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Picture a high school student who catches the flu in October. She misses four days, returns with a doctor’s note, and spends two weeks catching up. She studies hard, retakes the chapter quiz, and proves she understands the material. Then her report card arrives — and the B+ she earned on knowledge shows up as a C, because the gradebook mixed her test scores together with marks for the days she was out sick.
That scenario is exactly what a new proposal in Las Cruces, New Mexico, aims to address. Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS) is considering a revision to its grading policy that would draw a clear line: academic grades would reflect what a student knows and can do, while attendance, behavior, and work habits would be reported separately. The idea has sparked a wider conversation about one of education’s oldest questions — should absences affect grades?
What the LCPS Proposal Would Actually Change
At the center of the story is Policy IKAB, the district’s Grading and Reporting policy. The proposed revision would add explicit language stating that teachers may not lower a student’s academic grade because of late assignments, absences, or disciplinary issues.
That is a meaningful shift in how grades are defined. Today, many teachers combine several things into a single letter grade: test performance, whether homework arrived on time, how often the student was present, and sometimes classroom behavior. Under the proposed language, the academic grade would measure only one thing — mastery of content standards.
Grades Would Measure Mastery, Nothing Else
The proposal frames an academic grade as a report on learning. Did the student understand the fractions unit? Can they write a coherent essay? Can they solve the chemistry equations? If the answer is yes, the grade should say so — regardless of whether the homework that proved it was turned in on Tuesday or Thursday.
Supporters of this approach argue that a grade mixed with non-academic factors becomes harder to read. A “C” might mean the student partially understands the material, or it might mean they understand it fully but missed a week with the flu. Separating the two makes the grade a cleaner signal for parents, teachers, and the students themselves.
Attendance and Work Habits Get Their Own Lane
The proposal does not suggest that attendance, punctuality, or turning work in on time are unimportant. Far from it. The proposed language would have these factors reported separately, under conduct grades or a “habits of work” category, rather than folded into the academic mark.
This is an important distinction. The district is not proposing that absences have no consequences or that deadlines disappear. It is proposing that the consequence shows up in the right column — a conduct report that flags attendance patterns, instead of an academic grade that clouds what the student actually learned.
How the Proposed Language Works
The revision under consideration targets Policy IKAB, Grading and Reporting, and it builds directly on grading regulations the district already adopted. The proposed language would make explicit something the regulations have been moving toward for years: that grades communicate academic performance against standards, and should not evaluate attendance, participation, or effort as part of that academic mark.
In practical terms, the policy would work like this. A teacher assessing a student’s understanding of a history unit would look at the student’s answers, essays, and demonstrations of knowledge. Whether the student was absent for two days during the unit would be recorded — and could appear in a separate conduct or habits-of-work report — but it would not change the letter grade that reflects the student’s grasp of the material.
The district is also clear that this is a proposal, not a done deal. Public input is being accepted, which means families, educators, and community members have a window to weigh in before anything becomes final.
The Timeline: A First Reading on October 20
One detail worth getting right: the proposal is scheduled for its first reading at the Tuesday, October 20 meeting of the LCPS Board of Education. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. and takes place at the Dr. Karen M. Trujillo Administration Complex, 505 S. Main St., Suite 249.
A first reading is not a final approval vote. In school board procedure, a first reading is typically the step where proposed policy language is formally presented and discussed, often followed by a period of public comment before a later vote.
Anyone following the story should keep that timeline in mind. The proposal could be revised, delayed, or even set aside after the first reading, depending on board discussion and the public input the district receives.
The Building Blocks: 2022 Regulations and the January 2025 Revision
The proposal did not come out of nowhere. It is the latest step in a grading overhaul that LCPS began several years ago, and understanding that history helps explain where the district is headed.
August 2022: Grades Based on Demonstrated Knowledge
In August 2022, LCPS adopted grading regulations that moved the district toward standards-based thinking. The core idea was that grades should reflect demonstrated knowledge and skills rather than participation, effort, or attendance.
That was already a significant statement of philosophy. It told teachers, families, and students that the academic grade is meant to answer one question — what does this student know? — rather than serving as an all-in-one score for behavior, compliance, and learning combined.
January 2025: The 40 Percent Floor and “No Evidence” Rule
The district revised its grading regulations again in January 2025, refining the approach. Two details from that revision are especially relevant to the current proposal.
First, the January 2025 regulations established that work submitted by a student but showing no mastery of the material cannot be scored below 40 percent. In other words, a good-faith attempt that falls short still receives a floor score, rather than a zero that can mathematically make recovery nearly impossible.
Second, the regulations gave teachers a specific way to handle missing work: unsubmitted assignments may be marked as “No Evidence” — and that marking can receive a zero. The distinction matters. A zero for work never turned in is different from a near-zero for work that was attempted but missed the mark.
These two rules show a district thinking carefully about fairness in grading: protecting students from mathematically devastating scores on attempted work, while still giving teachers a clear mechanism for work that was never submitted.
What Stays the Same: Make-Up Time and Long-Term Deadlines
One common misunderstanding about proposals like this one is that they eliminate deadlines or expectations. The LCPS framework keeps existing make-up rules firmly in place.
Middle and high school students continue to receive one day of make-up time for each day they are absent. Assignments that were due on the day of an absence are submitted when the student returns. These are the practical mechanics that keep classroom work moving, and the proposal does not touch them.
Long-term projects and term papers announced at the start of a semester also keep their original deadlines, unless a principal or a designee grants an exception. That carve-out recognizes that some assignments — the semester research paper, the science fair project — are planned far in advance and cannot easily be rescheduled.
In short, students would still be expected to show up, meet deadlines, and complete their work. The change is about how those expectations are reported, not whether they exist.
Why Districts Across the Country Are Rethinking This
Las Cruces is not the first district to wrestle with the question of whether attendance should shape grades, and the national conversation helps explain why the proposal is on the table. According to the original reporting on the LCPS proposal, the district’s move fits into a broader shift in how educators think about what a grade is supposed to communicate.
The argument for separation usually runs like this. An academic grade is most useful when it tells the truth about learning. When a grade blends learning with attendance, punctuality, and behavior, it becomes a composite score — and composites are harder to interpret. A parent reading a “C” cannot tell whether the child needs tutoring in the subject or simply needs to show up more consistently. Those are two very different problems with two very different solutions.
The counter-argument is that schools are also in the business of teaching responsibility. Turning work in on time and showing up reliably are real-world skills, and some educators worry that removing them from the grade removes an incentive that keeps students on track. Under the LCPS proposal, the answer is that those skills still get reported — just in a conduct or habits-of-work section where they can be seen clearly rather than hidden inside a letter grade.
It is a genuine debate, and reasonable people land on different sides. What makes the LCPS version notable is how explicitly the proposed language draws the line: academic grades measure mastery of content standards, full stop.
The Two Sides of the Debate
To understand the stakes, it helps to hear how each side frames the issue.
Supporters say the proposal makes grades honest. They point to students who master the material despite absences — the student who was out with illness but learned the content at home, or the student whose family responsibilities occasionally keep them from school. For these students, an attendance-adjusted grade can feel like being judged twice for the same absence: once in the attendance record, and again in the gradebook.
Critics worry about motivation and classroom order. If attendance and timeliness no longer touch the academic grade, will some students take deadlines less seriously? Will teachers lose a tool that helps keep classrooms running smoothly? These are fair questions, and they are part of why the district is accepting public input rather than simply adopting the change.
Both sides agree on one thing: attendance matters for learning. The disagreement is about where attendance should be recorded — inside the academic grade, or alongside it in a separate report. That framing keeps the conversation productive, because it focuses on the purpose of a grade rather than treating attendance itself as the dispute.
What Parents and Students Should Watch For
For families in the Las Cruces district, the practical question is what to expect. Here are the key things to keep in mind as the proposal moves through the process.
First, nothing has changed yet. The October 20 board meeting is a first reading, and any final decision comes later. Until the board acts, current grading practices remain in effect.
Second, public input is open. The district is accepting feedback on the proposal, which means parents, students, and educators can make their views part of the record before a vote happens.
Third, the proposal is about reporting, not about lowering standards. Students would still need to demonstrate mastery of content standards to earn strong grades.
Fourth, attendance expectations are not going away. Make-up time rules, return-day submission rules, and long-term project deadlines all remain.
Keeping Attendance Visible in Its Own Right
One risk of separating grades from attendance is that attendance could fade from view. The LCPS proposal guards against that by giving attendance its own reporting lane — but families can also take an active role.
Parents who want a clear picture of their child’s attendance can start by understanding the school attendance rules in the US, which vary by state and district but share common principles about excused and unexcused absences. Knowing the local rules helps families distinguish between an attendance pattern that needs attention and one that is simply life happening.
It also helps to do the math. Many families are surprised by how quickly a few absences per month add up over a semester, and a dedicated attendance calculator for school makes it easy to convert missed days into a percentage — the same kind of number that appears on conduct and habits-of-work reports.
And for families unsure where the legal lines are, the question of whether attendance is compulsory is worth understanding. Compulsory attendance laws operate independently of any district’s grading policy, and they continue to apply regardless of how grades are calculated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Would the LCPS proposal eliminate grades for attendance?
No. The proposal would remove attendance, behavior, and work habits from the academic grade, but it would report them separately under conduct or “habits of work.” Attendance would still be tracked and reported — it would just appear in its own category rather than being blended into the letter grade for a subject.
What would happen to late work under the proposal?
Late work would still be expected and still have deadlines. The proposed language says academic grades should measure mastery of content standards, not whether work arrived late. Existing make-up rules stay in place: middle and high school students get one day of make-up time per absent day, and assignments due on the day of an absence are submitted on return.
What does “No Evidence” mean in LCPS grading?
Under the district’s January 2025 grading regulations, teachers may mark unsubmitted work as “No Evidence,” which can receive a zero. That is distinct from work that was submitted but shows no mastery, which cannot be scored below 40 percent. The distinction protects good-faith attempts from mathematically devastating scores while keeping a clear marker for work that was never turned in.
When will the LCPS board make a final decision?
The proposal is scheduled for its first reading at the Tuesday, October 20 Board of Education meeting at 6 p.m. A first reading is a presentation and discussion step, not a final approval vote. The district is accepting public input on the proposal, and any final decision would come at a later meeting after the board has considered that feedback.
Would the policy apply to all LCPS schools?
The proposal is a district-level revision to Policy IKAB, Grading and Reporting, so if adopted it would apply across Las Cruces Public Schools. It builds on district-wide grading regulations adopted in August 2022 and revised in January 2025, which already directed that grades communicate performance against academic standards.
Attendance tells its own important story — and it deserves to be read clearly, separate from the story a grade tells about learning. If you want to keep a precise eye on attendance numbers at home, the free tools at attendancepercentagecalc.com make it simple to turn missed days into percentages you can actually act on.
