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School board approves Clark Street waiver request to DPI under Wisconsin statute on class ranking
Summary
The Milton Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education on Aug. 25 voted to direct Clark Street Community School to seek a waiver from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to allow class ranking using exemplary artifacts rather than grade point average.
The Milton Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education on Aug. 25 voted to direct Clark Street Community School to seek a waiver from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to allow class ranking using exemplary artifacts under the district’s competency-based grading system.
The board approved a resolution asking DPI for relief from Wisconsin Statute 118.58, which requires high schools to prepare a class ranking of pupils on the basis of grade point average. The resolution says Clark Street Community School’s model does not award traditional grades or credits and instead measures student proficiency through portfolios of artifacts in reading, writing, mathematical modeling, research and communication.
Board President Bob Hesselbein put the matter before the board after the resolution was read into the record by board secretary Marnie Ginford. The board adopted the resolution by voice vote after brief discussion; no individual mover or seconder was recorded in the public transcript and the chair announced the motion passed.
The resolution states that, if DPI grants a waiver, Clark Street Community School will attempt to identify students for top-class distinctions by using the number of "exemplary artifacts" in students’ portfolios to distinguish otherwise equally proficient students. The resolution says the school anticipates identifying one student in the top 5% and two students in the top 10% using that metric.
Board members asked whether DPI was likely to approve the waiver; Ginford said the process mirrors a waiver sought in the prior year. No formal condition, alternative ranking method or timeline for DPI submission was included in the motion recorded on the public record.
Why it matters: The statutory requirement in Wis. Stat. 118.58 ties guaranteed-admission provisions to GPA-based ranking. A waiver would allow a school operating under a non‑GPA, competency-based model to preserve its grading philosophy while complying with college‑admissions rules that reference top‑ranked students.
The district’s action was procedural: it authorizes Clark Street Community School to submit the waiver request to DPI. The transcript does not record DPI’s response or a timetable for DPI action.
