Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

 

Committee Report

February 26, 2026

 

H. 5073

 

Introduced by Reps. Pedalino, Erickson, Montgomery, McCravy, Pace, Bradley, D. Mitchell, Terribile, Robbins, T. Moore, Sessions, Neese, Brittain, Crawford, Lawson, Edgerton, Chumley, Brewer, Chapman, Vaughan, Guest, Guffey, Cox, W. Newton, McGinnis, B. Newton, McCabe, Rankin, Gagnon, Gibson, J. E. Johnson, Long, Moss, Schuessler, G. M. Smith, White, Oremus, Teeple, Lastinger and Burns

 

S. Printed 2/26/26--H.

Read the first time January 29, 2026

 

________

 

The committee on House Education and Public Works

To whom was referred a Bill (H. 5073) to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by adding Section 59-29-250 so as to provide requirements for public school grading practices, to condition eligibility, etc., respectfully

Report:

That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:

 

   Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section 59-29-250(B) and inserting:

    (B) Grades that reflect actual student performance are essential for maintaining academic standards and accountability. No school district or school may adopt any type of grading system that requires a teacher to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student's actual performance on completed assignments. If a school district is found to be in violation of this section, the State Department of Education shall withhold ten percent of the school district's State Aid to Classroom funding.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1, by striking Section 59-29-250(F) and inserting:

    (F) Prior to the start of the 2026-2027 School Year, the State Board of Education is directed to establish a task force comprised of superintendents, principals, teachers, representatives of school boards, and high school students to evaluate potential revisions to the Uniform Grading Policy in order to enhance the utility of grades in evaluating college and career readiness, ensure high school grade point averages are meaningful indicators of academic achievement, and reduce the need for and use of credit recovery and content recovery programs. The task force shall make recommendations to the board for potential revisions in areas including, but not limited to, the use of term weighting in calculating final student grades, the method of awarding quality points on the basis of unique numeric final course averages when calculating student grade point averages, and the use of a 100-point grading scale. The task force shall report its findings to the State Board of Education before FebruaryJune 1, 2027. The State Board of Education shall then adopt, and school districts shall implement, any updates to the Uniform Grading Policy by no later than the 2028-2029 School Year.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.

 

SHANNON ERICKSON for Committee.

 

 

statement of estimated fiscal impact

Explanation of Fiscal Impact

State Expenditure

This bill specifies that no school district or school may adopt any type of grading system that requires a teacher to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds a student's actual performance on completed assignments. If a school district is found to be in violation of this provision of the bill, SCDE must withhold 10 percent of the school district's State Aid to Classroom funding. The bill also conditions eligibility for credit recovery and content recovery on the completion of required assignments. Additionally, the bill states that districts shall not require the inclusion of student performance on the formative assessments required in Section 59-18-310(D) or on any district-selected benchmark assessment in calculating a student's final grade in any course or subject. Further, the bill specifies that prior to the start of the 2026-2027 school year, the State Board of Education must establish a task force comprised of superintendents, principals, teachers, representatives of school boards, and high school students to evaluate potential revisions to the Uniform Grading Policy. The task force must report its findings to the State Board of Education before February 1, 2027. The State Board of Education must then adopt, and school districts must implement, any updates to the Uniform Grading Policy by no later than the 2028-2029 school year.

 

S.C. Department of Education. This bill will have no expenditure impact on SCDE. The department reports that it will manage the provisions of the bill by assigning duties to existing staff and by using existing equipment and supplies.

 

State Agency Schools. This bill will have no expenditure impact on the Governor's School for Agriculture at John de la Howe, the Governor's School for Arts and Humanities, and the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics. The agencies indicate that they can manage the provisions of the bill with existing appropriations. The Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School indicates that this bill will have no expenditure impact on the agency since it a GED program and does not use public school grading. Based upon these responses, we do not anticipate that this bill will have an expenditure impact on the School for the Deaf and the Blind.

 

Local Expenditure

This bill specifies that no school district or school may adopt any type of grading system that requires a teacher to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds a student's actual performance on completed assignments. Additionally, the bill states that districts shall not require the inclusion of student performance on the formative assessments required in Section 59-18-310(D) or on any district-selected benchmark assessment in calculating a student's final grade in any course or subject. Further, the bill specifies that prior to the start of the 2026-2027 school year, the State Board of Education must establish a task force to evaluate potential revisions to the Uniform Grading Policy. The task force must report its findings to the State Board of Education before February 1, 2027. The State Board of Education must then adopt, and school districts must implement, any updates to the Uniform Grading Policy by no later than the 2028-2029 school year.

SCDE surveyed the seventy-two regular school districts and three charter school districts and received responses from twelve districts. Seven districts indicate that this bill will have no expenditure impact. One district reports that any costs associated with this bill can be absorbed by the district. One district anticipates costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill but reports that the costs are currently undetermined. The three remaining districts anticipate that expenses may increase by a significant amount. One district indicates that this bill may result in board policy revisions, legal reviews, public hearings, and increased administrative work due to grade appeals, parent complaints, documentation requests, hearings, audits, and compliance monitoring. This district also reports that teachers will need to receive training on new grading standards, documentation, and appeals, which will require additional personal development days and materials. The district further reports that if fewer students qualify for credit recovery, this may result in more students requiring remediation, tutoring, and summer school, which will increase staffing costs. One district anticipates that this bill will increase student failures and course repeaters, which will significantly increase staffing costs. One district indicates that this bill may increase the number of teachers needed to facilitate summer school and teach additional sections for students who need to retake courses. This district also anticipates hiring an additional graduation coach for each high school, due to an increase in the number of failures and more students not being on track to graduate.

 

 

Frank A. Rainwater, Executive Director

Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office

 

_______

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bill

 

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 59-29-250 SO AS TO PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL GRADING PRACTICES, TO CONDITION ELIGIBILITY FOR CREDIT RECOVERY AND CONTENT RECOVERY ON COMPLETION OF REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS, TO LIMIT THE USE OF CERTAIN ASSESSMENTS IN CALCULATING FINAL COURSE GRADES, TO PROVIDE ENFORCEMENT THROUGH WITHHOLDING OF STATE AID TO CLASSROOM FUNDS, TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO EVALUATE AND RECOMMEND REVISIONS TO THE UNIFORM GRADING POLICY, AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ADOPT THE RECOMMENDED REVISIONS.

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

 

SECTION 1.  Article 1, Chapter 29, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 

    Section 59-29-250. (A) In alignment with the Profile of the Graduate and state academic standards, grading practices in schools shall promote college and career readiness by measuring student mastery of rigorous material as demonstrated through completed assignments and assessments. Only academic performance may be considered in the assignment of grades in a high school credit course.

    (B) No school district or school may adopt any type of grading system that requires a teacher to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student's actual performance on completed assignments. If a school district is found to be in violation of this section, the State Department of Education shall withhold ten percent of the school district's State Aid to Classroom funding.

    (C) In order for a student to be eligible to participate in a district-approved credit recovery course as defined in the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy, a student must have submitted all required assignments for the course in a manner consistent with district policies for timely submission of student work.

    (D) In order for a student to be eligible to participate in a district-approved content recovery program as defined in the South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy, a student must have completed all required assignments for the relevant subset of the course in a manner consistent with district policies for timely submission of student work.

    (E) Districts shall not require the inclusion of student performance on the formative assessments required in Section 59-18-310(D) or on any district-selected benchmark assessment in calculating a student's final grade in any course or subject. As used in this section, a district-selected benchmark assessment is defined as an assessment that includes items not available for review by the classroom teacher in advance of administration or items covering content that has not been previously taught in the course. This section does not prohibit a district from requiring administration of benchmark assessments for the purpose of informing and improving instructional practices through evaluation and monitoring of student mastery of state academic standards. To further this goal, student results on district-developed benchmark assessments must be made available in a timely fashion to educators, students, and parents after administration of the assessment.

    (F) Prior to the start of the 2026-2027 School Year, the State Board of Education is directed to establish a task force comprised of superintendents, principals, teachers, representatives of school boards, and high school students to evaluate potential revisions to the Uniform Grading Policy in order to enhance the utility of grades in evaluating college and career readiness, ensure high school grade point averages are meaningful indicators of academic achievement, and reduce the need for and use of credit recovery and content recovery programs. The task force shall make recommendations to the board for potential revisions in areas including, but not limited to, the use of term weighting in calculating final student grades, the method of awarding quality points on the basis of unique numeric final course averages when calculating student grade point averages, and the use of a 100-point grading scale. The task force shall report its findings to the State Board of Education before February 1, 2027. The State Board of Education shall then adopt, and school districts shall implement, any updates to the Uniform Grading Policy by no later than the 2028-2029 School Year.

 

SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----