High schools in a North Carolina county are moving forward with a plan to do away with valedictorians and salutatorians, deeming the academic superlatives “unhealthy” because they promote competition.

“We have heard from many, many schools that the competition has become very unhealthy.”

The school board of Wake County unanimously voted to ban recognizing the two top tiers of students for their hard work. The ban is not official until a vote, which could come on June 7.

“We have heard from many, many schools that the competition has become very unhealthy,” Wake County School Board Chairman Tom Benton told The News & Observer. “We think it’s much healthier to set high expectations and high requirements for magna cum laude. The students now have a target that they can shoot for and if they achieve that they’re recognized for that.”

Instead of honoring each high school’s top two academically achieving students, Wake County says it will use the Latin honors system implemented by colleges to include more students in receiving recognition. Students with a GPA of 3.75 or higher will receive cum laude, students with a 4.0 to 4.249 will be awarded magna cum laude, and students with a 4.25 GPA or higher will earn summa cum laude.

Although the schools plan to ban recognition of their valedictorians and salutatorians, the county says it will record each student’s final class rankings on his or her transcript.

But Wake County’s new policy also appears to be just another example of a public school system bowing to both internal and external social pressure to level the playing field between students. Some accuse the county of conforming to “political correctness” and marginalizing the achievements of truly exemplary students.

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This year’s Wake County valedictorians were themselves split regarding the new policy.

“If you’re third or fourth in the class it must really be hard not to get any recognition, but there’s something to be said for the value of academic competition,” valedictorian Heather Crew told The News & Observer.

Valedictorian Amarachi Achonu added, “It allows everyone to relish their accomplishments and note someone who was just as accomplished as a valedictorian.”

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Still, others wished to see a compromise between honoring the two top-tier students and recognizing honor students, as well.

“Students who work hard deserve recognition. But students who’ve worked really hard deserve a little more recognition,” valedictorian Taylor Barr added.