Students struggling with grades due to pandemic Students struggling with grades due to pandemic and last updated 2020-12-21 20:25:09-05 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas â Weâve seen what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to our communityâs present, but the virus is also affecting its future. Students here and across the country simply arenât making the grade. Failure rates are up and students blame remote learning and educators agree. Natalia Espinoza is your typical 12th grader. Sheâs in the W.B. Ray High School band, part of the Tex-Anns drill team, and was even homecoming queen. Natalia, however, is also part of a growing group: kids who failed a class during the pandemic.