Malverne S.D. Complies With Val, Sal Wishes

The Malverne High School will have only one valedictorian and one salutatorian for the Class of 2011.

The school district announced Thursday night that it will comply with the requests of its two top-ranked students - Aalique Grahame and Sarah St. John - after initially asking the two to share the valedictorian title.

"In light of a highly regrettable mistake, the district exercised what it believed was a compassionate, understanding decision by naming two Valedictorians and a new Salutatorian for the Malverne School District Class of 2011," Superintendent James Hunderfund said in a statement. "But subsequent reaction from the students and families involved in this matter, along with community sentiment relayed to the Board of Education, has compelled the Board to change this decision and identify Aalique Grahame as the sole Valedictorian for the Class of 2011. Sarah St. John will be the Salutatorian of the class. Xavier Bernard will be honored as the 3rd-ranked student and be offered a speaking part at graduation next week."

St. John had been named valedictorian in March, while Grahame was given the salutatorian title. However, after Grahame's aunt questioned the rankings, the district discovered that it had when calculating the students' grades, leaving out a crucial quarter altogether. When factored in, these scores put Grahame on top, however, the district suggested he share the title with St. John and named Bernard salutatorian.

At a meeting Tuesday night with Principal James Brown, both Grahame and St. John said they did not wish to share the title, with St. John offering to accept the salutatorian role. Still, the district moved forward with its decision to have co-valedictorians, which caused backlash among the community, including the

vowed to fight for sole ownership of the title calling the forced sharing " not fair," while asserted that she did not want to take something that was not rightfully hers.

"This whole thing has been blown out of proportion. She is the salutatorian," St. John's father, Nicholas, told Patch Thursday afternoon.

In the end. the district heard their pleas.

Hunderfund added, "We apologize profusely to the students and parents for this error, and congratulate them on their outstanding academic success."