Grading Scales in the Largest US School Districts (2026)
We checked the official grading rules of the 60 largest public school districts in the US. We could confirm 23 from the district's own documents. 17 of those 23 use the classic 90/80/70/60 scale. The other 6 move the C or D cutoff, or drop the D altogether.
The short version
| Scale (A / B / C / D) | Districts |
|---|---|
| 90 / 80 / 70 / 60 | 17 |
| 90 / 80 / 75 / 70 | 2 (Houston, Northside in San Antonio) |
| 90 / 80 / 70, no D | 2 (Gwinnett, Fulton) |
| 90 / 80 / 74 / 70 | 1 (Cobb) |
| 90 / 80 / 70 / 64 | 1 (Virginia Beach) |
5 of the 23 put plus and minus grades on the report card. In those districts a plain A usually starts at 93, and 90 to 92 is an A minus. We counted them by where the lowest A, B, C and D begin.
District by district
Ranked by fall 2021 enrollment. Numbers are the lowest percent for each letter in grades 9 to 12. Every row links to the district's own policy, handbook or grading page.
| Rank | District | State | A | B | C | D | Failing | +/− | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Miami-Dade County Public Schools | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 5 | Clark County School District | NV | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 6 | Broward County Public SchoolsUses B plus, C plus and D plus only. | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | Yes | Source |
| 9 | Houston Independent School DistrictLists number bands with words, not letters: 90 to 100, 80 to 89, 75 to 79, 70 to 74 (passing). | TX | 90 | 80 | 75 | 70 | Below 70 | No | Source |
| 10 | School District of Palm Beach County | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 11 | Gwinnett County Public SchoolsNo D. Anything below 70 fails. | GA | 90 | 80 | 70 | none | F | No | Source |
| 12 | Fairfax County Public SchoolsPlain A starts at 93 (A minus at 90). | VA | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | Yes | Source |
| 14 | Wake County Public School System | NC | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 15 | Montgomery County Public SchoolsNo grade below 50 percent when work is shown. | MD | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | E | No | Source |
| 18 | Duval County Public Schools | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 19 | Prince George's County Public SchoolsMinimum 50 percent for work done with good-faith effort. | MD | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | E | No | Source |
| 20 | School District of PhiladelphiaPlus and minus grades. Plain A starts at 93. | PA | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | Yes | Source (2020 to 2021 document) |
| 23 | Cobb County School DistrictC starts at 74. | GA | 90 | 80 | 74 | 70 | F | No | Source |
| 25 | Polk County Public Schools | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 26 | Northside Independent School District | TX | 90 | 80 | 75 | 70 | F | No | Source |
| 28 | Pinellas County Schools | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source (2018 document) |
| 32 | Fulton County SchoolsNo D. Anything below 70 fails. | GA | 90 | 80 | 70 | none | F | No | Source |
| 33 | Prince William County Public SchoolsMinus grades added for 2026 to 2027. Plain A starts at 92. | VA | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | Yes | Source |
| 44 | Greenville County Schools | SC | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 49 | Brevard Public Schools | FL | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 52 | Guilford County Schools | NC | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | F | No | Source |
| 53 | Milwaukee Public Schools | WI | 90 | 80 | 70 | 60 | U | No | Source |
| 59 | Virginia Beach City Public SchoolsD starts at 64. Plain A starts at 93. | VA | 90 | 80 | 70 | 64 | E | Yes | Source |
Things that surprised us
- Florida sets the scale by law. For grades 6 to 12, section 1003.437 of the Florida Statutes fixes it at A 90 to 100, B 80 to 89, C 70 to 79, D 60 to 69 and F 0 to 59. Every Florida district we checked matches it.
- Some districts give an E, not an F. Montgomery County and Prince George's County in Maryland and Virginia Beach use E for a failing grade. Milwaukee uses U.
- Several districts in Maryland and Virginia use a 50 percent floor. Montgomery County's rule says teachers "shall not assign a grade lower than 50 percent" when work is turned in. Fairfax County applies a 50 percent floor to quarter grades.
- New York City has no single scale. The city's own grading page says schools pick their own scales. San Diego Unified uses letters for how well a student meets standards, with no percent cutoffs.
- Georgia districts don't agree with each other. Cobb starts a C at 74 and passes at 70. Gwinnett and Fulton have no D at all, so 69 is an F.
- Memphis-Shelby changed its scale. Its 2022 FAQ says anything below 60 is now an F and an A starts at 90, which replaced its older 93/85/75/70 policy. The FAQ doesn't list B, C and D, so we left it out of the table.
How we checked
We started with the 60 largest districts in Table 215.30 of the NCES Digest of Education Statistics (fall 2021 enrollment). For each one we looked only for the district's own board policy, regulation, handbook or grading page. We didn't use news stories, forums or school ranking sites. When a district uses different scales by level, we list the high school scale.
We couldn't confirm the other 37 from an official source yet. Some post their rules in systems that block outside readers, and some leave grading to each school. We'll add them as we confirm them. If you work in one of these districts and can point us to the official page, please tell us.
Want to grade with any of these scales? The Easy Grader lets you set your own cutoffs, and the grading scale guide shows the percent, letter and GPA side by side.