BERNE — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board has begun a discussion on weighted grades and the possibility of doing away with the recognition of the valedictorian and salutatorian. Though the board did not vote on the issues at its last meeting, Monday, some board members did not appear to be sold on the ideas and neither did members of the BKW administration.
"Your average is your average," said board member Edward Ackroyd on weighted grades. "If we were to vote now, I’d say, ‘No way.’"

The board’s discussion comes after a recommendation last spring by the high-school shared decision-making team. After three years of discussion, the team voted, 6 to 2, to recommend not weighting grades and also voted 6 to 2 to eliminate class rank.

Under a weighted-grade system, Superintendent Steven Schrade explained at Monday’s meeting, more difficult classes are factored more heavily into a student’s overall average than easier classes. For example, Schrade said, a non-Regents course may be given a factor of 1, a Regents course 1.2, and an advanced-placement course 1.4.
The problem, Schrade said, is that someone has to determine which classes deserve more weight. For example, he asked, should art and music classes be considered less important than math and science classes"
"As a high school principal for 15 years, I resisted trying to put weights on particular classes for those reasons," Schrade said. "Because, who’s to judge, really""

Schrade pointed out that college admissions departments always unweight a student’s grades when they receive a high-school transcript.

On the other hand, Schrade said, without weighted grades, some students may not take challenging courses in an attempt to keep their grades high enough to become valedictorian or salutatorian.
Board President Janet Finke asked Schrade if it were possible to keep a second tally of grades "off the books," solely for determining valedictorian and salutatorian.
"If we hired another secretary," Schrade responded.

Board member Maureen Sikule, who was on the shared decision-making team before running for school board, said that, in another school district, a plan is in place not to weight grades, but to give students additional points on their average for each eight AP courses they pass.

Advanced-placement courses allow high school students to do college-level work, and, depending on a final test score, many colleges grant credit for those courses.

BKW doesn’t offer nearly enough AP courses for that type of system, Schrade said, and the AP courses it does offer are mostly in the social sciences and English.
"The science and math folks might be at a disadvantage," he said.

Board member Karen Storm said that the discussion really boiled down to whether or not to have a valedictorian and salutatorian. At BKW, the first- and second-ranked students in the graduating class, based solely on their academic average, give speeches at graduation.

Voorheesville has developed a point system to confer the honor based on factors that include such things as leadership and volunteerism. Guilderland has done away with the titles all together, honoring all of its highest-honor graduates at commencement and choosing speakers based on submitted speeches.

Sikule said she supported having the honors, but changing the criteria to compensate for more difficult courses.
"We’re an academic institution, and, if you eliminate that, we’re no longer honoring academics," Sikule said.
The board also considered honoring a group of top students rather than the top two. However, Schrade said, "What are we trying to do" Everybody’s going to know anyway."

If the school district is to honor a group of top scholars, Schrade said, it should also consider honoring a group of top athletes on a sports team instead of a single MVP.

Storm requested copies of the shared decision-making team’s findings and Voorheesville’s policy so the board can continue the discussion next month

Other business

In other business at the Nov. 7 meeting, the BKW School Board:

—Watched a presentation by BKW student Courtney McDermott, who attended Tech Valley Summer Camp;

—Appointed Ackroyd and Sikule to the Facilities Planning Committee;

—Heard a complaint from Ackroyd, who saw a town election flyer which mentioned an opposing candidate’s special transportation request to the school board.
"I have a problem with that being publicized in a political nature," Ackroyd said. "I don’t want a person in the community to be afraid to come to the board to make a request."

Schrade said he was certain no school official allowed the information to become public;

—Reviewed the board’s goals for this school year, and added that an improved BKW website will be launched in January. Through the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), BKW has secured a specialist to work on the website part time;

—Approved a high-school drama class trip to New York City and agreed to contribute $750 to the trip; and

—Lowered the required average for the School Board Recognition Award from 95 to 90. Finke suggested the change to line up the board’s award with the high school’s high honors.