DECATUR — Students in the Decatur High School will have the opportunity to retake classes they failed or nearly failed to improve their grade-point average, thanks to a new policy adopted by the school board at Monday’s meeting.

The new policy will allow students in grades 9 though 12 to request a grade replacement after retaking a course in which they previously made a D or F in order to improve their grade in the class and their overall GPA.

The new policy will affect about half of this year’s graduating seniors, according to data provided by high school counselor Nancy Cotter. A higher GPA will help students get into college and earn more scholarships, superintendent Larry Ben said.

Students will only be allowed to retake courses to improve their grades if the courses are being offered for other reasons and there is room for the students without hiring additional staff. Students taking the courses for the first time will also have preference over students retaking the classes.

“Basically, if there is an empty seat, they can have it. If there’s not an empty seat, they may be denied,” Ben said.

The courses retaken must also match the original courses in terms of objectives and rigor. Onlinecourses or courses offered in alternative environments will not replace a grade earned in a regular course, the policy states.

If the grade in the retaken course is lower, or the student does not complete the course, the previous course will remain, the policy states.

It will be the student’s responsibility to request the grade replacement rather than school staff, Ben pointed out. Grade replacement will not be offered to students earning grades higher than a D because it would begin to affect class ranking, he said.

The school board considered a similar policy last month but asked for some additional details to make the new rules more clear.

School board president Ike Owens said he appreciated the clarifications in the new policy.

School News, Pages 5 on 01/26/2011