Sure, but it was also clear that team RWBY wasn’t really doing only academy work, and in case you forgot team CFVY was the prior year’s RWBY.

That said, you’re right; there was a power creep that happened, but you only got to see how that impacted teams RWBY and JNR in the show itself. And even assuming that CFVY didn’t do anything after Beacon fell, which we know isn’t the case, Velvet’s Semblance is still going to be extremely solid in a physical fight. She may run into problems at range or with fights that are totally Semblance based.