To avoid the GPA race, a redesign of the configuration of GPA will affect students graduating in 2018 and after.

“Students in the past have what we call ‘played the GPA game’,” college and career counselor Julie Johnson said. “They will do anything they can to be number one or number two, at least through number 10.”

Johnson said students stress over being in the top 10 and compete against each other.

“It’s gotten ugly,” she said. “We’ve had angry parents up here, we’ve had angry students, we’ve had threats.”

Many students in the past have been so involved in AP classes, that they never get to take the classes they enjoy, senior Kaleb Welch said. Their transcripts aren’t as diverse as a student who took the electives they enjoy.

Johnson said the new GPA system has taken out classes that pad the GPA. Band kids typically had a higher GPA than kids who took athletics because they get a grade for zero hour and first period.

“Band puts in as much time as football, but they got an extra grade for it, so it padded their GPA a little bit,” Johnson said.

Counselors hope the change leads to less stress for top students.

“I think it will be a good change for the freshmen,” counselor Brittany Bailey said. “A lot of them are interested in getting in the top 10 and they’re putting a lot of effort into doing that and they’re not getting to take the classes that they wanted to take.”

Bailey said with the change students will be able to enjoy classes more.

The sophomores and freshmen this year will be affected while the juniors and seniors will continue with the previous GPA system.

Senior Kaleb Welch takes eight AP courses and has experienced the stress firsthand. He feels the new GPA shift is a good idea.

“People like me try to boost their GPA just by taking a bunch of random classes even if we don’t feel like they’re relevant,” he said.

That led Kaleb to a school life centered solely on academics.

“I was working four or five days a week, on top of eight AP courses,” he said.

Kaleb said that workload restricted him and other students in the GPA race from extracurricular involvement, which is another thing colleges are looking for.

Johnson said that she wants freshmen to take more electives and enjoy their high school experience.

“Over the years kids get so stressed and anxious over what their class rank was gonna be, I think it’s good that we set a limit.”