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CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) -- A high school student who sued to claim the title of valedictorian as hers alone doesn't have to share the honor with two other students with lower grade point averages, a judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson ordered the Moorestown school district to name Blair Hornstine the sole valedictorian for the class of 2003.
Hornstine, 18, who completed many of her courses during the past two years with tutors because of an immune deficiency, argued that she should be the only valedictorian at next month's graduation because she has the highest grades at Moorestown High School.
The school district argued that the shared honors were fair because it was impossible for the other two students also chosen as valedictorians to match Hornstine's GPA. As non-disabled students they were required to take classes such as gym that receive less weight in calculating the average.
But Wolfson said the school's decision "would send the message that we have two valedictorians this year, a disabled one and a non-disabled one."
In a written statement, Hornstine said that sharing the valedictorian title would have left the next disabled student unprotected. The school board president said she did not know what step the board would take next.
The case will move forward to trial on Hornstine's claim for damages. Her lawsuit seeks $500,000 in compensatory and $2 million in punitive damages, as well as legal fees and costs.
Hornstine, who said she plans to become a lawyer, is not the first student to sue over the right to be valedictorian of a high school class.
In the last year alone, judges have been asked to consider similar cases in Ohio, Washington and Michigan. In two of the cases, students who wanted to be included as co-valedictorians were allowed by judges to be included. The third case, in Michigan, involves a student who wanted an A changed to an A-plus so he would be more likely to be valedictorian.
U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson ordered the Moorestown school district to name Blair Hornstine the sole valedictorian for the class of 2003.
Hornstine, 18, who completed many of her courses during the past two years with tutors because of an immune deficiency, argued that she should be the only valedictorian at next month's graduation because she has the highest grades at Moorestown High School.
The school district argued that the shared honors were fair because it was impossible for the other two students also chosen as valedictorians to match Hornstine's GPA. As non-disabled students they were required to take classes such as gym that receive less weight in calculating the average.
But Wolfson said the school's decision "would send the message that we have two valedictorians this year, a disabled one and a non-disabled one."
In a written statement, Hornstine said that sharing the valedictorian title would have left the next disabled student unprotected. The school board president said she did not know what step the board would take next.
The case will move forward to trial on Hornstine's claim for damages. Her lawsuit seeks $500,000 in compensatory and $2 million in punitive damages, as well as legal fees and costs.
Hornstine, who said she plans to become a lawyer, is not the first student to sue over the right to be valedictorian of a high school class.
In the last year alone, judges have been asked to consider similar cases in Ohio, Washington and Michigan. In two of the cases, students who wanted to be included as co-valedictorians were allowed by judges to be included. The third case, in Michigan, involves a student who wanted an A changed to an A-plus so he would be more likely to be valedictorian.
My god. If this goes ahead, I sincerely hope she gets booed off the stage at graduation. What a whiny *****. Does it harm her to have 2 other valedictorians? NO! People like this are what's wrong with the world today.
), and the appellate court reams out the judge and the plaintiff's attorney both.
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