SCNDLS said:

Believe me -- that was after I decided to do work in high school. My freshmen year, I did very, very little.

My academic career inspires no jealousy, I assure you, usually chuckles.

ThreadBare said:

Aiight then. . .
[Edited 5/30/08 7:36am]

It wouldn't surprise me if some of this had to do with a class/money/racial/social issue. The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District is probably one of the richest districts in the state of Texas. This school district has been in the news lately for their athletes using steroids and now the valedictorian situation.

Another thing to consider is that many of the students in this school district have parents/friends that are CEOs at many of the major companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, The Container Store, FedEx Kinko's, Tandy (Radio Shack), etc.). Also, many of the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks have children that go to that school district. This means that if a parent wants their child to shine, they can pretty much make it happen.

This girl's family doesn't appear to be on of the "big" players in the area. They seem to be a hard working family that wants the best for their daughter. Those type of people don't get to shine in GCISD.

I used to work in that area at a Kinko's. Many of those parents would come into our store and have us do their children's projects and "type" (or write) their children's papers/projects. They were willing to spend hundreds of dollars to do this (Kinko's charged $90 an hour and the average project would take 3 to 8 hours). This didn't include printing the $200 signs/posters.

It really upsets me that this girl has worked her butt off to achieve her high marks and the school district doesn't want to acknowledge her. Now they want to create an honor for her, but she'll never be able to say she graduated in the top of her class.

This girl will be ok. Besides, what does it matter once you're in college anyway. She did have a PERFECT score on the SAT (so she can go to any college she chooses). I heard on the news last night that she plans to attend The University of Texas at Austin,

daPrettyman said:

I hear what you're saying but this was the policy BEFORE this incident and it's probably the policy in MOST school districts around the country. I don't agree with it but it's not like they changed the rules at the last minute to purposely exclude her. And to be fair, the 4-year Valedictorian has a 5.64 and ain't no slouch either. I'm sure he was doing his own work.

That's why I don't think money, class, or status plays a part in this situation. But you're right, she'll get a full ride ESPECIALLY at UT with all the money THEY got. Plus theyl'll get publicity out of making a big show of giving her a full scholarship. Go, Horns!

I guess it just wasn't conceivable to the school board that someone would be able to achieve Valedictorian status in just 3 years. I still wanna know how the heck ANYONE in 3 OR 4 years gets a 5.898 GPA
[Edited 5/30/08 8:28am]

SCNDLS said:

I want to know that also. Maybe she did some extra credit work and achieved some extra points that put her over the 4.0 scale.

I also see your point about the rule being instated before this happened. It wouldn't surprise me if this rule was made for a situation like this previously.

Nothing surprises me about GCISD. They have some pretty low people in the administration office and on the school board.

POOK said:

yeah, ignorance of the law is no excuse!

SCNDLS said:

I'm a Texan, too.

sorta

ThreadBare said:

daPrettyman said:

Of course she can say she graduated the top of her class. She's just not the class valedictorian.