Maya Veliz Texas senior at Blue Ridge High School stripped of valedictorian title & loss of scholarship due to miscalculation and transfer of grades as school district promises that mistake doesn’t happen again to other students as teen now faces an uncertain future as she now learns an ‘awful’ lesson about life…
A Texas high school senior and school cheerleader has been stripped of her valedictorian title and could also lose her college scholarship following a bizarre ‘miscalculation.’
Maya Veliz, 17, was officially announced as Blue Ridge High School‘s 2024 valedictorian in March, only for the school principal last week to revoke her title.
The teen student was originally told her GPA over the last year drove her to the top of her class, but that was later corrected to number three.
‘I don’t have the stability I anticipated,‘
Maya had already written her valedictorian speech and accepted an offer at the University of Texas with the understanding that her first year would be covered by a scholarship.
Students who graduate at the top of their class from accredited Texas high schools receive a tuition waiver for their freshman year of college, according to the Texas Education Agency.
But that too might be going all up in smoke. Never mind Maya forgoing attending another school and paying the necessary college tuition to guarantee a more prestigious academic institution.
“It’s almost the end of the year,’ a gutted Maya told WFAA. ‘And I kind of saw this going a different way.’
‘I don’t have the stability I anticipated,‘ the teen added as she may now have to come up with college tuition funds now that she is officially no longer school valedictorian.
School assurances out the window
Leading up to the end of the academic year, administrators allegedly told the student consistently that she was on track to be valedictorian as long as she didn’t fail a class.
According to Maya’s dad, Jorde Veliz, administrators told the parent that the issue revolved around Maya’s transfer credits, with classes from her last school not weighing in accordance with the district’s transfer policy and ineligible to be transferred for credit.
‘This is something I wouldn’t want any kid to deal with or any parent,’ the parent said.
Adding, ‘I would understand if this was a policy that’s been in effect for a year or two that they weren’t familiar with.’
But Jorge said that policy has been in place for seven years, and that he’d checked with administrators over the last year to see if his daughter needed to take any summer school classes to maintain her GPA and class rank.
Student forced to learn awful lesson about life
Additional classes that the girl could have and would’ve taken to make sure she retained her valedictorian slot according to the parent.
Family members in anticipation of Maya’s valedictorian moment had also purchased plane tickets from as far away places including Guatemala and Switzerland, to be with the top performing academic student, who has since revealed she no longer plans on attending the graduation ceremonies.
The school district said it completed the review of Veliz’s grades to comply with state law and ensured that ‘a mistake like this’ does not happen again.
‘Blue Ridge ISD has investigated this private student matter and communicated with the parents. The district reviews academic achievement, grade calculations, and class rank during this time period each year in accordance with applicable state law and board policies EIC and EIC Local,’ a district spokesperson said to WFAA.
‘Miscalculations were originally made when finalizing GPA and Class Rank; then corrected to ensure compliance with both of those board policies. All students affected have been notified. And in addition, plans have been initiated to ensure that a mistake like this does not take place in the future. Any further specific student information cannot be discussed pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.’
It is unclear who the new valedictorian is and or whether Maya will now qualify for college scholarship.
It remained unclear if Veliz has reconsidered her decision not to attend graduation ceremonies, thereby qualifying if anything she is a good sport and worthy of the status of being a winner and gracious second (or third) best in all aspects of life- lessons that so often are only learned painfully and often outside of school…
