This is such a such a difficult situation for you and for the school with so many issues surrounding the pros and cons…I never am sure which side of the fence I am on. There has to be a line drawn somewhere but these are kids and things can change a lot in 6 months, so maybe it shouldn’t be a hard line? I would politely push…but also agree that it is probably not going to be the kiss of death for his collegiate hopes and dreams if he doesn’t.
In our school district, the students take an Iowa aptitude test in the 7th grade to see if they qualify for 8th grade Algebra which then is the gateway to subsequent honors math and science classes in high school. Both of my kids did not meet the minimum score to receive the recommendation to take Algebra. We elected to override the recommendation (which had the caveat that the kid could not withdrawal until after the first grading period and had to remain in the class if they had better than a 75). Both kids escaped 8th grade honor Algebra with a low A/high B and haven’t looked back. D16 is currently pulling a 92 in AP Calc AB and D18 has a 96 in Honors Algebra II. Neither got an A in Honor Geometry in fact they brought home mid Bs, sometimes they received A’s sometime B’s in their science classes.
Sure we probably did not play “the game” correctly. If D16 had taken the regular classes and not the honors she might have pulled As where she had B’s in her honors/AP classes and her GPA may have been higher and that may have put her in the top 10% of her class not her current top 17%. In Texas (where we live) that makes a huge difference. Who knows. I do know D16 has been accepted at all 12 of the colleges she applied to (although not Ivies) even with her occasional Bs. So keep pushing if you think your kid is capable. There are all kinds of paths to reach the goal. If they don’t let him in be flexible enough to make the path he is on lead you to the goal.