High school seniors shocked to see class ranking drastically change days before graduation

Just days before the class of 2019 graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas, students were shocked to find that their class ranking had drastically changed.

Now, the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), along with the State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency, are scrambling to rectify the mix-up following the May 25 graduation ceremony.

Jackson Hansen, a graduating senior, saw his rank go from salutatorian, where he ranked number two in the class in January, to number six, which confused the student. As a result, he raised the issue with the school.

"Six was almost impossible," Hansen told the news station. "So we kind of looked into it more and saw there was an issue and went from there."

Kendyl Loper joined him in voicing her concerns after she moved from number eight in the class to number 11. After asking around, Looper and Hansen learned that other students experienced significant drops in their rank – or significant jumps, WFAA reported.

According to the news outlet, the change in rank was the result of certain International Baccalaureate courses, like biology, that would count as double credits starting this school year. If students took the classes in the previous year, they received one credit for completing it, whereas students who took it this year received double the credit and an advantage.

Dallas Independent School District ranks classes by using a student's top 24 courses, WFAA reported. The district did not inform seniors that the International Baccalaureate courses now counted as double the credits, and the school didn't use the new course codes to determine the class rank until April.

"Some people sat in the same classes and did the same work, but got more credit for it," Loper explained.

Sophia Woods was one student who benefitted from the credit change decision, going from 38 in the class to 24. Her mother, Jennifer, told WFAA that she had already been accepted into the University of Arkansas, but now that she is in the school's top 6 percent, she could be automatically admitted into the University of Texas, her dream school.

The Woods’ are upset about the issue as they don't feel it is fair.

"My daughter took a class that was a two-year class and she ended up getting three credits for it because it counted twice this year. It should have been one credit from last year and one from this year," Jennifer said. "I've taught Sophia since she was little to be truthful and to own up to her mistakes. I would hope DISD would do the same thing."

Stephanie Elizalde, chief of school leadership, took full responsibility for the error, WFAA reported. Elizalde has been in contact with several universities regarding the ranks of the high school class and said that no student already accepted into their college will be affected. No student reported to the news outlet that their scholarships were impacted, either.

"The district is going to do everything at its disposal to ensure that students aren't harmed," Elizalde said.

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