Many high school students like to play something called the Grade- Point Average or the GPA game. It is a form of selecting the courses that will grant them the highest amount of points to achieve the highest GPA possible. A high GPA helps students look good on their college applications and can give them a boost when being put up against other applicants.
However, the school board received a report at its November work session about three major proposals that would alter the future GPAs of CFISD students:
1. Ranked GPA would only demonstrate who is in the top 10% of the class. If a student were not in the top 10%, then they would not see how they were ranked.
2. Any K-level course that already has an Advanced Placement and Dual Credit option would be eliminated.
3. A student would have two separate GPAs: One that is solely used for their class rank and one used for college applications on their transcript.
There has been much deliberation surrounding these three main proposals, including community feedback through surveys and meetings.
“The district is always looking at surrounding districts and what they do, and they really just want to make sure that they are doing the best for our students,” Jodi Meinhardt, coordinating counselor, said.
The first policy is no longer under consideration. Feedback showed some students and parents had concerns about not being able to know how close one would be to being in the top 10%. “They would not know,” Meinhardt says. “So whenever those students would apply for colleges, instead of the college just looking at their class rank to see what they are ranked, they would have to look at the student holistically.” Senior Pratamesh Bhat is part of the Superintendent Student Leadership Committee, a diverse group of students from across the district who give valuable input into these types of issues. Bhat was concerned about the proposed removal of K-level classes.
“Some people need K level because they don’t have the time, because they’re doing athletics and other sports,” Bhat says. “Instead, change the weight for K level courses.”
Bhat suggested that instead of removing the K-level option altogether if there was already a DC or AP class available, the district should change how many points are awarded to each level. Right now, K level and AP/DC are regarded as the same on CFISD’s weighted scale; they both weigh up to 7 points.
Some students consider this unfair as AP/DC
courses are more rigorous than K-level classes.
The district has agreed to move forward and accepted this plan to change the weight of K level courses to 6.5, but the year of implementation is still to be determined.
“You’re making a choice of not going to AP and getting a higher GPA,” Bhat says. “It pushes people to do academically better if you’re awarding it more by doing harder courses.”
The third policy is currently still in review as it would have the biggest effects on the system by creating two entirely separate GPAs. One would solely be used for class rank, and it would account for a student’s core classes, including math, science, English, and history. The second GPA would be their cumulative weighted GPA that would appear on their transcript and have core and elective classes included.
Bhat believes if this proposal is passed, he hopes the new concept is explained in detail to those who it will affect as it could be a great opportunity for upcoming high schoolers.
“I think it’s a good idea because people want to take classes like medical terminology or sports related classes and not have it affect their GPA,” Bhat said. “But CFISD just has to
make sure they can explain it well enough to
the middle schoolers who are coming into high
school.”
So far, CFISD is still in the early stages of processing and gathering information to make the best decision possible for the benefit of the students. The district plans to refine the third proposal over the next several months and bring a report back to the board in August 2025.
However, if these proposals are implemented, they will likely modify the GPA system drastically and change the game for incoming high schoolers.
“It is important to know that changes are always happening, and we have to be able to accept the changes if they do happen,” Meinhardt says. “We just have to be confident that our district is going to make the right choice for our students, because that’s really all that matters.”
