Board member should not vote on class rank.
Next week, when the Board of Education finally votes to change the policy on class ranking at Hillsborough High School, we encourage board member Judith Haas to abstain from voting.
Over the last 15 months as the board has debated changing the policy, it has become very apparent that Ms. Haas is arguing from the perspective of a parent and not as a representative of what’s best for Hillsborough students.
The proposal to drop the practice of ranking the students was first raised at a June 2005 board meeting, after board members and the high school’s guidance department studied the policy.
The recommendation to change the policy was supported by arguments that it serves no educational function, and because of the narrow statistical grouping of many of the school’s top students, creates problems for many students when making their college applications.
It’s not hard to imagine how little separates four or five students carrying 4.0 GPAs in a class of 600 or for that matter, 30 students at or near the top.
But when first introduced, with plans to end the practice for the class of 2007, Ms. Haas objected. It should be noted that also speaking against the change at the initial discussion was Ms. Haas’ son, a member of the class of 2008, who commented on his personal efforts to attain the top rank.
Since that first discussion, the proposed policy has been altered to allow students to still have class ranking included in transcripts sent to military institutions or scholarships that require the information.
Which seems to be the best of all possible situations for the district students who require class rank or believe they will benefit from its inclusion in transcripts, can get it.
But the near-perfect student who won’t be particularly helped by ranking won’t be harmed.
That would seem to solve the issues raised by parents and other board members, but despite the compromises, Ms. Haas continues to argue for delaying the policy change.
After so much discussion and so many exchanges, it’s all too obvious that her argument is only intended to delay implementation for the benefit of her family.
It’s unacceptable for a board member to vote thusly.
We urge her to abstain from voting at Monday’s meeting, and to allow the remaining board members to determine whether or not the policy is changed.

