Requires schools to use a 10-point grading scale to assign grades used in the calculation of the minimum grade point average required for initial award eligibility (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX)
Summary
HB 327 amends Louisiana’s Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) academic requirements to require schools to use the state’s ten-point grading scale when assigning grades that are used to calculate the grade point average for initial TOPS eligibility. The bill applies to public schools and approved nonpublic schools, and it ties the GPA calculation for Opportunity, Performance, Honors, and TOPS-Tech awards to grades earned under the ten-point scale beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and thereafter.
The bill also addresses a transition issue for nonpublic schools that did not use a ten-point scale during the 2024-2025 school year. Those schools must recalculate and resubmit recertified grades for affected graduating students with GPAs below 3.50, using the percentage values originally assigned by teachers, and submit the corrected grades to the Department of Education by August 31, 2025. In effect, the measure standardizes how grades are converted for TOPS purposes and can affect whether students meet the GPA thresholds for state scholarship awards.
Impact
HB 327 changes R.S. 17:5024, the statute governing TOPS academic requirements, by requiring the ten-point grading scale in the calculation of qualifying GPAs for initial award eligibility. It does not change the GPA thresholds themselves, but it changes the grading basis used to determine whether students meet those thresholds. The bill also imposes a one-time recertification obligation on certain nonpublic schools for 2024-2025 graduates, which affects school reporting duties, student award determinations, and Department of Education administration of TOPS.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have enjoyed broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition. It passed the House 87-2, the Senate 38-0, and later cleared both chambers again with overwhelming margins after a conference process, indicating general agreement with the policy goal of standardizing grade calculations for TOPS eligibility. The near-unanimous votes suggest the measure was viewed favorably as a technical or fairness-related adjustment to scholarship administration.
Contention
The main point of contention appears to have been the implementation details for nonpublic schools and the retroactive recalculation requirement for the 2024-2025 school year. The Senate considered an amendment offered by Senator Miguez, which was adopted 35-3, indicating some disagreement over how the grading-scale requirement should be applied or transitioned. The bill’s requirement that schools recertify grades for certain graduates by a fixed deadline could also have raised administrative concerns, particularly for nonpublic schools that had not already adopted the ten-point scale.