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Board holds public hearing on DPI waiver to use 'Laude' ranking for Wisconsin Guarantee admissions
Summary
District administration presented a waiver request to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction asking to substitute the district’s local 'Laude' ranking system for a strict GPA rank when reporting top 5%/10% for the Wisconsin Guarantee; the matter will be voted on in committee.
The Waunakee Community School District held a public hearing on a proposed waiver to the state program commonly called the Wisconsin Guarantee, in which districts report top-ranked juniors for preferred admission to University of Wisconsin campuses.
A district presenter described the local 'Laude' ranking system, which first calculates honors eligibility for students with a 3.0 GPA and then adds points for defined high-rigor courses. The presenter said the district seeks a DPI waiver allowing the Laude system to be used to identify the top 5 percent and top 10 percent of juniors rather than a strict GPA rank, noting other Wisconsin districts have obtained similar waivers.
The presenter told the board that using Laude would align how the district reports students for the Wisconsin Guarantee with local honors and graduation-recognition practices. He said the change would not alter most students’ admission prospects to UW–Madison because Waunakee historically sends many more than the top 5 percent to that campus; the top-5 cohort in a typical class is roughly 17 students.
Board members asked procedural and implementation questions about how many students would be designated and whether students must apply early action to receive the preferential admissions consideration. Administration reiterated that the student still must meet campus requirements and apply on the early timeline for the Wisconsin Guarantee to apply.
Because the request is a DPI waiver the district conducted the public hearing required by statute; administration said the formal vote on the waiver will occur at a committee meeting.
