'My Heart Is Broken': 3 Md. Students Not Allowed To Graduate After Counselor's Mistake
PRINCE GEORGE'S CO., Md. (WJZ) -- It's one of the most important moments in a young person's life: walking across the stage and getting your diploma as you graduate from high school.
But at least three Prince George's County students are being deprived of that honor because of a simple mistake by a guidance counselor.
Sadly, she was not able to fix it. and when the senior class at Potomac High School in Oxen Hill gathered to graduate Wednesday, Isaiah Strattonbey was not among them.
"Sorry, gonna get this fixed, okay. Gonna get it fixed," Shercohn Evans, Strattonbey's father, said.
"I was hurt," Strattonbey said. "I ran away and cried. I don't even know what to do man."
Graduating was something Strattonbey had worked very hard to accomplish. In a special ed program since kindergarten, school work was a challenge for him.
"They didn't know if he'd make it through grade school," his father said.
But seven years ago, right before his twin sister died of a brain aneurysm, Strattonbey promised her that he would graduate, and he kept that promise. He passed every class and was ready to celebrate the big moment.
"I did everything I had to do to graduate," Strattonbey said.
Then, just last week, his father got a call from a counselor saying she made an error.
"The counselor made a mistake that means my son can't graduate," his father said.
In a statement, the Prince George's County School District said the following:
"Isaiah has not met all graduation requirements. A counselor's mistake was found during a peer review process completed by the school's counseling team."
"For you to wait 'til a week before it's time to graduate to crush his dream. you see, he's crying," Strattonbey's father said.
Isaiah's plan is to attend Prince George's County Community College in the fall. He can still do that, but he and the two other students affected have to now attend summer school before they can get their diploma.
"I thought school would be over," Strattonbey said. "My heart is broken."
"Now, the one thing he wanted more than any other, you're taking it away from him. It's not fair, at all," his father added.
Even though it was clearly their mistake, the Prince George's County School District refused to make an exception in the case of Strattonbey and the two other students.
They will, however, cover the cost summer school.
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