The End of Class Rankings
AUSTIN HERNANDEZ Copy Editor
Effective with the graduating class of 2021, Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) will no longer recognize valedictorians, salutatorians or class ranks, according to an email released to rising senior students and their parents on June 23 from Superintendent Denise R. Jaramillo. To replace them, the district will implement a new system in which any students with certain grade point averages (GPA) will be recognized at their graduation.
According to the email, the Board of Education adopted a revised version of policy BP 5127 on March 10, claiming the new system honors many more students than the previous one, incorporating additional awards for students at graduation. The system would have three categories for awards: Summa Cum Laude title for a GPA of 4.40 or higher, Magna Cum Laude for students with a GPA of 4.0 or higher and Cum Laude requiring a GPA of 3.6 or higher. The district further released information about the new system on social media.
“Our new recognition process allows for ALL students who achieve academic excellence to be formally recognized,” an AUSD Instagram account said.
The immediate release of the news caused many upcoming seniors to become concerned for their graduation, with most having worked for class ranking.
“I believe that students who were in the top percentile of their class will be affected unfairly,” senior Jonathan Alarcon said, “It’s a shame that the school took away class rankings in such a sudden manner.”
The change, however, has been met with some opposition in the form of a student-created Change.org petition. The petition claiming that the change is unjustified was created by senior Caddie Yu currently has over 150 signatures and discourages the drastic change made by the district.
“Classes of 2021 and 2022 have completed more than half their high school years,” Caddie Yu said, “ Some have made it their goal to rank at the top of their class. We all deserve to have access to the ranks they’ve worked for.”
In response to the petition, an AUSD representative posted a comment regarding the issue of class ranks.
“We understand your concerns with this change. . . [however] if students REQUIRE their ranking to apply for a school/program/scholarship/award, they can make a request to the Assistant Principal of School Counseling and provide the official documentation indicating the requirement,” an AUSD Instagram page said.
AUSD has not mentioned any new information about the change since making that comment. However, the district has directly met with students voicing their concerns about the elimination of class ranks.