BLUE RIDGE, Texas — Blue Ridge High School Senior Maya Veliz will graduate high school next month. What should be one of the most exciting few weeks of her life is anything but.
"It's almost the end of the year," Maya said, tears in her eyes. "And I kind of saw this going a different way."
Maya told WFAA she set a goal four years ago to graduate first in her class from high school as valedictorian.
"It had been, like, the one goal I set myself for the beginning of my freshman year, was, I can do this," she said.
And up until now, Maya believed she had. She was officially announced as Blue Ridge's valedictorian in March, she said, but had been told by administrators over the last year that her GPA locked her in as valedictorian as long as she didn't fail a class.
Last week, Maya said her principal called and said there’d been a miscalculation. She was actually third in her class, he said, and would no longer be valedictorian.
"To hear those words not even 30 days before graduation was gut-wrenching," she cried.
Watch the full interview with Maya Veliz here:
Maya had already written her valedictorian speech, and her family from out of the country had paid for flights to come to hear her read it.
Perhaps most importantly she’d already enrolled at the University of Texas, with the belief her first year would be free due to a scholarship awarded at state universities to valedictorians.
"I now don’t have that stability," she told WFAA.
"This is something I wouldn’t want any kid to deal with or any parent," her father, Jorge Veliz, added.
Jorge told WFAA that administrators told him the issue was around Maya’s transfer credits; that classes from her last school were not weighed in accordance with the district’s transfer policy.
"I would understand if this was a policy that’s been in effect for a year or two that they weren’t familiar with," he said.
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.
The district would not share specifics with WFAA but did share the following statement through a spokesperson:
"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 (see links to both policies below). 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."
Maya currently doesn't plan to attend graduation.
"This affects my future," she said. "And I do not wish that upon anyone else."
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