Highland Park may be the first public school district in Texas to end the practice of ranking all high school students, but some suburban school districts say they may consider following suit.

Southlake's Carroll Independent School District has already begun studying the issue, and officials there will consider a similar recommendation during the coming school year.

"It's definitely something that we've been talking about," said Becci Rollins, coordinator of counseling.

Highland Park recently decided to stop ranking all but the top 10 or 25 percent of its students, saying the current system of ranking the rest of the students who fall below the line is a disadvantage when applying to colleges.

School officials there said the competitive and high-achieving student body in Highland Park schools – 98 percent of seniors go to college – often means high grade-point averages don't guarantee top rankings.

Carroll ISD, which also serves a high-achieving, wealthy student body, has noticed the same dynamic. And though officials in Plano have no current plans, the school board president said he thought the idea "makes sense."

"When you have 10 students and they're all working really, really hard, they may all be very, very close in GPA, but it's a statistical number," Rollins said, explaining that a tiny fraction of a percentage point can make the difference among students with high grades.

The state requires public school districts rank the top 10 percent. Highland Park officials originally said they expected to only rank those required by law, but officials said Wednesday that they will need to identify those in the top 25 percent because it can be a factor in admissions to various state universities.

The details of Highland Park's new policy are still being worked out, but the board of trustees has already voted to abandon most class rankings beginning this school year.

"We want some feedback from universities," said Kim Rose, Highland Park's director of guidance and counseling. "We've also been in touch with several high schools from around the country and gotten their profiles and we'll be taking theirs into consideration as we develop our own."

Carroll officials have already been in contact with Highland Park and plan to give a recommendation to the school board this school year. The plan, if approved, would not begin immediately and would not affect the 2010 graduating class.

The Highland Park and Carroll districts both were rated "exemplary" by the Texas Education Agency in 2008. The vast majority of students in both districts passed all portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, and they also posted passing rates among the highest in North Texas on the math and science portions, typically the most challenging for students.

For example, 98 percent of students in Carroll ISD passed the math exam in 2008, while 99 percent passed in Highland Park.

Other suburbs with high-performing high schools, such as Plano and Allen, also seemed intrigued by the idea of ditching full class rankings.

Skip Jenkins, president of the Plano ISD school board, said a policy like Highland Park's could benefit Plano students and he would be open to the school board considering it. Changes to class rankings could help lower-ranked students get into the University of Texas at Austin, he said.

"I think that there are a number of students disappointed by the effects of the 10 percent rule," he said.

Like Highland Park, class rank is highly competitive in Plano senior high schools, Jenkins said. It sometimes results in students, who might rank highly in other districts, falling far below the top of their class.

"I think there's a lot of frustration," Jenkins said. "But I think by and large most universities do a pretty good job of looking at other aspects like student academics and curriculum."

Christopher Fulton, a soon-to-be senior at Plano West, said he has about a 3.3 GPA. But at his competitive school, it lands him near the 50th percentile in a class of 800 students.

Yet, he said he would want to keep his class rank.

"If the lowest GPA and I are both equal, it doesn't seem as fair," said Fulton, 17. "Other than extracurricular activities, what else do you have that pushes you up to the top?"

Allen High School is one of the state's largest, graduating more than 1,200 students this year. The seniors are all ranked academically.

Gary Stocker, president of the Allen ISD board of trustees, said he was unaware of any complaints from students or parents. He said he can see advantages and disadvantages to ranking all seniors.

"Should it be something the citizens are really concerned about, we would definitely take that into consideration," he said. "We have some tremendous students that are not in the top 10 percent, who may be suffering some grade point discrimination."

Staff writers Matthew Haag and Sam Hodges contributed to this report.

All other Texas public school districts rank all students. Highland Park is the first to ditch the practice. However, the idea is not unheard of.

•Locally, Fort Worth Country Day, Nolan Catholic, Jesuit, Hockaday, Greenhill, St. Mark's and Ursuline private schools do not rank all their students.

•Nationally, public and charter high schools in states including Illinois, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Oklahoma do not provide rankings of all students.