The term “Valedictorian” should definitely not be used for students above a certain GPA. That is changing the meaning of the word. The two accepted definitions I have found online are either…1) student with highest ranking (GPA) or 2) student with highest academic achievement. #1 is indisputable. You could have some ties, but not 222 in a school district. #2 allows for some subjectivity and could include GPA and other academic achievements.
My daughter’s high school had two awards in this area, and neither were called “Valedictorian”…one was an award for “all As” in high school. There were 15 of them of 334 graduating seniors. SOME of those were students who did NOT take honors or AP classes, so they didn’t have a higher weighted GPA than many others who did take honors and AP classes, and the second award is given to the student with the most As. Sometimes this second award goes to a student who takes the career classes at the “career center”, so it isn’t the same, but this year it actually went to a student who took a lot of AP classes…she just also happened to take more classes than the others who also got all As.