Lowcountry education leaders weigh opinions of proposed grade floor ban

I was fortunate enough to join ABC 4 News (Charleston) to offer some commentary on H.5073, Rep. Fawn Pedalino’s (R – Clarendon) ban on grade floors in public schools.  The bill has since been signed by Governor McMaster and will be in effect for the 2026-27 school year.

COLUMBIA, S.C (WCIV) — South Carolina lawmakers have approved legislation that would ban ‘grade-floor’ policies in K-12 public schools, positioning the Palmetto State to be the first in the nation to enact such a prohibition.

The bill, H.5073, received final approval in the state House on Wednesday and now heads to Gov. McMaster’s desk. The measure would prevent public schools and districts from requiring teachers to assign students a minimum grade higher than what their work actually earns.

The Carolinas Academic Leadership Network (CALN), an education policy organization, praised the bill’s passage, saying it would strengthen academic standards. The group has previously raised concerns about grading floors and cited a 2025 Palmetto Promuse Institute (PPI) report that found at least 18 South Carolina school districts either had such policies in place or reported using them. Bryce Fielder, the CALN director, testified against a proposed grading floor in Sumter County last year, a proposal that ultimately failed on a 4-4 school board vote.

“Minimum grade policies cause real-world harm by disincentivizing students from giving their full effort and creating a false picture of their academic performance,” Fiedler said in a statement. “This bold decision keeps grades honest and accountable.”

Support for the legislation extends beyond CALN. A poll conducted last year by the South Carolina Policy Council found that more than half of voters supported banning grading floors. Sam Aaron, the council’s research director, said the bill restores “merit-based standards” and ensures grades reflect actual student performance.

In addition to banning grade floors, the legislation includes other grading-related changes. It would require students to complete all necessary assignments to be eligible for course credit or content recovery programs, and it would prohibit districts from mandating that formative or benchmark assessments be included in final grade calculations. Such assessments are generally intended to monitor progress and guide instruction, rather than serve as summative evaluations, bill supporters argue.

The patchwork system currently in place, supporters say, creates inconsistencies in how student performance is measured throughout districts, while also making it more difficult for teachers to maintain consistent expectations in the classroom.

Dr. Dina R. Crews, the president of the South Carolina Education Association, supports the measure, as she believes preparing students for the next step in their lives is more important than any letter grade. “Parents need to see what their child is actually doing in class so they can have real conversations with the teachers on how to better support their child to help them be more successful. ”

Ryan Dellinger, director of education policy at the Palmetto Promise Institute, said the bill better aligns school grading practices with expectations beyond K-12 education. “Grade Floors do our students a disservice,” Dellinger said, “by setting low expectations that do not translate to college or the workforce.”