In 2004, the Fauquier County School Board announced that beginning with the class of 2008, the only courses that would receive weighted credit would be classes that required an assessment test, such as Advanced Placement courses. However, when Mountain Vista Governor’s School, a part-time math, science, and technology magnet program, opened its doors in 2006, the board decided to give weighted credit for two courses that did not involve a final assessment test, Research I and II.

“Fauquier MVGS seniors were told when they applied to Governor’s School in the spring of ’06 that all courses [including Research I and II] would be weighted,” MVGS director Dr. Rosanne Williamson said.

Following the opening of MVGS, parents and students alike put pressure on the school board to reverse its decision and drop the weight from the research courses. On September 10, the board announced that the research courses would not receive weighted credit as was originally intended. Although this pleased many families at FHS, the students and parents at MVGS were prepared to put up a fight.

A senior at MVGS, Ali DiGiacomo was concerned that without the weight of the research courses, she would be at a disadvantage in the college application process. After graduation, she hopes to enroll in a medical program at a prestigious university such as John Hopkins. According to DiGiacomo, many of these programs require that applicants be in the top five percent of their high school class. Her parents made the decision to file a suit to enhance DiGiacomo’s rank by including the weight from the research courses, putting her in the top 5 percent.

“Originally, [the suit] was going to involve a group of parents, but when it came time for the price tag, it was just my parents [who went through with it],” DiGiacomo said. “We went for an injunction for my grade to change because I needed the change to apply to colleges. The judge agreed that [the school board’s decision] was harmful and they decided to change [my grade].”

Due to DiGiacomo’s win in the injunction, her class rank was re-calculated and she was moved to 21 in the class, a change from her previous rank of 23.While the suit was only for one person’s benefit, the result of the judge’s decision has impacted other students as well.

“Based on input from central office staff, and to honor the spirit of the law, the school board decided that if they [changed one student’s grade], they should do it for others,” guidance director Dr. Jeff Diamond said.

After a December 10 meeting, the school board announced its decision that “all MVGS seniors’ grades be re-calculated to reflect the weighting of Research I and II.”

This change has caused more work for guidance counselors who must recalculate the ranks of top seniors who are affected. While there are less than a dozen MVGS seniors in the 2008 class, the increase of their ranks repositioned many students in the top 100 spots. Guidance plans to call in every student affected and give them a letter to explain the situation.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic changes in rank was the reversal of the valedictorian and salutatorian spots. Senior Lindsey Davis, a MVGS student who was salutatorian when rank did not include the weight of the research courses, moved to the valedictorian slot. She replaced Senior Natalie Hoeting who dropped to salutatorian. Hoeting does not take classes at MVGS but has taken 12 AP courses at FHS.

“Since this whole court case came up, I’ve been halfway accepting the inevitable of what would probably happen and hoping that maybe it wouldn’t happen,” Hoeting said. “I was very disappointed [to discover that I was salutatorian], but there was not much I could do except bring another law suit, and I would never do that.”

For Hoeting, the most disappointing part of the ordeal is the loss of scholarship money to Hofstra University in New York.

“The major thing [that has resulted] is that the school I am applying to, Hofstra, offers full rides to the top 5 percent of applicants,” Hoeting said. “If I am salutatorian, I drop down to the top 7-8 percent [of all applicants who apply] and I go from getting $28,000 each year to $21,000 a year. I wanted to go there to be next to New York City, and the school just fits best for me. I am still attending, but I am loosing out on $7,000 a year.”

With a difficult course load at FHS, Hoeting had not initially thought that attending MVGS would have given her an additional edge in ranking.

“When MVGS was proposed to us, I was mildly interested, but I didn’t feel like it would be that huge of a deal if I didn’t go,” Hoeting said. “I would have had to drop my band [classes] and I couldn’t do that because that has been such a big part of me for so long. Even with the weight and how everything turned out, I’m still really glad I didn’t go, because if I did I would have lost something.”

With the result of the weighting controversy now final, several students are questioning the equitability of the decision. To some, it seems unfair that other challenging classes at FHS are not weighted while research courses at MVGS are.

“It is just really frustrating,” senior Mende Lescallet said. “I think that courses at MVGS should be weighted because they are high level [courses], but if that happens, GT classes here should be weighted because they are just as difficult.”

Director Williamson notes, however, that MVGS courses provide a challenging course of study for students and has developed an excellent reputation in Virginia.

“MVGS courses meet the standards for college credit with LFCC, cover all AP curriculum to prepare students to sit for AP assessments (with the exception of Research I and II), and are taught interdisciplinary with many cross-curricular connections, experiments and projects,” Williamson said. “Governor’s School provides a rigorous program.”

As the gravity of the effect of the weighting controversy varies greatly from student to student, it is difficult for either side to agree on the fairness of the controversy’s conclusion. Diamond is quick to remind students that as far as ranking is concerned, anything is still possible.

“We redo class rank again in June for our top people,” Diamond said. “It could always change again. Depending on what kinds of grades [the students make] or what classes they take, it can all flip.”