Increasing number of high school students have Fs on their report cards

**Laura Hagar Rush** · 11-08-2020 04:48 PM

The excerpt below is a sidebar to this two-part series from Sonoma West Times & News that looks at the causes and possible cures for the increase in failing grades among high school students.

The F Bomb, Part 1: https://townsyapp.com/news/the-f-bom...failing-grade/

The F Bomb, Part 2: https://townsyapp.com/news/high-scho...ailing-grades/

West county high schools have not been immune to this trendBy Laura Hagar Rush, Townsy Media

According to West Sonoma County Union High School District Superintendent Toni Beal, the number of failing grades (Ds and Fs) given to students at Analy, El Molino and Laguna high schools increased by 253%, rising from 406 in the 2019-20 school year to 1,435 in the 2020-21 school year.

Twenty eight percent of students in west county (511 out of roughly 1,800 students) have at least one failing grade. That’s up from 22% the year before.

“This data … shows us that students that are failing classes are likely failing more than one class,” Beal said. “This could be due to a variety of reasons.”

While many are eager to put the blame on distance learning, an earlier seminar on the question of failing grades, held by at Sonoma County Board of education named a combination of factors: including the mental stress of living in near permanent state of emergency, first with COVID, and then the wildfires.

What is WSCUHSD’s plan for dealing with this problem?

“Our plan for assisting these students is targeted at working with students individually to determine the appropriate support to reengage them in their learning,” Beal said.

She laid out the following plan of action to help students with failing grades:

“Teachers and staff are reaching out to students individually to determine what can be done to engage, motivate and assist these students. In cases where the issue is internet connectivity, these students are being invited to come to school in small “learning pods,” where they can access the internet at the school. Other students are receiving one-on-one or small-group instruction and assistance online,” Beal said. “Still others are receiving counseling and emotional support through our online services.”