As soon as next spring, nearly half of St. Paul Public Schools graduates could be wearing honor cords.

The school board Tuesday took the first step toward publicly recognizing every student who graduates with at least a 3.3 grade-point average.

Last year, 42 percent of graduates would have met that criteria — 979 students districtwide.

Instead, only about 100 students earned public recognition through a districtwide policy that identifies each high school’s top 10 students by grade-point average.

“It’s a big change. It’s a big increase,” family engagement director Heather Kilgore said.

The move to the Latin honors system was proposed last year by the Student Engagement and Advancement Board, a group of high schoolers chosen each year to advise the elected school board.

The school board on Tuesday agreed to start the formal process of changing the policy. The final vote would take place later this year.

Students last year said the top-10 recognition creates perverse incentives. Students who can’t make that list don’t try as hard senior year, they said, and elite students steer clear of courses that don’t include a weighting bonus that can send their GPA above 4.0.

One challenge for a Latin honors system is that the high schools don’t all grade the same way. But Kilgore said the principals support the proposal and are willing to make it work.

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Board member Steve Marchese said the change is “absolutely the way to go,” but he wants progress on another concern the students raised last year — urging more students of color to sign up for the challenging classes that can boost grade-point averages.

If the proposal is approved, the district would cancel its annual top-10 “Celebration of Excellence.” Some of the savings would be spent on honor cords.

As proposed, students would graduate with honors with a GPA of 3.3 or better, high honors at 3.75, and high honors with distinction at 4.0 or higher.