precious property tax dollars.
HCDE - Community Superintendent - July 2020 - Jan 2022
Green Bay, Wisconsin - Superintendent Candidate - February 2020 - Was not hired
Metro Nashville Public Schools -
• Executive Officer of Organizational Development - Dec 2019 - 2020
• Pearl-Cohen High School - Executive Principal - Jun 2012 - ???
• Glencliff High School - Freshman academy administrator - 2009 - 2012
• The Oaks Community Development Corporation, Chicago, IL - Founder and Executive Director - 2007- 2009
• Washington Prep High School, Los Angeles, CA - Math Teacher and SLC Lead Teacher; 2006-2007
• Brentwood Academy, Brentwood, TN - World Religions Teacher and Community School Liaison; 2003-2005
• Antioch High School, Nashville, TN - Math Teacher and Head Girls Varsity Basketball Coach; 1997-1999
Sonia Stewart's Education:
Vanderbilt - 2012 - 2015
• Received Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.), Education, Leadership and Policy in 2015
Trevecca Nazarene University - 2010 - 2011
• Received Master's Degree, Educational Administration
Biola University - 1994 - 1997
• Bachelor of Science (BS), Mathematics
Northern Arizona University
Sonia Stewart's Professional Experience and Training:
• ESSA Leadership Learning Community TN Representative – Council of Great City
• Schools Wallace Foundation (September 2017 – Present)
• Leading for Equity Panelist - National Urban League (2017)
• SEAD Educational Commission Member – Aspen Institute (September 2017 – Present)
• Leadership Talent Development Panelist– Nashville Public Education Foundation (2017)
• Schools That Work Feature – Edutopia (2017)
• Equity and Chronic Absenteeism – TN Equity Coalition (2016)
• Principal Advisory Fellow – US Department of Education (2015)
• Principal Advisory Council – MNPS (2016 – Present)
• Mayor's Youth Violence Prevention Council – (2017 – Present)
• Linked Learning and High School Redesign – ConnectEd (2016 – 2017)
• TN Lead Conference Panelist – TN Department of Education (2016, 2017)
• Chiefs for Change
• ASCD National Conferences (2009, 2011)
• Association of Urban School Leadership Training (2008)
• Christian Community Development Association Conferences (2005, 2007, 2008, 2010,
2012, 2014, 2015)
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Training (2013, 2014)
• Collation of Community Schools Conferences (2012, 2014, 2016)
• College Board National Conferences (2013)
• National Conference on Urban Education (2013)
• Rutherford Instructional Coaching Trainings (2013-2015)
• Safe and Civil Schools Training (2015)
• The Multigenerational Workplace Training (2014)
• Turnaround School Leadership Training (2011-2015)
Rebecca Howard
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School Board Member, Larry Grohn, I so much appreciate your willingness to shed light on a topic that most want to keep in the dark. As a former teacher, this was one of the most disheartening policies put into place while I was teaching.
Although this was a policy in some schools already before COVID, the hammer definitely came down on teachers afterwards. We were told to give students grades of 59, even if they did nothing. I was reprimanded for grading work for not only completion, but also correction. I always gave my students an opportunity to redo the assignment, even up until the day that grades were to be turned in for report cards or progress reports.
I have read some responses to your documentation that you have shared and see that people are making this a race issue. I want to make sure that everyone knows I have taught students from every race, socio-economic background, and home life. Regardless of those, when I had expectations set clearly for my students, almost all rose to the occasion. Not having any standard of merit for students is failing them in every way, and when I was reprimanded for holding students accountable, I realized I was in the wrong environment.
I always wanted to be a teacher and I was happy to do it, but when policy makers and bureaucrats change everything to pass students along so that they will have high graduation and passing rates in a district, they are not holding to their idea of no child left behind, they are actually leaving every child behind; the ones who are gifted and need to be held to a higher standard but are not, the ones on grade level and need to stay on the course outlined but not being held accountable to do so, and the ones who are behind who need some extra encouragement to spend extra time catching up so that they can get on grade level but are not receiving this because teachers have been told not to do it.
I once had a student who came to me speaking barely any English and was on a kindergarten level in 7th grade math. By the end of the school year, he was on a 4th grade level. You can not tell me that obstacles in life are not what makes us stronger when we have someone who encourages us and helps us to reach our best potential. I have seen it happen too many times with students from all walks of life.
When the ability to hold students responsible for their school work was taken from me as a teacher, it deflated my love of teaching and aspiration to inspire students to learn and grow. Again, this policy is failing all of the students and I truly appreciate Mr. Grohn’s willingness and backbone to share the truth with parents of students of Hamilton County Schools.
Tonya Dodd
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I have known Larry Grohn since he first moved to Chattanooga and joined our softball team. I have always supported his political endeavors, because of his servanthood and integrity. About everything has been said to reply to his opinion and I have not been surprised by any of them.
Brenda Washington, our resident apologist, has once again masterfully twisted other opinions to add credibility to her own opinion. Brenda, you amaze me, as you have done, seen or been exposed to every injustice known to man, yet you have managed to rise above it all. If only your memories were correct, you could write a great book. Well, I guess you could still do it and just label it as fiction.
What our Hamilton County School System has done was explained to me by my Papaw when I was 6-years-old. He had me in his back yard in my home town of Somerset, Ky., teaching me how to shoot a BB gun. He put a large piece of cardboard up against a tree and had me shoot at it several times. After doing so, he drew several circles around where my BBs had hit and several were right in the smaller center circle.
Then he took me inside to show Nanny how great a shot I was, and he taught me. I think we are doing the same thing now and we are harming our children. The divide between the private schools and government run schools is greater than ever, yet the government run schools are hitting their new mark, when you use the results to create the target. I miss the wisdom of my Papaw and I lost him way too early.
J. Pat Williams
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Lower the standards all you want. Math is not essential, neither is reading. Don’t worry about writing, that is not all that important either.
The ACT and the SAT are becoming less used by universities and college and these students who have passed through Chattanooga schools with lower academic standards will find themselves in remedial classes in junior colleges or community colleges. When it comes to writing, hopefully they do not go the university in Tennessee that I did and have to take an English Proficiency Test before they graduate.
What I am saying is that they can have very high grades in all of the courses that they took but, if they cannot write English correctly, (you have three chances) you have to take all of your English courses over and take the test again after that. I knew one man who made very good grades for the four years in college but never got his degree.
Most of the colleges and universities that have dropped the ACT and the SAT have replaced it with an essay.
Raleigh C. Perry