Updated, 11 a.m. Friday, with comment from Sen. Bill Powers. 

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Beginning next year, local schools will switch to a 10-point grading scale for students after a bill strongly supported by Clarksville legislators passed in the both the state Senate and House of Representatives Wednesday.

The bill, known as SB0388 and HB0324, will require high schools to switch from the current 7-point grading scale to the more widely used 10-point scale. Students affected will be those in 9th through 12th grades.

The new grading scale was co-sponsored by Rep. Jason Hodges, D-Clarksville, in the House and sponsored by Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, in the Senate.

The new grading scale is as follows:

  • A: 90 to 100
  • B: 80 to 89
  • C: 70 to 79
  • D: 60 to 69
  • F: 0 to 59

Hodges told Clarksville Now the bill has been in the works for the last several years, and that it passed unanimously in the House.

He said it would align the grading scale with the majority of the country, putting Tennessee on a “level playing field.”

“Why that’s important is because our kids are at a disadvantage. So if you have a kid in Kentucky that has all 92s, and you have a kid in Tennessee that has all 92s, and they both apply for a scholarship, the kid from Tennessee with all 92s is going to have a 3.0 GPA while the kid in Kentucky is going to have a 4.0,” Hodges said. 

While high school students across the state are set to benefit from the bill’s passing, Hodges said it will particularly help the military families in Clarksville-Montgomery County who move frequently.

“Their son that might have been a junior went from a 3.8 GPA or a 4.0 GPA to a 3.0 GPA. It would ruin their opportunities at scholarships so it really benefits our community a whole lot,” Hodges added. 

Hodges said funding for the bill would require lottery scholarship money, but the state had plenty of funds available to cover the costs. 

Powers told Clarksville Now that he was proud to sponsor the legislation, and that as a result, the bill will “level the field for scholarship applications, resulting in more TN Promise Scholarships across the state.”

“This will also ease the burden of the transient families here in Clarksville, Montgomery County,” Powers told Clarksville Now.

MORE: Rep. Jason Hodges: Tennessee schools could switch to 10-point grading scale | VIDEO