A policy initiative to remove minimum grade floors in public education that first began in Sumter a couple years ago is close to becoming state law in South Carolina now.

Last week, the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill banning any school district from adopting any grading system that requires teachers to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student's actual performance, and now the legislation only needs the governor's signature to become law.

On April 29, the state Senate unanimously supported the bill, 43-0.

If Gov. Henry McMaster signs it, South Carolina would become the first state to ban minimum grades, and state Sen. Jeff Zell, R-Sumter, spoke Monday on the legislative process. A former member of Sumter School District's Board of Trustees, Zell originally authored the legislation about a year ago.

Zell was a local school board member for essentially two years in 2023-24, and he and four other trustees in August 2024 - in a 5-3 vote - removed a longstanding Sumter School District policy that required teachers to give students at least a 50% as a quarterly grade floor as opposed to final grades based on performance.

He and the voting majority at the time said minimum grading policies enabled mediocrity and were against the concept of work ethic. They also emphasized students should be held more accountable for their grades because teachers already provide students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery through a variety of channels of assessments and that there is a Multi-Tiered System of Supports already in place for children.

Trustees on the other side of the debate favored still offering more chances to students and that a quarterly grade floor instilled hope and a chance for students to eventually still pass a course later.

In an April 2024 survey conducted by the district, 83% of teachers were against the grade floor rule.

In the November 2024 election cycle, Zell ran for the area's state Senate seat and won and had to vacate his seat on the school board. Two other trustees who had also voted to remove the floor - Shery White and Dan Palumbo - also did not move forward onto the current school board.

Then, after the reshuffling, the new board under Chairman Shawn Ragin and Vice Chairman Brian Alston attempted to reinstate the 50% floor as one of its first policy initiatives in early 2025.

At that time, the new board leadership contested the 2024 survey was sent to all district users and other employees might have completed it, even though it specifically stated only teachers were to respond. They also said a single respondent could have submitted a survey multiple times, but they provided no supporting data.

Soon after the current board passed first reading on reinstating the grade floor, Zell put in his proposed legislation in the state Senate in April 2025.

"I introduced the bill in the Senate as a response to the current board trying to undo it," Zell said Monday.

The bill sat at the committee level last year.

Last spring to the surprise of many, including Zell, Sumter's board did not pass reinstating the floor at second and final reading, given a 4-4 tie vote with one abstention. Trustee Matthew "Mac" McLeod represented the swing vote that changed the outcome after his constituents reached out to him and all said they were against having a floor. Therefore, he voted in support of their wishes.

THIS SPRING IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

On Jan. 29, state Rep. Fawn Pedalino, R-Manning, whose district also includes portions of Sumter County, and 45 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives introduced similar legislation (H-5073).

Regarding grade floors, the legislation specifically reads "no public school district or public school may adopt any type of grading system that requires a teacher to assign a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student's actual performance on required assignments."

The May 6 House vote on the bill was 114-3.

Regarding signature approval from McMaster, Zell said he has not spoken specifically with the governor on the legislation, but he does not think the bill will cause him any concerns. He noted local legislation on Clarendon County that he and Pedalino introduced last year that passed both chambers in the General Assembly and then McMaster fully supported.

"He agreed to all of that one," Zell said. "So much so, he did a signing statement, which is not always the case.

"It wasn't a direct relation to a grading floor, but he shows great enthusiasm for anything that brings more transparency and accountability in education."

According to the legislation, its effective date is July 1.

Grade floors have become prevalent during the last 20 years or so across South Carolina and other states. A 2025 report from state research think-tank group Palmetto Promise Institute found at least 18 South Carolina school districts had grade floor policies in place.

With full passage, the ban on grade floors would also apply to charter schools in the state because they are also public schools.

This spring the board of directors of Sumter-based Liberty STEAM Charter School passed a policy to remove a 50% grade floor beginning with sixth-graders. However, Executive Director Trevor Ivey said Tuesday they would have no problem complying with the new state measure if it becomes law.

Zell added based on his experience as a Sumter school board member that when district administration implemented it about a decade ago, the grade floor rule "did not do what it was supposed to do."

"Based on achievement levels we reviewed as a board, it did not help better educate children," he said. "In fact, all it really did was allow the administration to hide the true failures and push kids through and socially promote them."

He said he hopes to raise the attention level on grade floors to the federal level and the U.S. Secretary of Education.