Black and Latinx students at Oak Park and River Forest High School have scheduled a press conference for Wednesday to demand that school board officials convene an emergency board meeting to implement a no-fail policy for all students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The demonstration will be held at the school at 10 a.m.
Organizers from the Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL) previously met with officials from District Board 200 and top school officials to address what they see as a “lack of equity and empathy” regarding this semester’s grades.
“We believe that the administration and the board have the power to issue a resolution for a special COVID grading policy where all students receive credit for their current classes among other demands,” ROYAL said in a press release. “We believe that the board and administration should have been proactive months ago to deter inequitable impact on OPRFHS students of color and those disproportionately impacted by this global crisis. We have been and are still experiencing a once-in-a-century viral pandemic that has impacted people of color the most.”
ROYAL members insist the damage hasn’t ended there.
“The second pandemic of having our lives under attack on a daily basis as police continue to murder Black and Latinx people has compounded this trauma,” they said in the release. “Researchers agree that racial violence constitutes a pandemic against people of color yet institutions neglect to consider this violence a crisis.”
ROYAL members are hoping to have a new grading system put in place at least over the short term.
“We don’t agree with the high school’s decision to maintain an A through F grading scale,” they said in the release. “We have had family members pass away and have been severely affected by COVID. Many of our parents are essential workers who have had to put their life on the line so that society can continue functioning. Many of us have been sick ourselves. All of us have had to go through a year of online schooling and some form of online or hybrid schooling this semester.”
ROYAL noted that a recent survey found nearly three out of every four students or 73% said that e-learning policies have added more stress/pressure on their education.
“There is no reason that students should fail any class during this double pandemic,” leaders said. “Even in the best of times, failing grades do not teach us to work hard. Failure does not motivate. "Prior to the pandemic, University of Chicago researcher Camille Farrington encouraged us to recognize 'how detrimental it is for kids to fail and how much it impedes their likelihood to graduate.'”
In addition to a no-fail policy, ROYAL is seeking a commitment from the school board that all students receive credit for their current classes, all seniors graduate with 'Bridge Cash Scholarship Pandemic Assistance,' students be given credit for taking part in mental health and healing activities, and a vow that the school will work with ROYAL "as a student community partner where ROYAL shall be given the power to implement recommendations and hold OPRFHS accountable for learning through the COVID19 pandemic and the US racial violence pandemic. ”
Many of the issues are also being felt in other places.
Glenbard School District 87 Superintendent David Larson recently encouraged his high school teachers to "be creative" in grading this semester.
"Leverage this unprecedented time to develop unprecedented solutions," Larson wrote in a memo. “Given your unusual journey this year, it’s critical that we pause our typical grading framework and think differently.
Larson’s push comes at a time when he admits more students are now failing than ever before in the district.
As far back as last September, parents in the district expressed their outrage over the district’s decision not to return to in-person learning. Larson has also received heavy criticism for distributing a video that included a Black Lives Matter (BLM) resource page that listed ways to donate, sign petitions, and a map of planned protests.
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