To the board members of Hemet Unified Schoo! Dis! | would like to bring up an issue | have come to find with the new revision of the district's, valedictorian selection policy for the class of 2019 and beyond, For the class of 2019 and 2020, of which | am a part of, the valedictorian policy was based on GPA and SAT scores upon entering and starting of their first couple of years of high school. , as a freshman, was trying to achieve valedictorian for my class, knowing the standards | would be judged off of were my grade point average and my SAT score. | started out by taking the elective of engineering, ‘which is of the PLTW pathway, being told it would help my college resume. | decided to take this, class because it was something | was interested in even though | could have taken AP Human Geography and because | knew that missing one AP class would not determine alone my running for Valedictorian, My next year | took my first AP class, still knowing that my pathway in engineering was not going to hinder my candidacy status since it was February of 2017 when ‘we submitted classes for sophomore year. The revisions to the policy followed in July of 2017, my sophomore and freshman year already under the influence of the policy in place when | chose my classes. This year, | am taking 5 AP classes and one non-AP class, my robotics class (which is college level), ihe continuation of the engineering pathway. | found out that due to the revision, my chance at becoming valedictorian no longer existed. There are several problems | have found in this new selection process. The first is that the way in which it is constructed allows for the differance of one A as compared to a B to determine the top student. This is especially troubling to me because | know, for instance, at Hemet High Schoo! extra credit is offered in certain AP classes and not in others. This becomes an issue when the extra credit in one class can boost the GPA of an individual two GPA points (17%) in that class, which has occured at my school, This extra credit offered, which is @ non- academic assignment, can make the difference between becoming valedictorian or not in this new system. This factor makes the values of grades somewhat arbitrary in the respect of determining aptitude. Another fallacy with this process is the non discrimination of weighted grades when it comes to subject matter. The AP classes taken by an individual, for instance, Could consist of only math and science related classes, while english, except for the required class, is not included. There is, in this case, no standardized way in determining the student's ability in said area, or any area in that respect, making the position of the Vadictorianship, again, ‘somewhat arbitrary and not reflective of overall aptitude, which is a crucial part of determining the top of the class in any given situation. The inclusion of the standardized SAT scores solves this dilemma. It allows those who are taking other classes of their interests, while taking a balanced number of AP classes, to be in contention to be selected as valedictorian if their GPA combined with their standardized testing is exceptional. The GPA acting as a multiplier of the SAT works in perfect conjunetion with the standards of determining aptitude and the hard work put into classes on a daily basis. For those who are concerned that the SAT undermines the work students put into their grades, it should be known that in this process of GPA and SAT multiplication, the GPA is significantly more important that the SAT. To give a quantified example, a student with a 4.5 GPA and a 1500 SAT would not be outplaced by a 1600 scorer on the SAT who only has @ 4.0 GPA since the multiplied total tends to favor the higher GPA and not necessarily the higher SAT score. But at the same time it also allows for a student taking one less AP class than the current GPA leader, due to being involved in another pathway of classes, to continue to be in the running for valedictorian by scoring significantly higher on the SAT, which in turn, exemplifies their aptitude in all the major areas of study.| am not necessarily requesting the consideration of reverting the new revision, but instead, offering a perspective on the new policy which should, | believe, be considered. | am though, strongly urging the that the classes of 2019 and 2020 be held to the standards they have had since they entered freshman year (based on GPA end SAT), which is only just and fair for those who have fixed on achieving the standards with which they were presented originally. This is a quite imperative matter as the class of 2019 will have its valedictorians selected throughout the district at the conclusion of the semester, | and the classes of 2019 and 2020 thank you for hearing the concerns the new policy has brought to attention, we trust you will make the right decision on how to proceed in this matter. | anticipate you will respond after considering this matter in a timely fashion, because time is of the essence. Respectfully, Cory Hiner, Hemet High School Junior, class of 2020 If you would like to contact me or have any questions regarding this matter, you can reach me through my schoo! ¢772il JRE. or through my cell number: also give you permission to accass my academic record and PSAT scores if you so please.