BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON CHANGES TO POLICY REGARDING HONORS FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will hear for a third time and is scheduled to vote on changes to the grading policy that would phase out the valedictorian and salutatorian honors system at its next regularly scheduled meeting on January 18, 2017.

Under the proposal currently before the Board, seniors with a cumulative weighted grade-point average of 4.3 or higher (exclusive of college or dual-credit courses) would receive summa cum laude honors. Those with weighted GPAs of 4.0 to 4.294 would receive magna cum laude honors, and those with unweighted GPAs of 3.4 to 4.0 would receive cum laude honors.

If approved by the Board, the cum laude honors system would be utilized and students would be recognized at high school graduation ceremonies this coming spring. The current selection of class valedictorian and salutatorian would be phased out, but high schools would continue to designate and recognize a valedictorian and salutatorian through the 2017-2018 school year.

Also at the meeting, the Board is scheduled to:

  • formally approve a tentative negotiated agreement with the Secretaries and Assistants Association of Anne Arundel County.
  • vote on which plans regarding the redistricting of students from Broadneck Elementary School to Cape St. Claire Elementary School to take to a public hearing for additional community input.

Wednesday’s meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Parham Building, 2644 Riva Road, Annapolis. The Board will meet at 8:30 a.m. to vote to go into closed session, during which time it will discuss confidential matters as permitted by the Maryland Open Meetings Act including, but not limited to, legal advice, personnel, and negotiations. Closed session is not open to the public. The general session of the meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 10:00 a.m.

A complete agenda for the meeting accompanies this news release. More information on agenda items will be posted on the AACPS website in the Board Docs section under the Board of Education tab.

The general session of Wednesday’s Board meeting will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV, which can be found on Channel 96 on Comcast and Broadstripe, and Channel 36 on Verizon. High definition broadcasts can be seen on Channel 996 on Comcast and Channel 496 on Broadstripe. Rebroadcasts are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. the day after the meeting and 2:00 p.m. on subsequent Sundays.

The meeting can also be viewed live on the Internet here.

Archived videos of Board meetings can be found online here.

Board of Education meeting agenda, 1-18-17