Each school year, following the end of the first semester, the senior class excitedly awaits the announcement of class rankings. This is especially true for those included in the “top ten,” the group of students who have earned the highest cumulative district weighted grade point averages of their entire class. This year was no exception to the excitement.

However, beginning with the Class of 2020, class rankings will no longer be calculated, meaning that the excitement associated with the top ten students, as well as the titles of valedictorian and salutatorian, will no longer be part of a student’s senior year.

Instead, the concept of rank will be replaced by the Latin honors system. Students with GPAs of 3.5 to 3.74 will be cum laude and students with GPAs of 3.75 to 3.99 will be magna cum laude. The highest honors, summa cum laude, will go to the students with GPAs of 4.0 or higher.

The method of calculating grade point averages is also being altered as only one course will be weighted each semester; so, the maximum GPA would be a 4.2. Additionally, the Latin system and new method of calculating GPAs would better align with how CSU and UC campuses currently award honors.

The new system will break the tradition of having speeches from the valedictorian and salutatorian at graduation. Instead, the senior who best represents the values of the graduating class will be chosen to speak.

This change may reduce competitiveness and rivalries between the highest academic achievers in each class. Desert Sands Unified School District believes that this will improve students’ livelihoods by reducing pressure and stress. This system would hopefully provide a wider opportunity for students to take the classes they believe will prepare them the most, rather than classes that grant them the highest GPAs.

“In the sports field, you compete against others; but in the educational field, you should be competing against yourself,” said DSUSD Board President Gary Tomak, comparing education to a sports field. “As students, you should go beyond what you have to do [in terms of core classes] and pursue your interests.”

Meanwhile, DSUSD Board Member Donald Griffith was at first hesitant at the idea of doing away with the ranking system; however, he thinks that the new system might be better for the way school is currently taught.

Unfortunately for the students with high academic achievements under the current system, the Latin system may not change much with regard to the classes they take or the honors they receive. For example, students trying to attain the IB Diploma may not be able to change many of their courses since so much of their schedule is full of required courses.

While many opponents say that changing the current system provides no reward for students who challenge themselves academically, the Latin system does reward more students for their achievements. In a simulation using the statistics for this year’s graduating class, the district discovered that, according to the Latin system, a total of 125 students would have been awarded one of the three orders of Cum Laude. Compared with our current system, which allows 103 Senior Scholars to graduate in white robes this June, more students would be honored with the Latin system.