Proposal to switch to weighted GPA challenged
By:Eileen Oldfield
While a unanimous vote tabled the weighted grade point average policy proposal for the time being, board members continued to debate the proposal during the July 16 Board of Education meeting.
Discussion topics included implementing the proposed policy to the school system, the inclusion of class rank in the policy, and calculating the weighted grade from the unweighted grade.
If the policy is approved following revisions, the board members intend to have all students in the high school on the new system by 2011. Incoming freshman would start on the new system, while current students would remain on the present system.
"It’s a three-year transition," policy committee chair Dave Kanaby said at the meeting. "We didn’t think it was fair to have people start in one system and transition."
The weighted G.P.A. is meant to replace class rank on the transcript.
In the policy, the weighted G.P.A. is calculated by adding a fixed number to a student’s grade. However, board member Marc Rosenberg felt adding a fixed number could cause disparities when calculating a weighted G.P.A.
"A fixed number gives a lower score a higher grade," said Mr. Rosenberg at the meeting. "What the fixed score says is someone who gets a lower score gets more back. Points create a higher score that is unfair across the board."
According to Mr. Rosenberg, adding a percentage to a grade would create a fairer system.
The inclusion of class rank in the same policy with its replacement concerned board members as well. The board abolished class rank from student transcripts in 2006.
While class rank would be calculated for school purposes, such as finding a graduating classes valedictorian or salutatorian, the school would not submit the rank to colleges under the new policy.