One month after the school board meeting where parents were given space to air their concerns about the new grading protocols, members of the community are still not satisfied with the official response.

Marianna Fotos, a junior who started a petition against 80/20, was overwhelmed at how students have mobilized against it.

“I started a petition on whether the 80/20 should be removed, revised, or stay the same, and within the first couple of days […] we already had five hundred students sign it.”

She says she considers the response to her petition a powerful testament to student opposition against the protocol. “I feel like I’m in the majority with this one,” she said.

In addition to student complaints, parents have been a key voice in advocating for revision or abolition of the new protocol. 

“I thought that when parents were at the mic, they had some very good, thoughtful questions that they deserved answers to” said Bo Vossel, principal, referring to the board meeting in November. “There’s nothing more important [to a parent] than the success and well-being of your children, and so when things start to change, or when there’s an unknown and it has to do with your child, it’s very, very disconcerting.”

According to Fotos, there is a fundamental disconnect between students and adults over academic matters. The students she spoke with often cared most about the letter grade they received, she said.

“I think there are two very different perspectives,” said Fotos. “The perspective of the students I’ve talked to, which is over five hundred, is that not all kids study for fun. The mindset is different. They do it for the grade, they do it so they can improve and go to college or whatever they want. But they don’t do it for the learning.”