Plano ISD may eliminate its class-ranking policy after a district task force concluded the practice hampers students' efforts to get into competitive public universities.

The task force on Monday recommended the Plano ISD board of trustees end the policy of ranking students by grade-point average in each graduating class. The board is set to vote on the policy change at its May 2 meeting. The policy, if approved, would first apply to students entering ninth grade later this year.

As part of the policy change, the district would maintain its practice of identifying—but not ranking—the top 10 percent of students in each class, a state-set standard for automatic admission at state-funded universities. Schools would still acknowledge valedictorians and salutatorians based on GPA and acknowledge students graduating with the honors summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude.

For high-performing districts like Plano ISD, students who fall outside the top 10 percent may compare favorably to their counterparts in other districts, said Susan Modisette, assistant superintendent for campus services.

After hearing from 61 colleges and universities, the task force concluded higher-education admissions departments weigh class rankings in ways that likely hurt the chances of candidates from the Plano district.

If the proposed policy is adopted, schools would begin to identify the top 10 percent of students during their 11th- and 12th-grade years, when students converge with other classmates at their respective senior high schools.