Error led to Malverne valedictorian mix-up

Human error led to a miscalculation in selecting Malverne High School's valedictorian this year, said district officials, who now plan to name two.

The issue came to light after some questioned if the wrong person had earned the honor. Senior Sarah St. John had been identified as the valedictorian and Aalique Grahame the salutatorian.

But in a statement issued late Tuesday, district officials said they had uncovered an error made by the office of the director of pupil personnel services and Grahame, previously identified as the salutatorian, actually has the highest grade-point average in his class. Grahame, 17, has a weighted GPA of 95.42 and St. John has a 95.16, according to district officials.

District administrators planned to inform the students and their guardians Tuesday. St. John's mother could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The district explained that the error was due to timing. "Unfortunately, the office used a 'cutoff' for ranking after the sixth semester instead of at the end of the seventh semester, which has been the district practice for many years," according to the statement from superintendent James Hunderfund. "As of the end of the sixth semester, Aalique was the Salutatorian, but he inched ahead at the end of the seventh semester, which is the actual cutoff date for determination of Valedictorian and Salutatorian."

Grahame's aunt and guardian, Dorolyn Montgomery, said she noticed at a recent senior honors dinner that her nephew was receiving all the academic awards. She said that he alone should be named valedictorian.

"He wants what is rightfully his," she said. "You know he worked hard . . . and I am not going to settle for nothing less."

The district said in its statement that an inquiry at the June 7, 2011, Board of Education meeting brought the error to their attention. An investigation was launched after the meeting and Hunderfund said further checks will be in place so this does not happen again.

Montgomery said the district should re-rank the entire class. But Hunderfund said Grahame's and St. John's scores have been verified, as well as other top students.

"Because the ranking announcement was made and communicated several months ago, the district believes it is only fair to identify both Aalique and his classmate, Sarah St. John, as Valedictorians of the Class of 2011, with an acknowledgment that Aalique's grade-point average was slightly higher than Sarah's," Hunderfund said in the statement. "Additionally, the district will now honor Xavier Bernard as the Salutatorian of the Class of 2011.

"We apologize to these wonderful students and their families."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstaed Grahame's GPA.