Board continues review of graduation honors policy; debate centers on GPA vs. percentage recognition

The Knox County Board of Education on June 2, 2025 continued discussion of a proposed revision to graduation honors that would move away from naming a valedictorian and salutatorian toward tiered recognition based on top-percentage cutoffs.

The item was returned to discussion during the policy-review segment. Reverend Butler asked the board to reconsider whether a percentage-based system is fair, suggesting a GPA threshold would recognize all students who meet a given standard rather than tying recognition to how other students in a graduating class perform.

District staff and a board liaison said the high school principals association proposed the change to recognize more students and reduce negative behaviors tied to pursuit of valedictorian and salutatorian status. Mr. Duplo (district staff) told the board that principals had discussed a Latin-style three-tier system as one option and that the percentage approach was chosen in part to produce a predictable cut line across schools.

Student representative Sofia Elkins, identified as the 2024–25 student board representative, told the board she opposed removing valedictorian and salutatorian because some colleges and scholarships use those titles in awarding aid. She said, “I do kind of have an issue with no longer identifying valedictorians or salutatorians. I don't know if you all know, but a lot of colleges offer scholarships if you're named as one of the two. … Liberty University, just to name an example, gives you a full tuition scholarship if you get named either of them.” Elkins also said several classmates narrowly missed top-10 percent cutoffs by hundredths of a point and were deeply disappointed.

Doctor Wilson (district administration) explained the principals had originally proposed GPA-based cutoffs but that GPA distributions vary across large and small high schools; using a single district GPA threshold could produce large, unequal numbers of recognized students at some high schools. Wilson said that if a university requests class-ranking information for scholarship eligibility, “that can be provided.”

Board members asked staff to return with historical GPA distribution data and counts (several members requested three-year distributions) to see how different options would affect student recognition by school. No vote was taken; the proposal remains under review and will return to the board for further consideration. The high school principals association reported unanimous support for the percentage-based option when speaking to staff.

The discussion also touched on related questions such as whether the district should separately recognize students who achieve a specific GPA (for example, all graduates with a 4.0+), but that option was not included in the current proposal and would require further study.

Next steps: staff will provide the board with GPA distribution data and estimates of how many students would qualify under various cut lines; the policy will remain under committee review.