- Originally Published in the News Virginian on Wednesday, August 11, 2004
By BOB STUART
The Waynesboro NAACP asked the School Board late Tuesday to apologize
to Waynesboro High graduate Moreko Griggs over the decision to make him
co-valedictorian with two other students after he was told he had won
the sole honor.
The Rev. Mildred Middlebrooks, Waynesboro NAACP president, said she and
other branch officials came to Tuesday's School Board meeting "for an
apology to be given to Moreko."
She called the June ordeal for Griggs and his family "stressful and
tumultuous," and said an apology was warranted and would bring closure.
Lorie Smith, the chair of the Waynesboro School Board, said she
appreciated the comments of Middlebrooks and others on the issue.
But Smith said she needed to confer with other School Board members,
including members Brian Edwards and Doug Norcross, both of whom could
not attend Tuesday's meeting.
"We're going to consider the comments and suggestions,'' Smith said. "We would be remiss if we did not take these suggestions."
Smith did not offer a timetable for a response to Middlebrooks' request.
Griggs was present at the meeting. He leaves later this week to begin studies at Rice University in Houston.
Griggs, who is black, was told in May that he earned the top spot in the class of 2004.
But 18 hours before the June 5 graduation, Griggs and his family
learned that students Jordan Coiner and Allison Martin, both white,
would be named co-valedictorians.
Coiner's family had requested a recount after being told all year that
she was the front-runner for the highest grade-point average, her
mother said.
School officials then decided to discard the long-held method of
tabulating scores, and to include in the recount grades earned during
the last weeks of school.
Middlebrooks was supported in her apology request by other members of
the Waynesboro branch and the president of the Staunton NAACP branch.
Vivian Jones, a member of the Waynesboro NAACP, asked the School Board
"to take steps to ensure nothing of this magnitude happens again."
Staunton NAACP President Tom Martin questioned how "the change at the
11th hour occurred? No school I've talked to waits until the 11th hour.
I would like to see Moreko with an apology. This is a slap in the face
to Moreko and the whole minority community."
After leaving the meeting, Middlebrooks said she hopes for an apology in the next few days.
A Waynesboro High School committee currently is reviewing the policy
that selects the valedictorian, said Superintendent Lowell Lemons.
Lemons said the policy will be stated and reaffirmed after the investigation.