Purpose

This spring, the Policy Committee of the Portland School Committee will address the issue of weighting grades for the purpose of calculating class rank.  Currently, the Portland School Committee has instituted a sunset provision on the policy of class rank, which will end the practice starting with the class of 2012 (this year’s seventh grade class).

It is the duty of the Policy Committee to (a) develop and recommend a new policy on calculating class rank in high schools, to (b) recommend re-instatement of the current method of calculating class rank for the class of 2012, or to (c) recommend removing class rank altogether.  The Policy Committee’s formal recommendation to the Portland School Committee will be subject to a vote before adoption.

Process

The Policy Committee has met several times to develop the following process:

We shall request the positions of key stakeholders on the issue, in writing, on record, and for public and Committee review.  Those stakeholders include: a cross-section of students, high school administrations, area guidance counselors (including outside the Portland Public Schools), area college admissions counselors, and the Portland Public Schools Administration.  In addition, we shall request position letters from several local organizations who may follow the issue of weighted class rank, including, but not limited to: the Mitchell Institute, the Southern Maine Partnership, and the NAACP, among others.  The positions of these groups will be taken under advisement, but primary consideration will be given to the positions of immediate stakeholders.

The individual written positions of a cross-section of students will be collected after a privately-facilitated roundtable discussion where students may discuss, debate, ask questions, and voice concerns about the practice of weighted class rank before formulating their own opinions.

In addition, the Policy Committee intends to schedule a public forum facilitated by a third-party organization to allow members of the public to discuss, debate, ask questions, and voice concerns about the practice of weighted class rank before any action has been recommended to the Portland School Committee by the Policy Committee.

Timeline

Any timeline is dependent upon the timeliness of stakeholder responses to requests for position letters.  We are currently establishing contact with potential facilitators to schedule the student and public roundtables.  While there is no formal adopted timeline for this process, it is the Policy Committee’s top priority this spring, and the Policy Committee is meeting weekly to advance the weighted class rank issue to completion.  A formal timeline or set dates may be established after forums have been scheduled and a critical mass of stakeholder position letters has been received.  Advance notice will be made a minimum of two weeks prior to any formal recommendation to the Portland School Committee.

Public Observation & Input

The Policy Committee meets Wednesdays at six o’clock p.m. in room 250 at P.A.T.H.S.  The public is welcome to attend these meetings, but public comment is restricted until after the meeting has ended.  Minutes and notes from the Policy Committee meetings will be posted on the Portland Schools Website when they are available.

Members of the public who wish to comment on the issue of weighted class rank may do so four ways:

• By posting comments on the Weighted Class Rank comment page of the Portland Schools Website.  Note: All comments will be read regularly by the members of the Policy Committee, but direct responses may not be given by the Policy Committee members or the Public Schools Administration.  Comments submitted will appear posted on the site and visible to any visitors to the page.

http://www.portlandschools.org/News/blog/?p=78

• By joining the Yahoo! Groups Portland Public Schools discussion forum, where members may participate in the discussion of a variety of public schools issues, including weighted class rank.  Many members of the Portland School Committee receive daily digests of comments posted on the discussion forum, and several members of the Committee participate in discussions.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portlandschools/

• By attending Policy Committee meetings on Wednesdays at six o’clock p.m. in room 250 of P.A.T.H.S. at 196 Allen Avenue in Portland, and making a brief comment or observation after the meeting.  Check the schedule for last-minute changes:

http://www.portlandschools.org/Pages/Community/SCAgenda/calendar.htm

• Or by contacting the members of the Policy Committee directly:

• Robert O’Brien, chair,
• Susan Hopkins,
• Rebecca Minnick,
• and Maureen Quinn, student representative, Deering High School.
• Anthony Toppi is not on the Policy Committee, but frequently participates.  He is the student representative from Portland High School.

Members’ contact information is listed on the Portland Schools Website:

http://www.portlandschools.org/Pages/Community/documents/SCList.htm

Updates

The Policy Committee may post updates about this process or topic at this location of the Portland Schools Website.  Please check back frequently for notices.