Schools: ID colors have been based on GPA for years

Students with colored IDs receive discounts at school events

The beginning of the new school year has spawned discussion among some high school parents about how the color of school IDs is based on GPA averages.

Online forums have recently set the stage for parents – both those for and against the practice – to express their thoughts on this matter. But the schools public information director, Rochelle Cancienne-Touchard, said the practice exists to reward students for making good grades, not punish them for bad ones.

“The practice of the ID colors is simply to recognize students who work hard and achieve,” Cancienne-Touchard said. “Every student has the opportunity to earn this recognition. Schools recognize students for a variety of accomplishments.

“This is only one of those opportunities.”

But some parents don’t like that their child’s academic standing, whether good or bad, is worn around their neck for all to see every day of the school year. Parents who are against the practice say its discrimination and a violation of the privacy policy.

At Hahnville High School, gold and purple IDs are issued to students each year based on the previous year’s final numerical GPA. The gold ID is given to students who have earned at least a 93.0 GPA. The purple ID is issued to students who have earned an 86.0 to a 92.99 GPA on the previous year’s classes.

Gray IDs are considered a “regular ID” and are issued to students with a GPA lower than an 86.0 and to incoming freshmen.

“This has been a practice of the high schools in St. Charles Parish for nearly 20 years,” added Cancienne-Touchard. “This is no surprise to parents. The practice is noted each year in the student agenda books.”

At Destrehan High School, gray and garnet IDs are issued to students. All final grades must be an “A” to receive a garnet Wildcat logo  ID and all final grades must be a “B” or higher in each course to receive a gray Wildcat logo ID.
Students with final grades of a C or less, and incoming freshmen, are issued IDs without a Wildcat logo.

Hahnville  graduate Sharday White says that  students’ opinions of the color of the school IDs varied among her friends.

“I had a purple ID, so it really didn’t bother me, but there were some friends who wouldn’t feel as smart as the others because their ID was gray,” she said. “But on the other hand, some of my friends really improved their grades in order to get either a purple or gold ID.

“I think that it just depends on the way you look at it. Either you’re positive about it or you look at in the opposite way.”

At both schools, students with colored IDs are given discounts at many school events like football games and dances.

“This is just another way for us to recognize students for academic excellence,”  Cancienne-Touchard said. “It’s a practice that we’ve followed for many years and it’s a practice that works.”