— Some Wake County students and parents are pushing for letter grades on the spring report card instead of a simple pass/fail on courses after schools were closed because of coronavirus concerns.

Apex High School sophomore Emma Fornes was among a group that launched a petition on Change.org for the letter grades on Wednesday. By Thursday evening, more than 2,200 people had signed on.

"I feel like we deserve to be recognized for our work," Fornes said, noting that a simple "pass" grade punishes students who performed well before the virus closed schools last month.

"Everyone should have the opportunity to record their Quarter 3 grades as their final grades for this school year because we worked super-hard, and that is what we earned," she said.

Jennifer Johnson, who has two children in high school, agrees, saying students in other states and private schools who may still get traditional grades – not just a pass – could have an advantage when they head to college.

"They are going to get real grades as GPAs, whereas, potentially, our students will not,” Johnson said.

The State Board of Education has already approved the pass/fail system for high school seniors so they can meet minimum graduation requirements. Seniors who were meeting expectations in required classes would be awarded a grade of Pass COVID-19, or PC-19. Students who were not passing as of March 13, when schools closed, will receive help through the North Carolina Virtual Public School to meet expectations, or they will receive a Withdraw COVID-19, or WC-19, grade.

"What has yet to be determined is what will happen for all other students," Wake County schools Superintendent Cathy Moore said Thursday.

The state board has held off on grading guidance for other grades to see if schools reopen in late May. If they do, officials will come up with a way to assign final grades. If schools don’t reopen, students will be graded on their work through March 13.

"It is not even a new normal because we don’t know what normal is anymore.” Moore said.

The Wake County Public School System is scrambling to distribute thousands of laptop computers and Wi-Fi hotspots to students who don't have hardware or internet connections at home so online learning can begin on Monday.

Because some students may not have equal access to learning, Moore said, grading will have to take that into account.

"This is turning people’s lives upside down in a number of ways," she said.

Students should continue to study hard at home during the online learning in case traditional grades are still used, she said.