District 308 ends class rankings

Community Unit School District 308 board members have moved to phase out class rankings in favor of what is known as a Latin honors system.

Under a shift approved at a meeting Monday, students in the Oswego-based district will no longer be designated valedictorian or salutatorian, beginning with the class of 2018. Instead, they will be able to graduate with summa cum laude, magna cum laude or cum laude designations if their grade point averages fall within a certain range.

"[Class rank is] a weight on kids and families," board president Matt Bauman said. And to a lesser extent, it is a burden on the district and teachers facing projected budget deficits, he added.

The move followed a heated discussion at an earlier board meeting about the class rank system. Some members said the system emphasizes the quantity of courses a student takes and benefits students who can manage heavy course loads or whose families can afford to pay for classes in summer school.

It also was pointed out that current high school students already have invested time and selected courses based on the class rank system.

Under the new policy, class rank will be phased out for students in the classes of 2018, 2019 and 2020, who are in high school now. Though students in those classes will be recognized under the Latin honors system, an unofficial class rank will continue to be calculated using the current system.

Class rank and valedictorian and salutatorian designations will be calculated under the current system for the class of 2017.

Several other Fox Valley school districts have eliminated class rank: Batavia School District 101's will end with the class of 2019, and St. Charles District 303 ended rankings with the class of 2016. Indian Prairie School District 204, which serves parts of Naperville and Aurora, ended ranking with the class of 2012.