School districts facing an extended closure due to Coronavirus may encounter difficulties in adhering to their usual grading policies. Districts should review Board Policies EIA (LOCAL) and EIC (LOCAL) to determine whether they may need to alter the way they assign and provide grades or assign class rank to students. 

Temporary Changes in Grade and Class Rank Policies 

To modify class ranking methods, the board of trustees should adopt a resolution providing for a temporary deviation from Board Policy EIC (Local). For example, a district that typically determines final class rank late in the Spring semester (e.g., at the completion of the fifth six-weeks) may need to allow for determination of class rank at the end of the Fall semester. The board may accomplish this through a resolution finding that the usual method of class rank calculation is not feasible on account of closure for the Coronavirus epidemic, and temporarily modifying the requirement by utilizing an alternate method to calculate class rank. (A sample resolution will soon be available on the Sara Leon & Associates, LLC website: www.saraleonlaw.com) 

With respect to grading policies, districts may wish to review provisions relating to make-up work and progress reporting referenced in Board Policy EIA (LOCAL). If a district does not believe it will be feasible to provide progress reporting for student grades at least every 12 weeks due to the epidemic, the board would need to seek a waiver from the TEA to be exempt from that requirement. See Tex. Educ. Code § 28.022.  

Additional Considerations 

The Texas Administrative Code requires that for purposes of admission to an institution of  higher education in Texas under the Uniform Admission Policy (commonly referred to as the ‘ten percent rule’), a student’s class rank must be determined no earlier than the end of a student's 11th  grade year. 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 5.5(f). Accordingly, districts may need to determine what date comprises the end of a student’s 11th grade year for purposes of determining class rank. Section 5.5 also requires that the top 10 and 25 percent of the class not comprise more than ten or twenty-five percent of the class, respectively. Finally, the provision requires that class rank be reported by comparing the student's rank to the total number of students in the class. 

For students working toward the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation School Program or advanced/distinguished achievement high school program: a student is considered to have satisfied the requirements if the student completed all available and applicable curriculum but was unable to complete the entire curriculum because the remainder was unavailable to the student. Tex. Educ. Code § 51.803(b). See also Board Policy EIC (Legal).  Consequently, students would not be put at a disadvantage if they do not complete the required curriculum due to district closure.  

Finally, the Texas Administrative Code requires that in order to graduate high school under the Foundation High School program, a student must complete 22 credits in the required curriculum areas as outlined by 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 74.012. Available at: