Cornell School Board; Class rank questions arise for scholarships
By Ginna Young
“We had an issue with class rank and where that fits,” said Cornell Middle/High School principal Dave Elliott.
Elliott explained the matter Feb. 27, at the regular Cornell School Board meeting. In determining class rank, Elliott looks on transcripts, to see if students have all the classes needed to graduate and at their GPA.
Therefore, Elliott named a Salutatorian in January, but in February, superintendent Paul Schley was looking over the transcripts and noticed something. Two of the agriscience courses showed a zero where the weight is.
The courses were taught over two different years, by two different instructors, but were not showing up on the student’s transcript, which affected their rank. It then bumped the third-ranked student up to second.
“I take full responsibility,” said Elliott. “The student did nothing wrong. I don’t believe this was teacher error.”
While they aren’t positive about what caused the problem, Elliott and Schley both agreed that CTE course numbers have changed at the state level and that it’s possible Infinite Campus didn’t count some classes.
Despite the fact that it’s really no one’s fault, Elliott continues to feel responsible. To try to rectify the situation, he changed his letter of recommendation, and spoke to the academic and admissions advisers at the university of the affected student.
“I was informed, that that second or third place rank does not matter,” said Elliott.
Board member Jamie Close asked if any sophomores or juniors had their transcripts checked for errors. Schley said administrative assistant Andrea Hakes took care of that and that they think they have the system corrected. If not, Craig Braaten, who is set to take over as high school principal next year, when Elliott retires, knows what to look for and will keep on top of it.
“I think we’re on the right track to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said board member Eileen Sikora, adding that Elliott should stop beating himself up over it. “You handled it wonderfully.”
Elliott says what worried him, is that the affected student was very active in writing for scholarships and he didn’t want it to appear as though the student was not truthful.
“There are a lot of things in this world that we can change, but reputation’s tough,” said Elliott. “So, I don’t want that student to have a reputation that’s not fair.”
Schley also reported that Cornell has received $11,657, in a settlement from the countrywide Juul lawsuit that Cornell entered into, not counting the district’s legal fees with the lawsuit. There’s also potential for about another $1,000.
“It’s something,” said Schley. “Vaping is definitely an issue around here.”
During the meeting, members approved support staff compensation and teacher compensation, as well as the hire of assistant high school softball coach Allison Ducommun.
