NJ high school student wants to be named sole valedictorian MOORESTOWN, N.J. (AP) - Blair Hornstine's latest report card had four A-plus grades in five courses. She scored a 1570 out of 1600 on the SAT test and is deciding whether to attend Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Princeton or Cornell - all of which have accepted her.
But despite her best-in-her-class grades, her school district wants to name her co-valedictorian with two other students.
Hornstine, the 18-year-old daughter of a state Superior Court judge, has asked a federal judge to intervene, saying that being forced to share with students with lesser grades would detract from what she has accomplished.
She has also filed a notice saying she plans to sue the school district in state court, claiming the dispute has humiliated her. She said she would be asking for $200,000 US in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.
Her school district looks at the disagreement another way: Because of an immune deficiency, Hornstine is classified as a disabled student and has taken a class load that doesn't include physical education and involves her spending part of her school day studying at home.
The two other Moorestown High School seniors with nearly perfect grades could not match her grade-point average, officials said, because classes like gym receive less weight in calculating the GPA.
"After reviewing these issues, I was concerned about the fundamental fairness of the academic competition engaged in for the valedictorian and salutatorian awards," Supt. Paul Kadri said in a court filing. "The level of competition . . . had been compromised."
U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson set a hearing for May 8, and the Moorestown Board of Education planned to consider what to do about the situation at a May 12 meeting. Graduation is June 19.
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.
*****What I want to know is, do you agree with her or with the sharing of the honour? For me, I agree with sharing the honour, it is not fair to penalize the other students for their classes that they have no choice in taking. You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
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Halloween is Right around the corner.. .
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I admire him for standing up for his principles, the girl who made valedictorian did not deserve it! 
