The South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education approved Resolution 4916: Columbia High School Program of Studies for the 2026–2027 School Year by an 8-1 vote at its Jan. 29 meeting.
The vote included approving a new “floor grade” schedule for the district — a topic of extensive discussion throughout the meeting.
“We’re still using century-old strategies that aren’t working,” said Supt. of Schools Jason Bing in championing the floor grade change, saying it could help in closing the achievement gap, encouraging students in their studies, reducing absenteeism, and improving graduation rates.
The new floor grades are described in district documents (see below) as follows:
“Beginning in the 2026–2027 school year, Columbia High School will implement a 50–100 grading scale for marking period grades. This change is designed to support a growth mindset and ensure that all students have meaningful opportunities to recover, regroup, and demonstrate learning throughout the year. While marking period grades will reflect the 50–100 scale, individual assignments, assessments, midterms, and final exams will continue to be graded on the traditional 0–100 scale so students can clearly track their mastery of course content. All four marking periods will use the 50–100 scale, recognizing that students’ academic journeys are nuanced and that challenges may arise at different points in the year.”
BOE Member Deirdre Brown said she was not opposed to floor grades, but wondered why SOMSD was adopting them for all four quarters when districts such as Summit only utilized floor grades for three of four quarters.
“We are choosing West Orange to mimic, and I haven’t heard from the district why we think that is better than what Summit,” said Brown. “Why is West Orange better for us and our learners than what Summit and Irvington are doing… That’s the piece that I’m missing, is that fourth quarter.”
“I get it,” said Bing. “And I think we did note that we’d like to run it for a year. … What I have seen is kids, once they get that zero, then they just give up for the rest of the marking periods. I haven’t seen the reverse. But I can tell you, we’ll be looking for any of those things that do pop up and be more than willing to” adjust.
“Let me jump on my soapbox,” said Bing at a different point in the discussion. “We are extremely late to this party as a district. We are one of the only districts not to have a 50 to 100 scale, no matter how it’s implemented.”
“What I often hear is that folks move to SOMA for its diversity and progressiveness. My assumption is that also applies to the school district. Yet often when we try to make innovative changes, and I’m not just talking from a board perspective, we receive a lot of pushback for our progressive town. We are about 25 years behind, and I’m being conservative right now,” said Bing. “Our current high school structure in this country, in this, these two towns are not even close to reflecting what the real world wants. And that’s a systemic change that needs to be done nationwide. And there’s a ton of data to support that.”
Supt. Jason Bing
“We’re not about the product, we’re about the process. And the process is about learning,” said Bing. “Zeros do nothing. They never have, they never will. They’ve been in progress for over a century now and nothing has changed. No learning comes without mistakes. And as professional educators, part of our work is giving feedback to students and then giving them the chance to master the standard. Because what a zero does is say, ‘Okay, we’re done. I’m finished grading. Let’s move on to the next thing, though you haven’t mastered the standards or shown me anything.’ … Effective grading practice should prioritize our student growth, mastery of essential skills, fairness, ensuring that grades serve as tools for learning. And not as barriers to success.”
BOE Member Jeff Bennett expressed concerns about students moving forward without mastering math.
“You’re still failing,” said Bing. “50-100 scale, you’re still getting an F.”
“We agree 100%,” said Bing to Bennett. “We’re not passing anyone. … But I’d rather give a 50 than a 20 to a kid. I think a 50 at least gives a kid a chance.”
BOE President Will Meyer lauded district administrators for their work in putting together the Program of Studies and said he supported the new floor grades.
“I don’t see tension between providing rigor to our students, which our high school absolutely does, and having a pragmatic, compassionate policy of a grade floor,” said Meyer.”Because we are not supposed to be kicking the kids who are down already.”
“I think we have tremendously talented experts in our district who we have hired to put together a program that is going to meet the needs of our students,” said Meyer. “This is a plan that clearly has been vetted in committee. It’s a plan that has been imported from a school district that functions very highly … and I think the administration deserves a certain amount of deference in which of the vetted plans is appropriate for our district, with the understanding that our obligation to oversee and continue to look at the program is an ongoing one.”
BOE President Will Meyer
“It’s a living document that is always growing,” said Bing. “We’re seeing things and we can be nimble and we can make those tweaks as long as we are communicating those tweaks.”
“A huge thank you to the head of guidance [Dr. Jennifer Antoni] and the Curriculum & Instruction department,” said Brown, saying that the Program of Studies was greatly improved this year.
“As C&I [Curriculum & Instruction Committee] Chair and the a CHS parent, I’m really proud of the work that district put out in the Program of Studies,” said Board Member Shayna Sackett-Gable, “and I’m equally as proud to support it. There’s been a lot of talk about the grading floor, but I’d like to spotlight the tremendous number of courses that we offer. I find it incredibly impressive that the district is introducing 14 distinct career pathways creatively developed by using existing resources to meet student interests without requiring any additional staff. And these pathways alongside our vast course options, provide rigor, the rigor necessary to ensure our students remain competitive for any post high school path, whether they’re following a passion or discovering a new interest. And aligned with that, the commitment to success is, I believe, reflected in the grading philosophy that the district has proposed.”
Sackett-Gable continued, “I’m glad to know that you all are collaborating with nearby districts as well to align on best practices. So I want to commend the administrators and the counseling department for their hard work and pulling together this comprehensive and really student centered program of studies.”
A Board member expressed concern about cuts to Fiber Arts, but Bing assured the Board that the program wasn’t being entirely eliminated, just Fiber Arts 2.
When the Board voted to adopt the Program of Studies resolution, Bennett was the only dissenting vote, saying, “You made it very hard, but no.”
