A 91 is a B in Fayette middle schools, but an A in high schools. Is that fair?

There’s a need to change the seven-point grading scale used by Fayette middle schools because an F is 69 percent and too many kids are getting a failing grade, district staff said.

But grading in Fayette schools is even more inequitable than that, district middle school director Tracy Bruno told school board members this week: An eighth grader in middle school who gets a 91 percent earns a B. A ninth grader in high school with a score of 91 percent in the same class such as Algebra I gets an A.

“We want to be more equitable when it comes to a grading scale for our kids,” said Bruno.

Fayette high schools have largely changed their grading scales to the 10-point scale so that an A is 90 to 100 percent, a B is 80 to 89 , a C is 70 to 79, a D is 60 to 69 and an F is 59 and below.

The Fayette County Public School board is being asked to move all middle schools to the 10-point scale with a vote at a meeting later this month. .

It’s not a way of lowering standards, but an attempt to be “more fair,” Bruno said.

Board chair Tyler Murphy said that Fayette County Schools grading scale has become “an ongoing conversation” because every time a high school wanted to change its scale, the board had to approve it. He said the proposed change will give the district a blanket policy.

While not totally balanced, the 10-point scale moves schools toward a more balanced approach, said Bruno.

In practice, some fourth and fifth graders are also getting B’s when they earn 91 percent, board member Amy Green said. Bruno said that should be reviewed.

A few public high schools in Lexington grade students on a 0-4 scale and that would continue to be acceptable for middle schools as well under the new policy.