Whiteland High School seniors and their parents will soon be able to learn their class rank regardless of if they need the information for scholarship applications.
The information had been kept confidential by the school district since 2013, when the high school and middle school moved to percentage-tier ranks, which placed less emphasis on competition among students and more emphasis on academic achievement, Superintendent Patrick Spray said. Under the current system, a student would know if they are in the top 10 percent of the class, for example, but not their exact numerical ranking.
The Clark-Pleasant school board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to revise the administrative guidelines after board member Beth Poe proposed the change as a compromise between the current policy, which only allows class rank to be transmitted directly between the school’s guidance department and colleges that require that information, and the former policy, which, before 2013, ranked the entire student body and released that information to each student.
The decision to revise administrative guidelines received applause from the audience of about 50 people.
Although Superintendent Patrick Spray was in favor of keeping the current system in regard to class rank, he was aware of Poe’s proposal before the meeting and asked her to present it as a separate action item and a revision to administrative guidelines rather than an amendment to board policy, Poe said.
Poe and board members Laura Cope and Isaac Brewer all voted for the measure, while Curtis Harris and Brian Bair voted against it.
The decision will not take immediate effect as administrators will have to go over the guidelines and revise them. Additionally, the change will allow seniors and their parents to obtain class rank after a certain date each year, Spray said.
“I wouldn’t recommend we make the change effective tomorrow,” Spray said. “It’s a revision to the administrative guidelines. The board doesn’t need to approve the administrative guidelines. It will be a simple edit of one of those items on the administrative guidelines. We’ll revise the guidelines to allow seniors and their parents to obtain (their class rank) after a certain date in the school year.”
The revision will be done during the process of approving student handbooks, Spray said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Spray also defended the decision in 2013 to get rid of the class ranking system.
“The emphasis at the time was to de-emphasize the sorting of kids (and) to put a greater emphasis on academic achievement and having kids evaluate their course selection based on interest and career pathways,” Spray said. “If (our guidance counselors) thought our current practice disadvantaged any students they would be the first to advocate for a change.”
More than half of high schools in the United States no longer have a policy of class rank, Spray said.
Disclosing class rank could have negative consequences on the mental health of struggling students, Spray said during January’s school board meeting when the issue gained traction following a petition to reveal class rank to parents of Whiteland seniors that was signed by more than 350 parents. In January, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction John Schilawski said the practice of revealing class rank could lead to schedule manipulation, as students would take easier classes in order to maintain a higher grade-point average and jump ahead in the class rank.
Since the class rank won’t be revealed until a certain date during senior year, however, the risk of schedule manipulation is a non-factor, Poe said.
“Until all scholarship resources and institutions align their application requirements with the philosophy that rank is not a valid measurement for success, we should never be a barrier or an extra stressor for our students during their last year with our school district,” Poe said. “I am asking us to be consistent and transparent when providing a rank for every senior when requested. Whether or not the rank number is more advantageous to submit than a percentage of rank is the decision of the student and parents.”
