KINGWOOD — A proposed policy change would eliminate the valedictorian, salutatorian and Knights Honors at Preston High and substitute other academic honors for seniors.
Preston School Superintendent Steve Wotring told the board of education last week that it’s an attempt to settle controversies that occur each school year.
“It came through discussion last year with the high school and is the direction many in the state are going,” Wotring said. School Transformation Specialist Brenda Layton said that “every single year” a controversy arises over whether students are being ranked fairly. “We’ve got these kids up here who are all doing excellent things, and we end up not being able to recognize them right now, because of the way the rules are set,” Layton said. Wotring agreed.
“Every year I get parents in my office saying their child should have been valedictorian … or their child should have been Knights Honors.” But because only 2 percent are recognized as Knights Honors, some with high GPAs are cut off.
Board Member Bob Ridenour expressed concern that CTE students are not credited for more advanced courses in the same way academic courses are. The maximum GPA a straight “A” student in CTE could get is 4.0, he said. Wotring said continuing changes in CTE could change that as well in the future.
And the policy hasn’t been adopted yet, so comments on changes are still possible, he said.
The proposed change would take effect in the 2020-2021 school year. It would:
— determine the academic rank of graduating seniors by the cumulative grades of all courses in ninth to 12th grades plus any courses completed prior to ninth grade.
Under current policy, the valedictorian is the senior with the highest cumulative point average and the salutatorian is the senior with the second highest. Those two positions are eliminated.
— recognize graduating seniors with a 4.25 GPA or greater as graduating summa cum laude, those with GPAs of 4.0 to 4.249 as magna cum laude and those with a GPA of 3.75 to 3.99 as cum laude. Beginning with the Class of 2022, students would be recognized at graduation, based on these guidelines, “in some way chosen by the school, such as a sash, sticker on the diploma, different tassel, etc.”
— eliminate the Knights Honors, which recognized seniors ranked academically in the top 2 percent of the class. require, “any student who enrolls in Preston County Schools after the first day of his or her 12th grade year and wishes to be considered an honors graduate must calculate all incoming grades using Preston County Schools’ equivalent courses and grading scales.”
— change the criteria for the Principal’s Honors List and Honor Roll at the high school. Currently, PHS students with a 3.5 or above GPA are on the principal’s list and those between 3.0 and 3.49 are on the honor roll. The revision calls for students 3.75 and above to be on the principal’s list and those with 3.5 to 3.74 on the honor roll.
The proposed policy can be seen at prestoncounty schools.com or at the board office in Kingwood. Comments go to the superintendent for 30 days after the first reading Aug. 12. C
omments about this policy can be emailed to at swotring@k12.wv.us or by U.S. Mail to 731 Preston Drive, Kingwood, WV 26537. The board approved the policy unanimously on first reading.
