The valedictorian is meaningless today. When I graduated high school, you could identify the #1 student. No longer. Everyone is a winner, no one is a loser.
When you have 188 valedictorians from Spokane and Kootenai counties, you know it’s time to put that title away.
Within the next five years, Spokane Public Schools will eliminate the valedictorian system as well as class rankings for high school students.
Instead, students will be ranked in deciles – the top 10 percent, top 20 percent, and so on – and the district will implement the Latin Honors system to recognize top graduates.
The changes come after feedback from students, parents and teachers indicated the current system was causing an academic arms race, said Steven Gering, chief academic officer for Spokane Public Schools.
Clara Coyote, a senior at Ferris High School and a student representative to the school board, said she is a part of that arms race.
Coyote knows students who didn’t take music classes because they worried it would affect their GPA. And she said she’s always considering her class rank – she’s currently No. 3. Her friend, fellow Ferris senior Lily Coleman, said she’s seen Coyote stress over an A-
Via Spokesman Review