At Monday’s Lewisville ISD board meeting, trustees discussed changing the current policy of ranking every student academically by GPA to only ranking the top 10 percent of each class and giving students who are not in the top 10 percent a choice to opt in or opt out of being ranked.
Chief Schools Officer Joseph Coburn presented trustees with a potential timeline to implement the new policy.
The timeline presented is as follows:
2018-19: create a playbook with drilled-down admissions requirements and practices from colleges and universities;
2019-20: counselor and staff training, implement parent education components; and
2020-21: first cohort implementation, which coincides with GPA
Ranks would first be released at the conclusion of the student’s sophomore year.
Coburn said students ranking above the 40th percentile typically choose to opt in, and those below the 40th percentile choose to opt out.
Trustees Jenny Proznik, Tracy Scott Miller and Kristi Hassett verbally expressed their disappointment with the implementation plan.
“I’m disappointed in the timeline,” Proznik said. “I think this is good for kids, and when something is good for kids it doesn’t do any good to delay. It’s too late for the class of 2018, and I don’t want to kick it down another year. We need to implement this next year.”
Miller said he is “not sure why students need to be left behind another year” and he “can’t approve delaying this new policy for several years.”
Staff said the reason for wanting to implement this over several years is to give students and parents a chance to be educated on the benefits and disadvantages to opting in or opting out.
“I think this is over-engineered,” Miller said. “There is a responsibility that counselors will have, but I think it’s a simple conversation.”
Board President Angie Cox said she sees the benefit in waiting.
“I know what happens when you push things out the barn,” she said. “I’m all for an implementation plan.”
“We just want to make sure it’s a good rollout. We will ultimately do what the board wants,” Superintendent Kevin Rogers said.
Trustees will make a decision on the how to implement the change in ranking students at its December board meeting.
