This story is about Anjali Datta, a former Susan Polgar National Invitational participant (tying for 2nd, 4th and 6th). She has the HIGHEST grade point average in her school history AND she graduated in only 3 years instead of 4. But she was denied the highest honor and scholarship because she is too smart! Outrageous! This is why my policy for all of my events is always the the players should not be penalized due to bureaucracy, politics, or poor wordings of any policy, and common sense should always prevail. I am very proud of the accomplishment by Anjali and I would be more than happy to offer her a scholarship to Texas Tech University if she does not have one from another University already.
Grapevine student with top grades won’t be valedictorian
12:37 PM CDT on Thursday, May 29, 2008
By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News
Grapevine High School senior Anjali Datta holds the highest grade-point average of the 471 students graduating from Grapevine High School this year.
In fact, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD officials believe her GPA of 5.898 may be the highest in the high school’s history.
It’s still not enough to make her the valedictorian, which brings a one-year college scholarship from the state.
Her closest competitor’s GPA is 5.64. No one disputes that she’s the top student in her class numerically. The problem rests with another number entirely.
Anjali rocketed through high school in only three years.
But a school district policy states: “The valedictorian shall be the eligible student with the highest weighted grade-point average for four years of high school.”
The dispute over Anjali’s status as valedictorian comes down to interpretation: Does four years mean calendar years of school attendance or does it mean completing the credits it takes most students four years to earn?
It depends on whom you ask.
The 16-year-old started taking high school classes in middle school and says her teachers encouraged her to graduate a year early because she had more than enough credits for graduation.
She said a counselor assured her that doing so wouldn’t affect her valedictorian status because she earned her four years of high school credit in the district’s schools. Officials had no comment about what a counselor may have said.
The policy was created to protect students from others who might transfer into the district close to graduation and usurp the class ranking of longtime students.
Though that’s not the situation in this case, the district’s attorneys interpreted the policy literally.
So at graduation ceremonies, 18-year-old Tyler Scott Franklin of Colleyville will be the Grapevine High School valedictorian.
Anjali will be “Valedictorian – Three-Year.”
District officials said the title was created for this situation.
“We’re doing what we can to extend an additional honor within accordance of school board policy,” said Megan Overman, a district spokeswoman. “I’m not going to say that this has been an easy situation. This is something that is new for all of us. We’ve not faced this situation before.”
Ms. Overman said the district researched the decision for months.
“There was a lot of thought involved in this. There is no perfect answer,” she said.
Anjali says she and her parents are baffled.
“I have not heard of any educational institution penalizing a student for excellence – for completing a demanding set of classes ‘too quickly,’ ” said her father, Deepak Datta. “Anjali’s experience will surely send a strong negative signal to other talented students trying to excel.
“They will most certainly be discouraged from trying to do their best – instead will be more focused on gaming the system.”
On Tuesday, Grapevine High School principal Jerry Hollingsworth notified the family via e-mail of the district’s position that would arrive this week by certified letter.
“The determination of valedictory honor is one that rests squarely on Grapevine-Colleyville ISD board policy,” Dr. Hollingsworth wrote.
“In determining an appropriate interpretation of our policy, inquiries were made to both the school district’s attorney as well as an attorney at the Texas Association of School Boards.
“Both were clear in their opinions that this honor should go to a student who has four school years in his or her high school career. We are compelled to adhere to school board policy,” he wrote.
So, Tyler will receive the college scholarship.
Here is the full article. Special thanks to Mr. Frank K. Berry for sending me this story.
What a stupid policy. The girl should sue the school district.
That’s crazy.
Only in America…
Of course the intention has to be rewarding the student graduating with the highest score in a given year or term, hence anything but giving the reward to the girl with the highest score and having finished a year earlier is ludicrous.
Must be the same school officials who tried to expel a six-year old grade schooler for “sexual harrassment”. His crime? Kissing a girl on the cheek!
In my opinion if the student put in all the work to receive the #1 spot in the school then that is ridiculous on her part and her parents part. Yes, it is nice to receive the recognition of her achievement but this is not what one should strive for. There is no mention of her losing a scholarship and it seems she is getting more publicity for not being #1.
The common sense is that she has had a wonderful opportunity to graduate early and she is to focus on the next achievement not on getting the #1 award that’s the common sense of it all!
Anon 7:07, did you read the article? “So, Tyler will receive the college scholarship.” She lost the scholarship.
The courts would go by the written rules rather than by common sense. Should the scholarship be awarded to Anjali Datta because of common sense, what is to stop Tyler Scott from suing? Rules are rules, they can be updated to avoid a similar anomaly, but there is nothing to do this year.
Of course, Texas Tech University is free to offer Anjali Datta a scholarship. Besides the publicity, good students are always an asset to the school.
lol. punishment for excellence is becoming far too common in the States, in every government-related area.
Should the scholarship be awarded to Anjali Datta because of common sense, what is to stop Tyler Scott from suing?
Common sense?
What is to stop Tyler Scott from suing?
Common sense?
Unfortunately, common sense is not very well known to stop stupid lawsuits.
She can probably sue. The rules say she has to complete 4 years of high school, she did that but in 3 years.
It is totally unprincipled of the boy (or his parents) not to waive any claim to the title.
You shouldn’t change the rules after the game is played…no matter the game.
For all we know Tyler knew the rules and realized he was going to get the scholarship.
You can’t go back to Tyler now and say, “just kidding”. Tyler’s response could easily be “if I knew these were the NEW rules, I would have taken another AP class and got my GPA higher”.
What’s the big deal. There are two winners. This happens in chess tournaments. And the girl still has bragging rights because she completed her education in 1 year less and with a higher GPA.
She gets the scholarship, the boy is probably pleased, and may be impressed by his collegue, and the school tried to do right, even though the wording of the school policy is wrong. And who says once the ceremony is over they won’t work to change the wording so this does not happen again.
What’s with all this talk about lawyers? Calm down..
No, there are not two winners. It is not win-win. One winner has to emerge and it should be the one who has 4 years school in 3 years and gets a higher GPA. Tyler lost.
Anon 9:55 is another one who can’t read. She lost. She didn’t get the scholarship. It would be a non-story if she won. But she didn’t. The scholarship went to the boy who finished 2nd.
*** It is totally unprincipled of the boy (or his parents) not to waive any claim to the title. ***
if he refuses, it doesn’t mean that she gets it. The money will probably go to the #3 who (likely) completed 4 years. Or may be the scolarship will not be awarded at all.
without $, this “title” has no meaning whatsoever
Who at TTU decides who get the TTU Scholarships – the academics our yourself? I thought it was the former.
Academic scholarships, TTU. SPICE scholarships, me.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
This comment has been removed by the author.
Couldn’t she win the scholarship next year during her “4th year”?
– E
Well, the way I see it is this:
Any school administration (in this case, Grapevine High School) that calculates Grade Point Averages (GPAs) on the A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D =1, and F = 0 average and ends up with students having GPAs above 5 (5.898 and 5.64) can’t be too bright.
In fact, this wreaks of bogus “inspiration points” or even more obscure and subject-to-whim “instructor extra-credit A++ points). What these practices (to only mention two) result in is severely distorting the true 4.0 maximum GPA grading scale.
Now, THAT’S CRAZY.
Dear Ms. Polgar–
As both a chess player and an advocate of equality and excellence for women and girls since my own childhood, I have long admired you and your work–but never more so than now after the wonderful words you’ve written about Anjali Datta and her plight.
The following message that I sent to my own e-mail circle should speak for itself:
-o0o-
Dear Friends:
As an Internet search on Anjali Datta on her plight will show (especially in news articles, online forums, and blogs), her case is creating what one friend of mine likes to call, using the considerably cruder term, a manure storm.
Good. It should. High time. I, for one, have read and heard for decades of travesties like the one now affecting her more than enough.
And it hits close to home. At least one close relative of mine was likewise bizarrely penalized for succeeding “too fast” in school, as was the daughter of my best friend in his and my high-school years, a close friend to this day. Some of you who know me well, including during those years, know that I also lived through arbitrary and unfair denials of prized honors then. Even if one later achieves far beyond high school, as my relative, my friend’s daughter, and I, like many others, have in later life (including in college), that painful memory and the message it sends one stays.
Enough is enough. Never again!
Some online posters among those few who are actually defending the school board’s woodenheaded decision have not been above attacking Ms. Datta’s ancestry and ascribed national origin. (How does one know that she wasn’t born in the United States or is otherwise not a United States citizen?) Some, parroting the all-too-common stereotypes about gifted young people, are assuming that her intense focus upon scholastic excellence somehow makes her less than “well-rounded,” somehow socially undesirable, and thus not deserving of being her class valedictorian and receiving the scholarship that should go with it.
Far from it–Ms. Datta, among other things, is a top-ranked chess player in her age group who’s competed well in tournaments sponsored by world-famous chess grandmaster and former women’s world chess champion Susan Polgar.
As Polgar, a true champion, not only in the game she plays and popularizes so well, but of girls and women and of the importance of teaching and encouraging them to excel, not just in chess but in every aspect of life, recently wrote in her blog . . . :
-o0o-
[Datta] was denied the highest honor and scholarship because she is too smart! Outrageous! This is why my policy for all of my events is always the . . . players should not be penalized due to bureaucracy, politics, or poor wordings of any policy, and common sense should always prevail. I am very proud of the accomplishment by Anjali and I would be more than happy to offer her a scholarship to Texas Tech University if she does not have one from another University already.
-o0o-
Wow.
You go, girls. 🙂
The following e-mail–which I’ve included in full to help provide some “talking points” for those who might wish them–includes the e-mail addresses of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Grapevine-Colleyville (Texas) Independent School District.
Just copy and paste the e-mail addresses into the “To:” field of your e-mail program. From then on out, you know what to do. 🙂
Please feel free to share this e-mail with anyone you know who might be interested. Get at least 10 others you know to write these folks. The graduation ceremony is this Saturday, June 7, so we need to move fast on this!
-o0o-
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2008 21:15:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: “S. Enk” . . .
Subject: Doing the Right Thing by Anjali Datta . . .
To: cmredu@tx.rr.com, lisahall04@yahoo.com, vjthomas29@sbcglobal.net, coplen2@tx.rr.com, cwseiko@aol.com, leon@abbaprofessional.com, jorge@jorgerodriguez.org
To the Members of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District:
It’s not too late to do the right thing regarding Anjali Datta.
Do you all truly believe that student and educational achievement and excellence should be valued and rewarded? If so, reconsider your current decision in Ms. Datta’s case. It is not only wrong by her, but mocks the values of truly recognizing and rewarding students who excel, values you should all be proudly supporting.
Consider the alternative. If you do nothing, if you let your dubious decision stand, you, your board, your schools, your communities, and the people in whose name you act will forever be associated with a shameful injustice that you and they will never live down.
Do you really want thinking people everywhere to regard you and your communities, as millions all over the world now do, with ridicule and contempt, a worldwide laughingstock?
I hope not. But if not, now is the time for all of you to show true Texas grit and pride at their best and stand up for true traditional American values. Now is the time to stand up for Ms. Datta and the values she lives–before the shameful blot with which you have stained yourselves, your schools, and your communities becomes permanent.
At a time when educational and scholastic excellence are as vital as ever for students, schools, and society, it it outrageous that a student as gifted as Ms. Datta should somehow be penalized rather than rewarded for daring to do better–and progress faster–than her fellow students.
As long as a student has taken the necessary courses and credits, it makes no sense to exclude someone from honors and other rewards for excellence merely because that student dares to progress at a faster pace than others. Indeed, such students merit not only our encouragement, but additional accolades and rewards.
Doing the right thing by Ms. Datta and her achievements will not cause you to lose any respect–but not doing so will forever foreclose any chance of your regaining the respect and support you’ve lost. Doing the right thing will gain you respect all over your community and our nation and world.
This means immediately reversing your current decision and awarding Ms. Datta the title of class valedictorian, without any “strings,” and with the scholarship due her as her school’s top student.
An unreserved public apology from each and all of you, as a board, and from Grapevine High School to Ms. Datta and her family is also needed, as is clarification of your school district’s policies to assure that this fiasco will never reoccur.
As has been made clear by many who have spoken out about this case, the majority informed opinion (including from one person who indicates having been a senior legislative counsel) makes it clear that “four years of high school” means, including in past usage in Texas educational circles, four years’ worth of high school work, not necessarily four calendar years. Moreover, Ms. Datta should not be penalized for following what her high-school counselor reportedly assured her about how finishing in three years would not disqualify her from valedictorian or other honors.
Cases like Ms. Datta’s have happened far too often in our supposedly education-valuing nation. Let’s not let yet another student who exemplifies the true best about young people and education get shafted. Or is the message you are now sending high-achieving students and all of the rest of us really the one you want to send?
Let’s see all of you show that everyone who’s now shaking their heads and smirking at you, saying that your community and schools really do confirm all those negative stereotypes about Texas, really are wrong. Let your board and your schools show everyone that all of you truly value and reward students who apply themselves, work hard, and excel, especially when they do it faster than others.
Once the graduation ceremony is held and that scholarship given, it will be too late to undo this still-preventable wrong. Erase this ugly stain on your board, your schools, and your community while there’s still time. Time is short, so act now.
Please act on this as though the whole world were watching and will judge you and your community on how you act (or fail to act) on this matter over the next few days–because it is.
Yours for rewarding, not penalizing, student excellence and achievement,
Scott Enk
[mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number here omitted]
-o0o-
You and we can make a positive difference in a deserving young person’s life–and in those of countless other young people like her. Let’s do it!
S. E.
senk8105-at-sbcglobal.net
Oh yes, this is taking place in Texas…yes Texas…I forgot, in Texas anything is possible…even 5.898 GPAs (out of 4.0 maximum).
Well, then on this scale (5.898 GPA out of 4.0 GPA maximum) I deserve to be treated as a God. I received a real Science Doctorate (SCD) from California Institute of Technology in less than 1 year (as in earned, satisfying all academic, institution, professional originality, uniqueness, challenges, publication, et. al.) as well as securing U.S. Patent rights for my inventions.
From admission to Cal Tech to securing the patents in less than 1 year.
There seems to be some confusion regarding the GPA computing system adopted in my GCISD school district. So I thought I’d clarify.
It is a weighted system and it is based on a 5.0 scale (not 4.0).
For regular courses a score of 100 earns 5.0. A 99 is 4.9, 98 is 4.8 and so on. For Advanced Placement (AP) courses a 100 is a 6.25, a 99 is 6.15, a 98 is 6.05 and so on.
In three years I had taken a large number of AP classes (13 in all). I scored the highest in virtually all the classes at school (in most of my classes I have a 100) and was able to achieve the highest GPA in school history. Also since I had taken a number of high school classes while at middle school I graduated in three years. My total high school credits is 30 (higher than the 26 required for the Distinguished Achievement Program in Texas). If I stayed on an additional year I would not have had sufficient classes to take in subject areas I am interested in.
While I was denied the valedictorian title and the state scholarship, I have been reasonably successful on other counts. I am interested in studying biomedical engineering in college and was admitted to all the colleges I applied to, including, MIT, Duke, Rice, UT Austin, Wash U etc. I might have applied to Caltech but they do not have a biomedical engineering program. I chose UT Austin because of personal reasons and the merit scholarships they awarded me, including, their most prestigious award — the Dedman Distinguished Scholar award.
While I strongly believe that my Principal Jerry Hollingsworth, my school and district administration treated me unfairly, I guess I need to move on. I am looking forward to college and playing in some chess tournaments in the near future.
Anjali Datta