Awards and Honors

For the purpose of determining honors to be conferred during graduation activities, the District shall calculate class rank in accordance with this policy and administrative regulations by using grades available at the time of calculation at the end of the fifth six-week grading period.

For the purpose of applications to institutions of higher education, the District shall also calculate class rank as required by state law. The District's eligibility criteria for local graduation honors shall apply only for local recognition and shall not restrict class rank for the purpose of automatic admission under state law. [See EIC(LEGAL)]

The valedictorian and salutatorian shall be the eligible students with the highest and second-highest rank, respectively. To be eligible for this local graduation honor, a student must:

• Have been continuously enrolled in the same District high school for the four semesters immediately preceding graduation; and

• Have completed the foundation program with a distinguished level of achievement.

Breaking Ties

In case of a tie in weighted GPAs after calculation to the fourth decimal place, the District shall calculate a weighted GPA using eligible grades earned in AP/Dual Credit and Honors courses.

If the tie is not broken after applying these methods, the District shall recognize all students involved in the tie as sharing the honor and title.

The District shall recognize at the graduation ceremony the students in the graduating class with the 12 highest class ranks, including valedictorian and salutatorian, who completed the last two consecutive semesters in the District.

Honor Graduates

• Students who graduate with a cumulative GPA of 4.70–6.00 or higher shall be designated summa cum laude graduates.

• Students who graduate with a cumulative GPA of 4.25–4.69 shall be designated magna cum laude graduates.

• Students who graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.70–4.24 shall be designated cum laude graduates.

The local eligibility criteria for recognition as the valedictorian shall not affect recognition of the highest-ranking graduate for purposes of receiving the honor graduate certificate from the state of Texas.