Maine Township District 207 is dumping the years-old practice of automatically advancing freshmen and sophomores to the next grade.
The change will be up for a board approval in early June, following a new state law forbidding social promotions, which had become a rule in many schools to protect students against the stigma attached to repeating a grade.
That law leaves it to local districts to set academic criteria for moving to the next grade level.
Under District 207’s proposal, freshmen would need four units of credit to pass to the sophomore year, while sophomores would need eight to move on. The district already requires juniors to complete 12 units of credit to advance to the senior year.
Students missing those marks would likely be required to attend summer school. Those still trailing the required credits at the end of the summer session would be held back under the proposal.
Had the policy been in place last year, 151 students would have been held back at Maine East, 120 at Maine West, and 47 at Maine South.
