Grapevine High School senior, Anjali Datta, holds the highest grade point average of her 471 person graduating class. Unfortunately, she will not receive the esteemed recognition of being the class valedictorian. Why you may ask – because she had the audacity to graduate high school in 3 years, instead of the 4 years, as indicated in the school district’s policy. As encouraged by guidance counselors, Datta started taking high school courses in middle school and was assured that if she had the highest grade point average, then she would be named valedictorian.

Although Datta’s grade point average of 5.898 is the highest of the school’s 103 year history, it is not enough to name her valedictorian, which brings a one-year college scholarship. Her closest competitor, Tyler Franklin, is graduating with a 5.640, which is a great accomplishment, but in no comparison to Datta’s. Ironically, there is no argument over who has the highest grade point average numerically; the disagreement is over something entirely different.
 

The school district’s policy states: “The valedictorian shall be the eligible student with the highest weighted grade-point average for four years of high school." The question for administrators is whether this means four calendar years of the students’ attendance, or completing the credits that should take students’ four years to earn? My answer definitely falls on the latter of the two.
 
While Franklin’s grade point average is incredible, it does not surpass that of Datta’s. Personally, it is sending a wrong message to students who want to do exceedingly well. I certainly understand that something could occur in her fourth year of school that would make her coursework suffer, but I seriously doubt that would deter her from her studies. People are writing on web logs saying “she needs to get a life,” “her parents are pressuring her,” or my personal favorite, “she needs to stop whining because she was not involved in anything else, but schoolwork.” Although someone balancing schoolwork, a social life, and extracurricular activities are admirable, like Franklin, the title of valedictorian is strictly about the highest grade point average. It is not about popularity – there are already superlatives for that. She is a phenomenal student and should be recognized as such. Did I forget to mention that she is being honored with an award for having a perfect ACT score as well?

Anjali’s father, Deepak Datta, was outraged when he heard of the news. "I have not heard of any educational institution penalizing a student for excellence – for completing a demanding set of classes 'too quickly,' " he said.”Anjali's experience will surely send a strong negative signal to other talented students trying to excel."

What makes this so sad to me is it seems that bureaucratic high school policies are more important than academic excellence. As said before, Franklin did an amazing job and should be recognized with the salutatorian title, but this policy should be revisited in case someone else does great work and graduates in three years. I wonder what would happen if a student with disabilities needs an extra year to get credits and earns the highest grade point average – would they receive the coveted valedictorian title? It does not appear so.