Butler BOE Argues in Favor of Keeping Class Ranking

Members of the agreed that class rank in the borough’s public schools should remain during the board’s workshop meeting Thursday night.

Board Member Cynthia Sokoloff brought the question of whether ranking should remain or be eliminated to the meeting after a similar discussion occurred during a policy committee meeting a few days earlier.

“We discussed whether we want to stop ranking our students,” Sokoloff said, noting that some local districts, such as Mountain Lakes, have eliminated class rankings. “The policy committee was somewhat divided. Ultimately, whatever the committee recommends will come to the full board for approval.”

Sokoloff said the major question is whether class rankings should be made public knowledge to the students, saying that students would still technically have to be ranked because many colleges request that number for application consideration.

“Whether we choose to disseminate it or not, it would still have to be calculated,” Sokoloff said. “So you’re not going to be eliminating the administrative nightmare of having to calculate it.”

Although Sokoloff said the “nasty side of it” – the interpersonal conflict and the “somewhat cutthroat rivalry that ensues when it comes to the final few decimal places” – can be a major argument against class ranking. The competitive aspect of it can also motivate good students to do even better, she said.

“It would be a shame for a kid to work his or her tail off to get to the top and not get a rank,” Board Member Heather Grecco said.

After discussion of how the potentiality of no rankings would affect valedictorian and salutatorian speeches at the end of the year, board member Karen Smith reminded the board that children currently vote on who they would like to see deliver those addresses.

Another major facet of the discussion was whether the ranking calculation process should be modified.

“If we want to keep class rank, then we have to meet with the guidance department and all other parties to decide if the method we use to calculate class rank is the most appropriate method,” Sokoloff said.

She explained that, as the policy is currently set up, a course that is not offered within the school building does not count toward rank. This includes classes via the Academy for Law and Public Safety and online courses.

“If a kid takes AP physics online, is that going to be a weighted course even though it’s online?” Sokoloff asked.

Board President Matt Lee said he sees merit in reevaluating the policy, noting that his son was ineligible for the National Honor Society due to being enrolled in the Academy.

Superintendent Mario Cardinale said he would like to form an advisory group that would include himself, members of the guidance team and high school administration. The group would review the current policy, as well as current practice in other districts, and then present its findings to the policy committee.