Curriculum committee endorses DPI waiver to use Waunakee laude class rank for Wisconsin Guarantee

The Waunakee Community School District Curriculum Committee on Feb. 24 voted to endorse a waiver request to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to submit the district's laude-based class ranking in place of straight grade-point average when sending top-5 and top-10 percent lists under the Wisconsin Guarantee.

District curriculum director Tim Shale told the committee the Wisconsin Guarantee is established in state statute and requires high schools to submit ranked lists of their top students; many University of Wisconsin campuses extend preferred admission to students in the top 10% of a school's class and UW–Madison extends a preferred option for the top 5%. Shale said the district has used a laude system for local honors for more than a decade and is seeking alignment between local recognition and the state ranking submitted under the statute.

Shale said the district had already sent a ranked group to UW campuses last summer under the GPA model and described several technical limits of the program, including that preferred admission is not automatic and that students must meet other requirements such as mathematics prerequisites and apply under early-action timelines. He added that the district's waiver application is modeled on similar waivers granted to other Wisconsin high schools and that the district’s application would include its course guide definitions of laude-eligible courses.

Committee members were told the waiver requires a formal public hearing at the full board level before the application is sent to DPI. Shale said the administration was "cautiously optimistic" the waiver could be approved in time for the district to use laude rankings when it submits its next round of rank lists this summer for the current junior class.

A motion to endorse the waiver application and forward it to the full board for a public hearing received a voice vote in favor; the meeting record shows a unanimous voice "Aye," and the committee chair moved the item forward. The record does not specify individual vote counts. The full board will schedule the required hearing and, if it approves the waiver, will submit the application to DPI for final review.

Why it matters: The Wisconsin Guarantee ties local class-ranking methods to university admission preferences statewide, so a DPI waiver that allows Waunakee to use its laude system would let the district's local honors designations appear on the lists the universities use for preferred admission consideration.

Next steps: The committee's endorsement sends the waiver to a formal public hearing before the full school board; if the board approves, the district will file the waiver with DPI for review and decision.