12-Year Public School Teacher Asks Albemarle County School Board To Reconsider Grading Policy

Retired mathematics teacher Bill Munkacsy, a 12-year veteran of public schools, wrote this letter to the Albemarle County School Board respectfully asking the board to reconsider its new grading policy.

Munkacsy and nine other ACPS teachers signed this letter, which was shared with The I Love CVille Network by three teachers and two parents.

“As you are aware, the grading policy has significantly changed over the past two years,” explained Munkacsy, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from University of California, Davis in 2006. “With those changes, homework [and] practice [are] not graded, the minimum grade is a 50%, a student can retake graded assignments and there is no deadline for turning in work.”

Munkacsy taught in the Albemarle County Public School system for three years (2019 – 2022) before retiring early. He also taught in the Fluvanna County Public School system. Munkacsy now works in the private sector as a software developer.

“I understand the intent of the grading policy is to make a more equitable playing field for our students. In practice, this policy has reduced equity and students are achieving markedly less than they have before the new policy was implemented,” Munkacsy explained. “As teachers, we have been unable to share our experiences and opinions as to how these policies are affecting student learning, comprehension, confidence and classroom participation with the school board or the division. As teachers, we find it more difficult to hold students accountable and hold them to our statewide standards due to these policy changes.”

So far, the Albemarle County School Board and Superintendent Dr. Matthew Haas have ignored the teachers’ feedback.

Munkacsy will join us live on The I Love CVille Show on Friday at 12:30 pm.