The board approved a motion 4-3 during its April 17 meeting asking the district’s superintendent to work with the board’s policy committee to recommend amendments to the class rank policy and consider allowing more students to view their rank, with Angie Hanan, Shirley Rose-Gilliam and President Kristen Davison-Malone opposed.
FBISD’s board of trustees approved the current class rank policy in December 2019. Under the policy, FBISD ranks students’ GPAs in accordance with the campus their street address is zoned to. Students who attend academies or other programs of choice are not ranked against the school they attend but rather the one they were originally zoned to attend.
“I see both sides of the coin. But the bottom line is, I struggle to rank children with other children who they've never sat in a single solitary class with,” Hanan said.
The policy committee will prioritize reviewing the ranking policy and give the board a recommendation in August. A policy change would not happen by August, but rather recommendations as to whether or not the policy should be amended will be given.
“It’s on the agenda so that people know that we’re listening and people know that we want to know more about it,” Board Member Rick Garcia said.
However, FBISD Superintendent Christie Whitbeck pointed out that this timeline wouldn't give the board as much time to be as collaborative with teachers and students as the district would like.
“Navigating a school district of this magnitude takes a lot longer to move things and to get everyone in the same direction when changing course,” Davison-Malone said.
The policy committee was also asked to consider allowing more students to view their class rank. If the change is approved, students in the class of 2024 outside of the top 10% of their class would be able to request their class ranking. Campus registrars currently have access to this information, Board Vice President Judy Dae said, but the policy only allows for rankings to be shared with the top 10% of each class.
