Edmonton Public School trustees are being asked to look into its no-zero grading policy during a meeting Tuesday.
The review comes after a teacher at Ross Sheppard High School was suspended last month after giving students a mark of zero. Ross Sheppard has a practice advising teachers against handing out zeros.
School trustee Michael Janz has made a motion to debate what the board's position is on the “no zero” policies.
Currently, those decisions are made on a school-by-school basis.
Physics teacher Lynden Dorval had been teaching for 35 years when he was suspended for giving zeros for non-complete work, but the school would not confirm that.
Since the suspension, there has been support for Dorval, with many students and parents rallying behind him.
"When you have, as we've seen over the past couple of weeks, such a clear outcry and opposition to the no zeros approach, we would be wise and I think we're about to do that through trustee Janz's motion to have a discussion about no zeros…about assessment," said board chair, Dave Colburn.
The motion is the last item on the agenda for the Tuesday afternoon meeting because it's a late addition.
It would take a unanimous agreement to debate the issue Tuesday. If a single trustee objects it will be debated at the next board meeting, which will likely be at some point this summer.
Meanwhile a petition is being circulated in support of Dorval.
“Mr. Dorval, a diligent and respected teacher, evaluated his students and was wrongly suspended for doing so,” said Jacob Garber, the student who is organizing the petition.
He’s collected about 150 signatures so far.
It’s unclear if a decision on the no-zero policy would help get Dorval’s job back, but Garber is vowing to keep up the fight.
“If you don’t do the work, you don’t get a grade. Zero mark, zero grade,” Garber said.
“It’s as simple as that.”
With files from Bill Fortier and Ashley Molnar
