New valedictorian policy removes prestige
While the typical valedictorian definition acknowledges the single highest achieving student, the Conejo Valley Unified School District [CVUSD] has strayed away from this normality, and has once again proposed a new policy: the Latin Honors system. After 18 years of the current policy, Board Policy 5127, in place, where students are recognized for their high achievement of earning a 4.650 Indexed Grade Point Average [GPA] or higher, a presentation was made at the CVUSD school board meeting on Nov. 5 regarding the revisions. I wholeheartedly agree with the foundation of this presentation: this board policy is outdated and does not accurately reflect today’s high school environment. However, I do not believe the proposed system will positively change students’ social-emotional well-being, and will instead decrease motivation and incentive.
At the culmination of the 2024-2025 school year, 39 valedictorians were recognized at Newbury Park High School [NPHS], 66 at Westlake High School, and 18 at Thousand Oaks High School.
The Latin Honors Recognition System would replace the Indexed GPA Valedictorian model and begin in the graduating class of 2028, affecting current sophomores and younger students. The Latin Honors designations are as follows: Summa Cum Laude for a weighted GPA of 3.90 and above, Magna Cum Laude for a weighted GPA of 3.70-3.89 and Cum Laude for a weighted GPA of 3.50-3.69. With this new policy, the presentation projected the number of students who would qualify from the graduating class of 2025 data, revealing that 540 students across CVUSD would have achieved Summa Cum Laude, the highest Latin Honors designation, followed by 112 students with Magna Cum Laude and 124 students with Cum Laude. For something that should be a prestigious award, the number of students who would be recognized for the Latin Honors achievement is astronomical, and makes the recognition trivial.
I would consider myself a hard-working student; I always get my homework done, I spend my free time studying for upcoming tests and I truly believe that my education is worth my time. Even with this, I am not a straight-A student; I struggle in more subjects than not. Therefore, I do not believe that I should qualify for the valedictorian status. With the current policy, I do not, but with the new proposed policy, I would achieve the highest recognition award. This is a drastic difference and would honor students with an achievement that they may not have accurately earned. Receiving a valedictorian award should recognize the highest achievements, bringing light to the hardest-working students, allowing them to shine in their success. If the valedictorian policy should be changed at all, it should award the student with the highest GPA at the high school, not the top 40.
One of the main priorities when creating this policy was for students to focus on taking in-person classes on the NPHS campus, rather than making dual enrollment courses a priority. Taking classes through a local community college is an incredible opportunity, and students should absolutely take advantage of this option. If district administration believes that all students who are taking these dual enrollment courses are for a GPA boost or an easier class that they are guaranteed an A in, I hope they rethink this decision, as that is not the case for everyone. To address concerns about unfair disadvantages for students who are unable to afford the fees that these classes come with, dual enrollment credits should be completely removed from the GPA calculation for the Latin Honors system or the previous Indexed GPA system. The proposed Latin Honors system does not directly tackle the issue of dual enrollment courses affecting GPA in any way.
Being named a valedictorian should be a prestigious achievement and should reward students for their immense dedication throughout their high school career. With the current policy, CVUSD already has over 100 valedictorians combined between the five high schools. The new policy not only adds to this number by hundreds, but also continues to remove any honor and reward that valedictorian should come with.
