The Greene County Schools board of education clarified action taken over the summer to implement a weighted grade point average for high school students. The weighting accounts for the increased rigor of college level classes by awarding students additional points. Students who earn an “A” in a high school course receive four points toward the calculation, while a students who earn an “A” in a college course taken during high school receive five points toward the calculation.
High school principal Karen Shannon said a committee put in extra effort to make sure the change would be fair to all students. Changing to a weighted GPA could be an advantage or a disadvantage to a particular students, Shannon explained. “We didn’t want to change the rules midway through,” she said.
The class of 2029 is the first class for whom weighted GPAs will be figured. That’s this year’s freshmen class. Upperclassmen will continue having their GPAs figured on a 4-point scale, with an A counting for four points regardless of whether it’s a high school or a college course.
The board approved the change.
The district will continue to pay tuition for students taking college courses. Board member Michelle Fields pointed out that provides a sort of “scholarship” to students, even without the qualifying for a scholarship from a college or university.
Shannon also provided additional information about a change in the student handbook regarding the school parking lot. She said law enforcement will participate only when accidents occur. She said she intends to patrol the parking lot, and if students drive unsafely she will wait with the erring driver until the parking lot is empty. Then the student will be able to leave.
The board discussed legislative priorities as proposed by the Iowa Association of School Boards. The IASB provided a list of eight resolutions and asked each school board to select two or three priorities for the IASB to pursue in the next legislative session.
The board selected literacy as a priority, supporting state policies to provide technical assistance for districts to fully implement the Iowa Content Standards; to support adoption of curriculum content standards by the Department of Education and stakeholder input rather than through the legislative process; to support curriculum decisions made by locally elected school boards; and more.
Another priority named by the board is that “schools must be open and welcoming to all students, and fully accountable and transparent to receive taxpayer dollars.” Specifically, accredited private schools that accept education savings account funds (state funds) should be required to accept all students. The resolution “opposes state policies that establish educational savings accounts, vouchers or any other program that uses taxpayer dollars to fund private schools,” as well as providing direct payment of taxpayer funds to private schools, parents, or for home school education.
The third priority seeks adequate general fund resources through state supplemental aid. The resolution includes increasing the budget guarantee to 103 percent to provide stability for districts with declining enrollment. It also states opposition to any limitation on the rate of growth of the total property tax rate and property tax collections for school districts. Click here for the complete list of 2025 legislative resolutions. Those selected by the Greene County board are Numbers 1, 6, and 7.
