US student takes her high school to court over final grade ranking

Dalee Sullivan, 18, believed she should have been ranked second or first in her graduating class.
Dalee Sullivan, 18, believed she should have been ranked second or first in her graduating class. Photo credit: Getty Images

A Texan student has taken her high school to court over their calculation of her grade-point average, arguing she deserved to be ranked higher than third in her class.

Dalee Sullivan, 18, believed she should have been ranked second or even first in her graduating class the New York Times reported

In the US, grade-point average is an average score for all of a student's subjects and is represented as a number between zero and four.

The score is a major factor in the awarding of scholarships and in Texas, the highest-ranking school graduates receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public colleges.

Sullivan was unable to find a lawyer she could afford who would take her case - so she decided to apply her experience debating at Alpine High School and represent herself in court action against the same school.

“I have all the evidence,” Sullivan told the New York Times. “I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it.”

Using transcripts, emails and the school's student handbook, Sullivan argued that grades which should have been included in the calculation of her average were overlooked, and others were included when they shouldn't have been.

In a statement, the school said: "Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the student’s concerns.”

At the hearing, the school's lawyer Kelley Kalchthaler told Judge Roy Ferguson that Sullivan should have gone through the school district's proper grievance process, reported the New York Times.

Judge Ferguson agreed saying that the case needed to go through the school district's proper grievance process, but added that if Sullivan was displeased with the outcome, it could return to court.