I’m a parent fighting a high school grading issue, and I need advice on next steps or how to advocate better for students in general. TL;DR: Kid had a completed assignment signed off by the teacher but never entered into the gradebook (a clear clerical error that dropped his semester grade from an A to a B, hurting college apps). Teacher ignored student in-person pleas, the appeal got dismissed in teacher’s favor without hearing our side, and now I’m worried about the permanent record. Feels like the deck is stacked.
Quick backstory: My teen noticed the missing grade mid-semester, followed up in person during office hours. Teacher just ignored appeals thinking that it’s a late submission. Student emailed the teacher before semester ends about some other quiz/assignment/lab not graded but teacher closed out the semester like nothing happened. When school started back, the kid tried again, still nothing. Finally, I (parent) stepped in with proof (signed assignment sheet). We didn’t start the formal appeal, it was initiated by the Vice-Principal without our consent after teachers’ complaints. But it got resolved immediately in the teacher’s favor, without even reading our full evidence or letting us respond. The response basically boiled down to “too late, gradebook’s locked,” ignoring that teachers can often adjust for errors like this. It is actually written in the Teacher’s OneNote that she will be correcting last semester’s grades this month i.e. September,
Worse, the appeal process they initiated without our consent wasn’t even in our favor. It was a half-baked summary from the teacher’s notes, and they didn’t loop us in. All they want is to open a case and immediately resolve it without parents’ input. Now, I’m left wondering: Who gets access to this appeal file down the line? Counselors? Future Teachers? It feels like a black mark on my kid’s record that paints him as the problem, not the teacher’s sloppiness.
The bigger issue: This screams “teachers protecting teachers.” A quick search shows this teacher has abysmal ratings on RateMyTeachers (like, 1-2 stars out of 5 from 5 reviews) – kids complain about ignoring questions, not helpful, etc. Tenure seems to shield them from accountability. The student tried everything before the year ended, but breaks and radio silence derailed it. When a parent gets involved? Dismissed because of the “time gap” they let happen.
Sorry for the rant. I’m just pissed that a simple fix got buried under bureaucracy, and it could’ve tanked my kid’s GPA for no reason. High school should build kids up, not screw them over. AITA for fighting my kid’s grade?
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I’m a parent fighting a high school grading issue, and I need advice on next steps or how to advocate better for students in general. TL;DR: Kid had a completed assignment signed off by the teacher but never entered into the gradebook (a clear clerical error that dropped his semester grade from an A to a B, hurting college apps). Teacher ignored student in-person pleas, the appeal got dismissed in teacher’s favor without hearing our side, and now I’m worried about the permanent record. Feels like the deck is stacked.
Quick backstory: My teen noticed the missing grade mid-semester, followed up in person during office hours. Teacher just ignored appeals thinking that it’s a late submission. Student emailed the teacher before semester ends about some other quiz/assignment/lab not graded but teacher closed out the semester like nothing happened. When school started back, the kid tried again, still nothing. Finally, I (parent) stepped in with proof (signed assignment sheet). We didn’t start the formal appeal, it was initiated by the Vice-Principal without our consent after teachers’ complaints. But it got resolved immediately in the teacher’s favor, without even reading our full evidence or letting us respond. The response basically boiled down to “too late, gradebook’s locked,” ignoring that teachers can often adjust for errors like this. It is actually written in the Teacher’s OneNote that she will be correcting last semester’s grades this month i.e. September,
Worse, the appeal process they initiated without our consent wasn’t even in our favor. It was a half-baked summary from the teacher’s notes, and they didn’t loop us in. All they want is to open a case and immediately resolve it without parents’ input. Now, I’m left wondering: Who gets access to this appeal file down the line? Counselors? Future Teachers? It feels like a black mark on my kid’s record that paints him as the problem, not the teacher’s sloppiness.
The bigger issue: This screams “teachers protecting teachers.” A quick search shows this teacher has abysmal ratings on RateMyTeachers (like, 1-2 stars out of 5 from 5 reviews) – kids complain about ignoring questions, not helpful, etc. Tenure seems to shield them from accountability. The student tried everything before the year ended, but breaks and radio silence derailed it. When a parent gets involved? Dismissed because of the “time gap” they let happen.
Sorry for the rant. I’m just pissed that a simple fix got buried under bureaucracy, and it could’ve tanked my kid’s GPA for no reason. High school should build kids up, not screw them over.
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
info: what does “signed off by the teacher” mean in this context?
Many assignments are submitted electronically, was this turned in electronically or in person?
NTA for fighting, because you’re right, and because it could actually matter. Your kid actually earned the better grade and submitted the work on time. The teacher should correct their mistake and give the proper grade.
NTA, so depending on where you are it needs to be escalated to the board/ trustee. You can also request an in person meeting with admin. Make sure you know your rights.
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NTA but also one grade dropping from an A to a B really should hurt their GPA and make or break college apps. This is more of a learning thing for them as life is unfair at times no matter what you do and you just have to keep moving forward.
YTA
High school is when you need to take a back seat and let your kid advocate for themselves.
Something about your story doesn’t make sense. If by the time you got involved it was a whole new semester then of course it’s too late. Some lessons need to be learned the hard way.
Sounds like your kid plans on going to university which are often infinitely more bureaucratic and unforgiving. Consider it a teachable moment.
My mom tried to be too involved in my schooling and life in general when I was your kids age. Made it twice as painful to learn how to be an adult and navigate these kind of systems on my own. Would not recommend.
NTA. Have you contacted your school board? You could also email your state dept of education (if you’re in the US) and ask them who to contact. One bad grade can stop a kid from getting a full ride, so yeah, this is an understandable hill to die on.
YTA If this wasn’t addressed in the same semester, you should count this as a lesson learned and move on.
NTA. Your student did the right thing by trying to advocate for himself first and now you’re doing the right thing by stepping in.
If the vice principal isn’t helping, go to the principal. If the principal isn’t helping, go to the superintendent.
You definitely still have more steps that you can take before you run out of easy options.
Can you submit your own complaint instead of the VP doing it?
NTA, giving you the benefit of the doubt that you’ve confirmed that your child is being truthful about the assignment being signed off on. There is a chain of command. Work your way up until you succeed. If the teacher won’t entertain your appeal, go to the principal. If the principal won’t help you, go to the superintendent. If the superintendent won’t entertain the appeal, go to the school board.
NTA. Teacher dropped the ball and school we t into ass covering mode. Your son tried his best, so it’s time for you as a parent to step in.
NTA
Go above the principal.
NTA… do you have a superintendent you can reach out to? There is no way this is the first time this has happened.
Your son has a signed sheet by the teacher, showing a grade but she didn’t record it? What is the reasoning for administration to not change the grade? Is the teacher saying he didn’t do it and the sheet he has is a forgery? Bc I don’t understand how they can claim they can’t fix it when she said she’s fixing other grades this month.
Are you in the US?
INFO.
NTA. You have a right to contact the Superintendent, the School Board, The State Board of Education and your State representative.
You can start by typing up a description of the events, with copies of the evidence, and also copy various individuals from the list above, including the principal and the teacher involved so that everyone knows this issue has been escalated.
A child’s high school grades are a matter of record, and affect college admissions. It’s a serious issuie.
Find a lawyer well-versed in educational law and dealing with issues such as this. They are out there and they are worth the money. The school system will always have access to legal resources and try to shut you down, but lawyers who deal with these things know how to get things done when students have been slighted. Also, teacher unions have legal coverage for teachers who have student issues (whether the teacher is right or wrong, it doesn’t matter). I’m a retired teacher but I also raised 4 children in the same school system in which I worked. There were times when my children suffered at the hands of other teachers who let’s say, were not my biggest fans; think having a teacher’s child in your class who uses his/her parents position to misbehave, have an attitude, think he’s above the rules and work, you get the idea. I used a very fair and reasonable grading rubric which was provided to all students/parents at the beginning of the school year. Parents and students both had to sign it to show they had read it, understood it, and agreed to it. Yet, when their sweet little Johnny or Susie didn’t think they needed to do what everyone else had to, and their grade suffered for it, the teacher parent threw fits every time. When the grades were deemed fair and were approved, the teacher parents took out their anger with me on my children in their classes. So I know how these things can go and I know what goes on behind closed doors. You need some answers, at the very least, and you won’t get them unless you get a lawyer who can make the right demands.
Wishing you and you student the best.
You might want look into an educational advocate. If you’re unfamiliar they are people who work with families to deal with issues usually related to educational accommodations but they may cover this too. From second hand experience finding someone who regularly deals with the same schools/districts usually leads to the best resolution.
NTA. The teacher/school should absolutely correct the mistake. As a teacher, I hate hate hate online grading systems. Teachers are human. We make mistakes. I always feel awful when I have made an error in logging grades and my students (who are not at fault) have to wait for me to go through all the stupid red tape to get the administration to allow me to correct the error.
On a side note, I would take things like “ratemyteacher” with a grain of salt. Like so many online rating systems (yelp, google reviews, etc), my experiences is that the majority of people who use it are students who are displeased with their experience (and that is not always the fault of the instructor regardless of how the reviewer frames it). That said, in the situation you have described, the faculty and administration seems to clearly be at fault. I hope you are able to straighten this out. Good luck!
NTA. An in-person meeting is going to be more effective with this. If the VP isn’t willing to work with you, ask to speak with the Principal.
NTA- Your child earned that A, but got screwed over. In this day and age, even a couple points can make or break certain college aspirations. And the teacher being that impossible to work with, the school needs to reevaluate who they give tenure to.
Reach out to the superintendent, the school board, whoever you think could help you. You and your son shouldn’t get the run around over this. Good luck.
NTA – you have to let the kid try, but then step in as an advocate.
If this is 9-12th grade, it could have an impact to your child’s life costing thousands of dollars.
If this is an objective clerical error – teacher failed to enter grade and you have the receipts, you should absolutely continue to escalate. There is case law where schools have had to change a grade.
You may need to contact an attorney – all states have different rules. For example, some states require formal notice within 60 days. Get a paper trail.
NTA for fighting for your child, but you should have gotten involved earlier. It sounds like you waited until after the grades came out, but your kid was fighting on this mid semester?
I’m confused about something else:
>Finally, I (parent) stepped in with proof (signed assignment sheet)
Who “signed” the assignment?
>My teen noticed the missing grade mid-semester, followed up in person during office hours. Teacher just ignored appeals thinking that it’s a late submission.
Because if the teacher signed it, then they would have changed the score, so I am questioning the “signage” of the assignment.
NTA!
I came here prepared to say the opposite but this is the teacher’s mistake and they should fix it, your kid did nothing wrong and even followed up! I’m so sorry this is happening to you.
I had almost the same thing happen with a math teacher when my kid was in the 8th grade. Several assignments were signed off and returned but never recorded in the grade book, so they were zeros. It was extra-frustrating because I sat with my kid every night, sometimes for hours, doing the assignments, so to have them get no credit was infuriating. Early in the year, I started scanning every assignment so we had evidence they had been completed, and if something went unrecorded for more than a few days, I emailed it to the teacher, who got pretty grumpy about me “interfering with her job.”
I had an IEP meeting toward the end of the year and brought this up, with copies of all the assignments that still had not been recorded. One of the teachers said that Mrs. C had cancer and was struggling with her treatment, so we had to give her some grace. Oh, wrong answer. I pulled off my wig, revealing my bald head, and said Mrs. C has my sympathy, but if her medical problems are interfering with her performance and affecting her students’ grades, maybe it’s time for her to take a leave of absence.