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Board approves 2025–26 GPR updates: grade posting and valedictorian rules added
Summary
The board approved updates to the 2025–26 Graduation Policy and Regulations (GPR) including new requirements that grades (including dual enrollment and virtual grades) be posted 10 days prior to graduation and that announcements of valedictorian and salutatorian be made privately after verification.
The Montgomery County Board of Education approved updates to the district GPR (Graduation Policy and Regulations) for the 2025–26 school year on June 24. The changes, presented by Christy Hatch, apply to the high school portion of the policy and add steps to ensure consistent calculation and communication of final grades and class ranking.
Hatch said the committee added language that "all grades to include dual enrollment, virtual, and grade corrections must be posted 10 days prior to the scheduled graduation ceremony." The update also requires that schools must not communicate the valedictorian and salutatorian until the transcripts, GPA and class ranking in PowerSchool match school verification worksheets. That verification must be documented by the school counselor, the assigned school analyst and the guidance specialist, and communications to the students who are ranked as valedictorian and salutatorian should be conducted privately rather than in public assemblies.
Hatch said the committee provided a step-by-step calculation method and included a sample worksheet and a blank worksheet to standardize GPA and rank calculations across schools. The update noted that records from an older system (iNow) have been phased out for current graduates and that PowerSchool will be the consistent source for calculations going forward.
Board member Portis asked where parents and students would access the worksheets; Hatch said the materials would be posted on the district website under the parent section and would be visible by the start of the school year. Cloud asked that the materials also be shared during the required Title I parent meeting and in paper form within the first 30 days of school so families without internet access receive copies.
A motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation to approve the GPR updates carried unanimously by show of hands.
The approved changes clarify timelines and verification steps for grade posting and ranking, and direct staff to publish calculation worksheets and guidance to parents before the start of the school year.
