Baltimore public schools changed 12,542 grades from failing to passing

Maryland officials uncovered mass grade changes in the Baltimore City Public Schools district from 2016 to 2020.

Maryland Inspector General for Education Richard Henry published a report on June 8 that found 12,542 grades had changed from passing to failing in the period, contrary to district policy.

The investigation only included high schools because BCPS has privacy policies protecting student data from grades 2-8, and was supplemented by interviews with former and present teachers and administrators at BCPS schools, reported The Lion on Monday.

One high school was found changing 11.1% of grades from failing to passing.

Allegations of grade inflation at BCPS date back to at least 2017, when Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s Project Baltimore began covering the topic on Fox 45’s evening news.

The investigation was initiated by the government watchdog in Sep. 2020 and follows a 2019 investigation in the school district “where 15 percent or more of the past year’s graduating class had grade changes related to meeting graduation requirements.”

Many school officials justified their behavior as with the “rounding rule,” which allows grades to be rounded the nearest whole number. For example, a 59.5 could be rounded to a 60.

But investigators discovered emails that revealed administrators were told to change grades from a 58 or 59 to 60, according to the report.

The changes were usually made by guidance counselors and assistant principals.

BCPS defended itself by saying many of the scores were changed before the district changed its grading policies as a result of the 2019 investigation.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) called the findings a “clear moral failing by school administrators” who placed their own image over the well-being of their students.

“Too many Baltimore City children have been denied the education they deserve and robbed of opportunities to thrive and succeed. This scandal has broken the bonds of trust between city officials and parents, students and taxpayers,” Hogan said in a statement.

Hogan referred the OIGE report to the Maryland State Prosecutor and the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland for criminal investigation and potential prosecution, according to the statement.