Board tables ranking change

By Eileen Oldfield Staff Writer
   The Board of Education tabled a vote to end class rank and student grade-point averages, pending further review and rewording at its meeting Tuesday, after protests from students, parents and teachers.
   The Board of Education tabled the policy under a unanimous vote, citing the ambiguous wording.
   Policy Committee Chairman Ken Lessing could not comment on whether the entire policy, or simply the wording, would be changed after the committee discusses it.
   ”I’m going to look at schools that don’t do it,” said Mr. Lessing. “I want to see how many schools stopped doing it, and why they stopped doing it. It seems like the colleges are still interested in it.”
   Mr. Lessing said the committee would seek input from the high school administration, as well as student input on the policy before changing it.
   Though the policy change said class ranks and student GPAs would be “eliminated,” officials already acknowledged the wording would be changed. Superintendent Donald Burkhardt said while class rank would no longer exist under the proposed revisions, student grade point averages would still be calculated, but would not be released to students.
   The Board of Education approved the practice in April 2006 and instituted it in the school district; however, it had not voted on officially adopting the change.
   The grade-point averages could still be obtained for scholarships, college applications, and honor society applications, he added.
   ”Every school calculates GPA on its own,” said Dr. Burkhardt. “It’s very important to realize that a Manville GPA is not the same as a Bridgewater or a Cape May County GPA. It’s comparing apples to oranges. Just about every college I’ve talked to recalculates GPA to put them on equal footing.”
   But the policy still drew concerns from students and their parents about college applications and scholarships.
   ”We should still practice having GPAs to prepare us for college,” said senior Matt Kita. “Why should academics at Manville High School be any different than sports? It (the policy) advocates mediocrity.”
   ”If maintaining a GPA in college is so important, why isn’t it important at M.H.S?” said Amanda Hussey, also a senior.
   Several teachers and parents at the meeting felt unpublished grade-point averages left students short when applying to colleges and when searching for scholarship.
   ”The student would like to know what their GPA is so they know where they fall within the range,” said Leslie Strauss, who teaches junior English. “I teach juniors. If they know what their GPA is coming in to junior year, they have something to strive for. I think if we want them to be adults, we have to treat them like young adults.”
   ”We should be doing everything we can to get our kids to go outside of Raritan Valley Community College,” said David Pfoutz, a parent. “If it’s low, they can bring it up to where it needs to be. This school should be doing everything it can to make sure these kids can attend top colleges.”
   Currently, students must fill out a request form in order to obtain their grade-point average.
   The policy, which also includes provisions on grading and standardized testing, was put into practice in April 2006, though never approved through an official vote, Dr. Burkhardt said.
   According to Dr. Burkhardt, the board enacted the policy change following a 2005 presentation by high school administrators. Before the change, students received a “weighted” grade-point average that assigned more points for harder classes. The new policy advocated a “pure” grade-point average that did not give more points for harder classes.
   ”It was not something the Board of Ed thought up or that the superintendent thought up,” said Dr. Burkhardt. “This was presented by the high school administration.”
   Dr. Burkhardt said the Manville High School administration worked in conjunction with Hillsborough High School — which is ending class ranking — while presenting the changes.
   Though the students won a policy revaluation, changes, if there are any, remain to be seen.
   ”We’ll have to wait and see once we get all the input,” said Mr. Lessing.