U.S.

School Board Ditches 'Unhealthy Competition' Of Valedictorian Titles

The school board said removing the valedictorian and salutatorian titles would prevent students from taking certain classes just to boost their GPAs.

School Board Ditches 'Unhealthy Competition' Of Valedictorian Titles
Getty Images / Jens Schlueter
SMS

A graduating class without any valedictorians or salutatorians?

That's a change one North Carolina school district is making after the school board voted to do away with those titles for graduating students.

The Wake County school board unanimously approved the measure Tuesday. The News & Observer reports starting in 2019 the schools will move to a system of recognizing seniors who have a weighted 3.75 GPA with Latin titles like cum laude instead.

Part of the reason for the change board officials cited was the "unhealthy competition" the titles created.

"Something that we're experiencing now, even with my little kids, is they're like, 'Mom, how come the kids that run the fastest get their names put up on the board at school? I read the most books last year, and nobody put my name up on the wall,'" WCCB news contributor Ashley Anderson said.

While there was no opposition at the school board meeting, The News & Observer reports some have accused the school of trying to be too "politically correct."

This video includes a clip from Time Warner Cable News and images from Getty Images.