For the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, the Houston Independent School District is adopting a new grading policy in alignment with the implementation of the district’s new online learning system, HISD @ H.O.M.E.

To ensure that students’ grades are not negatively impacted due to the need for online instruction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic:

• No district grades taken after March 12, 2020 can negatively impact a student’s overall average for the course.  
• If a student’s grade in the final grading cycle negatively impacts their overall final grade in a course, that final cycle grade will be omitted in the calculation of the final grade for the course.
• Individual schools have discretion for class assignments and grading, but they have been asked to be flexible and understanding of the burdens and limitations that COVID-19 has placed on students and families.

Parents and students are encouraged to save all completed assignments in one place if students are unable to submit their work digitally until further details are provided. More detailed information pertaining to grading can be accessed at www.houstonisd.org/HealthAlerts

The district is committed to equity and is working to ensure that students have access to technology and other resources necessary for their continued learning and growth.

HISD is also committed to helping support the non-academic needs of families during this challenging time. Families can take advantage of the following resources:

• The Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Department hosts a weekly webinar series that provides social-emotional learning tools to HISD parents and students, these webinars take place every Wednesday at 2 p.m. More information can be found at HoustonISD.org.

• HISD Wraparound Resource Specialists continue to provide their campuses and families with additional resources during this time, please feel free to contact your campus Wraparound Specialist if you need additional support for non-academic student and family needs.

• HISD Nutrition Services is providing free groceries through their food distributions at select campuses, please visit the HISD homepage (www.houstonisd.org) for more details.