I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The New Mexico Public Education Department has adopted a statewide rule about when a student’s final course grade can be changed, saying the new rule "should result in the changing of grades only when warranted and should lead to increased public confidence in the process."
Public confidence had eroded with some Albuquerque Public Schools parents last year when an administrator ordered a Rio Grande student’s grade change in order to let him graduate on time and at the insistence of his parents — Bernalillo County Commissioner Teresa Cordova and former APS board member Miguel Acosta.
An APS investigation sided with the administrator, Elsy Fierro, on the grounds that school officials failed to provide the family with timely notice that the student was failing. However, when the state investigated, it found in favor of the school and charged that Fierro broke ethical boundaries by overstepping the teacher and principal. The charges were dropped, however, after a judge ruled that privacy restrictions prevented the release of the student’s records.
The black eye the grade scandal caused lingers, however. Something needed to be done at the state level, and now it looks as if the PED agrees.
According to the new rule, which went into effect for school districts on July 16, districts and charter schools are required to adopt written policies for any change to a student’s grade. At minimum, the policies should include signed written request from the parents or guardian of the student, a set deadline for taking the requests and the grade change must be based on articulated reasons. It also states that student privacy laws shall be adhered to and that there must be a "good faith attempt" to obtain written input from the teacher involved.
The entire rule can be viewed at the PED Web site here.
It’s a rule that had to be spelled out since it seems districts and even individual schools had their own policies that did not reflect the state’s stance on the matter. It will be interesting to see what APS comes up with and how other districts will react as well. APS is drafting its policy to be presented at a future board of education meeting.
