The San Francisco school board abandoned a plan to give students automatic A’s on their transcripts this semester, instead adopting a credit/no credit grading policy on Tuesday evening.

The policy applies to middle and high school students. Elementary school students will only see teacher feedback on report cards.

Students who earn a “no credit” can make up required work and receive credit for those courses if they submit the work, with a deadline of July 31 for seniors and before the first day of fall classes for all other students.

The policy aligns with grading policies recommended by state universities to address the sudden switch to distance learning following coronavirus school closures in mid-March.

Superintendent Vince Matthews informed the board in his presentation at Tuesday’s meeting that giving middle and high school students all A’s could complicate admissions to colleges and would not be an accurate assessment of student progress.

School board members initially supported giving all students straight A’s two weeks ago, saying it was unfair to hold them responsible for the difficulties related the learning during the pandemic, with many students not having access to computers or online coursework.

“Let’s just consider this a wash and just give all students A’s,” said school board member Alison Collins.

But since the mid-April meeting, district staff assessed the impact on college applications and recommended a credit/no credit policy instead.

The board approved the recommendation unanimously.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker