Neither the Rowan-Salisbury School System nor Kannapolis City Schools will be making honor roll this year based on the school performance grades released by the State Board of Education today.

Rowan-Salisbury’s individual school grades ranged between Bs and Fs, and all Kannapolis City grades fell in the C to D range.

Each school was assigned a letter grade on an A through F scale. These grades are based on achievement and growth – 80 percent and 20 percent respectively.

East Rowan and Carson high schools, Rowan County Early College and Bostian Elementary School received Bs.

China Grove, Cleveland, Shive, Enochville, Faith, Millbridge, Morgan, Mount Ulla, Rockwell and Woodleaf elementary schools; China Grove and West Rowan middle schools; and Salisbury, South Rowan and West Rowan high schools received Cs.

Overton, Koontz, Granite Quarry, Isenberg, Hanford Dole, Hurley, Knollwood and Landis elementary schools; Corriher-Lipe, Erwin, Knox, North Rowan and Southeast middle schools; and North Rowan High School received Ds.

North Rowan Elementary is the only school that received an F.

In Kannapolis, A.L. Brown High School and Forest Park, Fred L. Wilson, Jackson Park and Shady Brook elementary schools each received a C school performance grade.

Kannapolis Intermediate, Kannapolis Middle and Woodrow Wilson Elementary schools each received a D.

This year, the letter grades are weighted on a 15-point scale. Next year, a 10-point scale will be used.

Across the state, 64.5 percent of schools received either Cs or Ds, and schools receiving a “D” or “F” grade will be required to send a letter home to parents, according to a press release from Kannapolis City Schools.

Both Rowan-Salisbury Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody and Kannapolis Superintendent Dr. Pam Cain have expressed frustration with the state’s grade calculation method.

At Rowan-Salisbury’s last school board meeting, Moody said she would rather the weighting focus more on growth and less on achievement, and that performance grades are inconsistent from state to state.

“There is great argument about this calculation,” she added.

Cain agrees that student growth should be a bigger factor in the letter grades. However, she also says Kannapolis City Schools will work to improve overall achievement.

“Our children come from different backgrounds, ability levels, and cultures, and they consistently make growth,” she said in a press release. “However, we know our scores are not where we want them to be.”

Last October, both school boards passed resolutions that called for an overhaul of the letter grade system and recommended an alternative grading system that would put more weight on student growth. Twenty-nine other school boards adopted similar resolutions.