Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

 

Committee Report

April 21, 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, Burns, Hewitt, Haddon, Cromer, Gilreath, Hartnett and Ballentine

 

S. Printed 4/21/26--S.

Read the first time March 10, 2026

 

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The committee on Senate Education

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 and inserting:

    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)(A) Grades that reflect actual student performance are essential for maintaining academic standards and accountability. No public school district or public 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 required 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)(B) 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)(C) 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)(D) Districts Public school 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.Any district-selected assessments developed without the input and prior review of the teacher of students taking the assessment may only be used as a formative assessment to inform instructional practices and shall not factor into a student's course grade. These provisions do not apply to End of Course assessments. 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, studentStudent 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)(E) Prior to the start of the 2026-2027 School Year, the State Board of Education is directed to establish a task force comprised of three superintendents, principals, teachers, representatives of public school boards each, and three 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 June 1, 2027. The State Board of Education shall consider the findings and adopt then adoptany updates to the Uniform Grading Policy., and school Public school districts shall implement, any updates to the Uniform Grading Policy by no later than the 2028-2029 School Year. At a minimum thereafter, the uniform grading policy should be reviewed and updated every seven years.

    (F) Nothing in this section shall restrain a public school district from adopting policies regarding credit or content recovery.

    (G) For the purpose of this section, the use of "public school district" shall include charter school districts and the use of "public school" shall include charter schools.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.

 

GREG HEMBREE for Committee.

 

_______

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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) 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.

    (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 June 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.

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