Brayden Hansen
Because she knew she would be absent the next day, sophomore Alexis Gilliam meets with science teacher Jess Self during Centers on March 13, to take a chemistry test over stoichiometry that she would miss.
Following concerns about Gretna Public Schools’s (GPS) current grading scale and research conducted by a committee of 30 educators and administrators, the GPS School Board voted 5-0 Monday night to switch to a 10-point grading scale starting the 2025-26 school year.
The new grading scale will be in an A-B-C-D format instead of the current numerical grades. According to a statement made by the district, this system “offers a more traditional and widely recognized measure of student achievement.”
One of the concerns regarding the current grading scale is that students like junior Akya Kopetzky feel that their abilities are not accurately represented.
“Students from other schools are basically stealing scholarships and college applications from us,” Kopetzky said. “A ‘B’ grade in Gretna is an ‘A’ grade in another district. Colleges just see letters, ‘A’ or ‘B,’ even though the students could be putting in the same amount or even more effort.”
The adoption of the new grading scale should ease those concerns as GPS will join the majority when it comes to grading scales in the Metro Area as school districts such as Omaha Public Schools, Papillion La Vista Community Schools, and Bellevue Public Schools already have traditional 10-point scales. Millard Public Schools has a 7-point scale; however, in an email sent to parents on March 4, Millard announced they will be changing their grading scale to the 10-point scale starting the 2025-26 school year as well.
“I think the change will be helpful for students, overall, because it creates a more level playing field between surrounding schools,” science teacher Nolan Field said. “They’ll get the same scholarships and benefits as other students.”
However, unlike PLVCS and most universities, such as the University of Nebraska System (Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney), the district will not include pluses and minuses, such as A-plus and A-minus.
“Based on the research we looked into,” GPS Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Shawn Hoppes said, “three things happen when teachers are asked to use scales with an increased number of categories to assign grades to student work or performance: The consistency or reliability of the grades they assign drops drastically; the number of misclassifications increases exponentially; and the influence of subjectivity in the grading process grows dramatically.”
The change in grading scale will only impact grades going forward and will not alter past years’ grades. According to a statement from GPS, “student transcripts will continue to reflect the grading scale used for each respective year.”
“There were several complexities that made applying the new grading scale retroactively an impractical thing to do,” GPS Board of Education member Blake Turpen said. “Other districts who have moved to a 10-point scale have weighed these same challenges and they arrived at the same decision we did – none have chosen to make the adjustment retroactive. The most equitable way to implement the new scale will be to start with a clean slate in a new school year.”
Not everyone agrees with that decision, though.
“I think the new scale is annoying because last year I had a couple of grades that were 93 and 92 that could have been ‘A’s if they would have changed it before,” sophomore Sophia Cacioppo said. “I don’t think it’s fair for somebody like me for those grades to still be counted as ‘B’s instead of ‘A’s.”
While there may be some who echo Cacioppo’s sentiments, the goal behind this shift was to bring consistency across the district and align the grading system with dual credit courses, as well as local colleges and universities, and after the class of 2028, grades and GPAs will balance out.
“Many colleges, universities and K-12 districts use the 10-point grading scale, including our dual credit partner, Metro Community College,” a statement from the district said. “This change ensures our students’ GPAs are more comparable when applying for college and scholarships.”
The change is one that counselor Brandon Shostak welcomes.
“Our goal is to prepare students for the next step,” he said. “We help elementary students transition to middle school, middle school to high school, and high school to wherever that next step is. This 10-point scale is another step towards lining up with college, another step towards preparing students for the future, and I am always a fan of that.”
The shift to the 10-point scale will take some time for some to adjust to, but one thing will not change– the district’s accountability policy.
“What needs to be stressed is that we are not lowering our standards for students as we are still educating concepts and understanding that result in a grade earned,” GPS Board of Education member Greg Beach said. “We expect great things from our students and believe they will continue to strive and rise to the grades they earn and can be proud of.”
Overall, the student and community response to the announcement has been positive.
“I think it [the new grading scale] will be better because it’s more college-level style, so the transition from high school to college will be easier,” junior Korbin Stastny said. “It also makes it a lot easier to get good grades. Grades will look better and people will be a lot happier.”
While some wish the new scale would be applied to current seniors and be retroactive for current students, a majority of comments made on a post sharing the news on the Facebook group “Gretna Moms” have been positive.
“Hallelujah!! It is way past time, very excited for our kids!” one member posted.
With the district’s mission statement being “to accept all students unconditionally and maximize their potential,” district officials hope this is a move that will continue to do just that.
“The change should be positive for our students, and I am happy about that,” Turpen said. “The change to scale is a great first step and I am excited to see what additional improvements we can make to help Gretna students be successful in all their academic pursuits.”