MARLIN, Texas — One Marlin ISD parent is concerned about a grading guideline for online courses.
Rather than appearing as a numerical value, grades appear in the parent portal as a “P” for progressing.
“For me, it’s very terrifying because I’m the type of parent like I said I keep up with my kid’s grades," Monica Johnson said.
"With the parent portal, I was able to go in and keep up with his grades to see if he was getting higher or lower — with this new system that they’re trying to use it’s only going to show me a "P",".
The district says that this system was implemented prior to the 2023-2024 school year, and parent's still have access to view their child's grades in real time on other Marlin ISD platforms.
“While the "P" is on the Marlin ISD site and parent portal, that "P" is not in the actual platform that parents have access to," said Chief Operating Officer with Marlin ISD, Stacy Parker Knight.
"They will be able to see their students' actual grades in real time."
According to a letter that the district sent to parents, progress notifications for online courses will be sent home with students at the end of each grading period.
The district also hosts several parent meetings throughout the year, where parents are free to receive updates and information on their child’s grades.
Corrections: A previous version of this story said the online program started Jan. 8, 2024, not July 2023. Also, a woman we spoke to was indirectly identified as a parent of a current Marlin ISD student. Her child graduated from Marlin High School in 2023.
