5-point scale official for certain TOPS courses

Students at the five high schools under the Acadia Parish School District’s purview will now be competing academically on a new playing field.

Monday night, the Acadia Parish School Board officially adopted the measures associated with Act 359 of 2014 where students enrolled in certain advanced placement and dual-enrollment TOPS (Taylor Opportunity Program for Students)  courses will be graded on a five-point grading scale instead of the typical four.

“It [pushes] your better students to go above and beyond,” said Superintendent of Acadia Parish Schools John Bourque. “Whenever the principals met, they had some pros and cons, but I think it’s a good thing.”

The changes begin with this year’s freshmen class — the graduating class of 2018. 

According to the Louisiana Department of Education’s breakdown of Act 359, the legislation ensures that students going to four-year colleges have taken a college preparatory curriculum while in high school and have had every chance possible to receive TOPS.

The act also is designed to create incentives for students to take more rigorous Board of Elementary and Secondary Education/Board of Regents approved AP (advanced placement), IB (international baccalaureate), GT (gifted and talented) and dual-enrollment courses by giving these courses additional weight in the calculation of the TOPS grade point average.

While four out of the five high schools in the parish will have roughly 1.5 years to implement the scale, it will effect Midland High freshmen next year who choose to take the special biology course offered.

That class, along with the other classes under Act 359, will now feature the five-point grade scale, where A’s will earn five quality points, B’s will earn four, and so forth. F’s will still earn zero quality points.

Students in these courses will now be eligible for a GPA that exceeds 4.0.

Bourque explained that the principals of the high schools had recently met and discussed the parameters of Act 359 and all seemed to accept the legislation.

“Nobody has taken a course yet,” said Bourque. “The first course they’ll take is at Midland, a biology, next year. So they have two years to get ready for this with the courses being (mostly) for juniors and seniors).”

Two of those principals, Lee Ward Bellard of Church Point High and Cindy Abshire of Iota High, were on hand for Monday night’s meeting and echoed those sentiments and explained what the change will mean for the schools and students.

Bellard added that it will be the students that decide to take on the harder course load that will benefit in the end.

“When they (the students) compete for scholarships ... there are more and more each year on the five point [scale],” he said.

In other business, the board approved the following measures:

• Unanimously received the annual audit report for the year ending June 30, 2014.

• Unanimously acknowledged the Dec. 10, 2014, receipt of the funds and the official transcript of record pursuant to $7,358,000 of taxable limited tax bond (Qualified Zone Academy Bond).

• Unanimously received a report on substantial completion of the Iota Elementary roof.

• Unanimously received the bid for 100 Stanbury band uniforms, with accessories, for Iota High School at a cost not to exceed $48,097.50.

• Unanimously approved the following requests for trips by schools and others:

– Lee Ann Wall, Iota Middle School, to attend the 2015 Annual Conference of the Association of Supervisors of Curriculum Development in Houston, Texas, from March 21 through March 23. According to her letter request, Wall states that the conference provides for professional development in leadership, curriculum, administration and technology strategies.

– Cheerleaders, Church Point High School and Branch Elementary School, to attend the 2015 Universal Cheer Association National High School Cheer Championship in Orlando, Florida, from Feb. 6 through Feb. 10. Lanakii Cabble, Branch Elementary teacher and Church Point High cheer coach, explained in her letter the group received a bid to the event after receiving a high enough performance score and competition rank from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Cheer Championship on Dec. 6, 2014.

– Max Fontenot, Rayne High School Ag teacher, to attend a seminar at the Universal Technical Institute campus in Lisle, Illinois, on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30. Fontenot explained in his request letter that he received an invitation to attend and that the one-da seminar will contain hands-on training in advancements in automotive, diesel and industrial technology and it is worth 10 hours of continued learning credit.

The board will hold committee meetings this month on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and its next full board meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 2.