Navigating the Legal Terrain of Grading Disputes

Court challenges point to better methods for ensuring fairness and accuracy in assigning students’ grades

In a quiet classroom in Stockbridge, Ga., a dedicated 5th-grade teacher faced an impossible choice: change her students’ zeros on a work assignment to 60s or likely lose her job. This wasn’t a hypothetical ethics question — it was reality for a Cotton Indian Elementary School educator in 2022. Her refusal to comply with the school district’s minimum grade policy led to her contract nonrenewal, sparking a legal battle that would reverberate through the education community.

Her case, Mimbs v. Henry County Schools, is not an outlier. Rather, it’s one of a growing number of courtroom sagas where teachers are suing school leaders over grade-change directives. Superintendents and fellow administrators are not just caught in the crossfire. They’re expected to lead the charge in resolving this complex issue that pits well-intentioned policies on student grading against teachers’ professional judgment.

So how do school system leaders navigate this turbulence? Four key strategies, illuminated by our analysis of recent legal cases, can help steer school districts toward fairer and more accurate grading practices and perhaps away from litigation.