Earlier on we told you about one high school graduate in Camalote Village who's been stripped of her crowning academic achievement. Well, today in Orange Walk Town it was much the same as parents gathered outside the Muffles College School gates, angry that their children's graduation is being cancelled.
The problem arises from a few weeks ago when, as we reported, the graduating class was immersed in a cheating scandal after a teacher sold the final exams to students. Originally the ring included eight students, but it is widely believed that the majority of the 120 students in the graduating class got to preview the exam. Still, the administration opted not to re-do it because it could not establish across-the-board guilt. But now with the scandal still hanging over the school's collective head, the Board of Directors has decided to cancel the graduation ceremony and simply give the students their diplomas in class on Monday June 20. It's a decision that outraged parents who've paid a $125 fee to see their children graduate and now want to have the pleasure of seeing them going up in their gowns and tassels. One parent spoke to our Orange Walk affiliate, the Northern Cable Network.
Concerned Parent,
"They said we will only have the mass because of the circumstances and all the thing that happened at Muffles. They said we would only have the mass and on Monday the children would go and collect their diploma at school which is unfair because for example the child that has worked so hard, she or he won't have a chance to show what he did or to march up to pomp and circumstance with their gown and hat. They worked 4 years for this and this is not fair. I believe the children deserve to be honored, the children have worked so hard to get this honor and they won't give it to them. The other thing is that they were charging us $125 for graduation fees so we asked them last night, if we don't have any graduation will they give us back our money, maybe not all the money, but maybe a $25 for the diploma but give us back a $100 at least. They said no and I don't why they are asking for $125 when other schools are cheaper."
The parents' outrage forced a meeting between the principal and concerned parents including Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno, whose son is also in the graduating class. After that meeting, Principal Bernaldino Pech and Briceno spoke to the concerned parents.
Bernaldino Pech, Muffles' Principal
"What I want to say is that the announcement that was made yesterday at the meeting, unfortunately not many of you attended and I would like to blame the weather for that, there were members of the board there and they heard the concerns of the parents that were there and the board decided to look again the decision they had made. So the board will be meeting again very shortly and as soon as the board reconvenes then we will be able to give you what the decision of the board will be."
Johnny Briceno, Father of Graduate
"We met with Mr. Pech and he has agreed to listen to a plea and we expressed how the parents feel about this whole decision. The board has already agreed to meet, they expect to meet sometime today or tomorrow, but at the very latest by Friday morning we will know the decision. What we asked is when they make a decision for them to invite us parents, like the last time, to sit down and discuss and then make a decision in front of us as opposed to just giving us the message afterwards. I think the meeting went well, I think that we are reaching out to them, I think they understand how the parents feel, and I am cautiously optimistic that we can get the board to reconsider and reverse that decision. So let us just keep in touch and as soon we know anything we'll let you know, but let us be calm and take it step by step."
