The room filled with silence and anticipation for what Mr. Voight would talk seriously about to the entire student body during the Renaissance Assembly. Mr. Voight presented the numbers of average GPA for each grade, a concerning issue for a few months now– failing classes, and unauthorized withdrawals from Santa Ana College Fall semester college classes.  

Mr. Voight presented the average GPA of the last semester’s SAC classes from each class. According to the numbers, the freshmen had an average GPA of 3.1, sophomores 3.2, juniors 3.2, and seniors (at the lowest) 2.4. The presentation also showed the passing rates of last semester’s college classes. It went from a 90 to a 61 percent; it dropped by 29 percent.

Mr. Voight elaborated on a few of the issues that were brought up during the presentation. “We took all these units, but the passing rate was 61 percent, but not just because failures and D’s, also because of the drops so late and they didn’t talk to us so we didn’t know they were dropping, so we couldn’t help them make a better decision,” Mr. Voight stated during the interview.

One reason for all the withdraws and failing grades was that students were not constantly checking up on their grades. Passing the class at the beginning of the semester doesn’t insure a passing grade at the end of the semester. “A lot of kids thought that because they were passing class at the midterm, that they could do whatever they wanted, and the final wouldn’t count,” Voight stated. SAC classes are broken down into points and how much an exam or assignment is worth in your final grade. Midterm exams are worth more than final exams at times and vice versa. However, if students skip a class or miss an exam because they still have a chance to pass, their grade is still affected, hence the decrease of passing rates in each class.

Not only do the withdraws due to failing grades affect the average GPA of each class, but it also affects the funding that Middle College High School gets to afford the college textbooks and other related expenses. “We get a grant every year that pays for some of our books and pays for our college counselor,” Voight stated. One of his responsibilities is to report out how we’re doing as a school, and when he reports that only 61 percent of students passed their college classes, it reflects negatively and they can, in return, lower the grant that they give MCHS. “That could affect our college counselors, and our ability to pay for books,” he stated. That means there would be a stricter budget to pay for books and also limit the ability to pay for classes that students need to take.

Unauthorized withdrawals have been a big issue this year, but what many students fail to recognize is that they were never allowed to withdraw from a class no matter how early or late in the semester they are. “People have forgotten that it has always been a rule, so now we have to make sure it doesn’t happen,” he stated. If you are failing a class, talk to your counselors so that they give you tutoring resources or authorize a withdrawal and put you in another class.

Students need to have 180 minutes a day of instruction in school, if they have a college class. If they drop from a class without telling the counselors, and a class isn’t substituted in their schedule, MCHS could be fined a big amount of money. “It’s very important that they let us know so that we can adjust their schedule correctly to stay within the law,” Voight stated.