For more than 50 years, the Parkway School District has employed the traditional method of class rank to acknowledge student accomplishments at graduation. The system recognizes those who have compiled the highest overall grade point averages throughout their high school career.

After all these years, the district is now expected to remove class rank and begin implementing the Latin honors system starting with next year’s students in the class of 2016. Though counselors believe that it could have positive implications on students, the change will have the opposite effect. The new approach will be more likely to harm students and should be further reviewed before it is officially put into effect.

The Latin honors is an honor that gives credit to those students who have maintained outstanding grades and completed honors courses. An acknowledgement of the honor is placed on the recipients’ diplomas to give students proper recognition.

Furthermore, different color tassels and levels of the achievement are given to students based on their grade point average. With students grouped into these categories, the position of valedictorian is also being removed.

Rather than ranking students according to their grades, the new system simply groups students with similar successes. But for those who have received the highest grade point averages among their peers, the honors does not do them justice.

The students that would typically be ranked in the top ten of their class deserve to be distinguished from other students. Their academic triumphs have set them apart from the rest, and so, they should be recognized separately. It is not fair to say that two students who receive the same category of the award are equal in what they have accomplished. An average student could have simply received all A’s and accumulated a 4.00 and should not be grouped with someone else who received a 4.54 and would otherwise be ranked at the top of his class.

In addition, the new method of recognizing students would put greater stress on test scores for the ACT and SAT. In the case that an intelligent and dedicated worker finishes in the top ten of his class but is a poor test taker, and thus receives a low grade on the ACT, there will be no more class rank to support how smart he truly is.

According to College Board, “Although still reviewed by many colleges, class rank has declined in significance as many private and religious schools have eliminated student ranking.”

Therefore, in the case that a smart student has a low ACT score, class rank would be vital in proving that a student is worthy enough to be accepted. However, by removing the current system, these students would not have the safety of their class rank to back them up.

Finally, while counselors claim that the honors system will reduce “unhealthy” competition, it is this competition that makes students want to strive for success. Without the competition of class rank, students might as well sit back and blow off their classes since the grades “do not matter.”

While deciding what colleges should pay attention to most when accepting students should be made on a case-by-case basis, taking away the class rank system is unfair to the students who find it advantageous. If class rank truly does not matter and will not hurt the students not ranked in the top ten of their class, then why not keep it if it will benefit a greater number of people?