On Friday a new Queen of the Bay was selected. And while the pageant went off seamlessly, 4 days after a controversy has sprung up and it has nothing to do with who won but rather who participated. 18-year-old Delonie Flores, one of the participants is tonight out of school because she took part in the competition. That is because she is actually a student of Anglican Cathedral College and by the school's rules she is not allowed to be a contestant in any pageant outside of a school function. Alfonso Noble follows up from there.
On Friday night, 18-year-old Delonie Flores represented the Port Loyola Area in this year's Queen of the Bay Pageant. And while she didn't capture the crown she did fulfill what she thought was a patriotic duty while pursuing a personal development goal. But patriotism and personal ambition is one thing, and as this fourth former has discovered, rules are quite another. On August 15th organizer of the Queen of the Bay Pageant Emma Boiton wrote asking for Anglican Cathedral College's permission for Delonie to attend. On August 30th two days before the contest, the principal of the school wrote this letter which states that if she participated she would no longer be a part of ACC's student body.
Delonie Flores,
"We have received a letter from school stating that I will no longer be a part of ACC because I went up for the Queen of the Bay Pageant. It was very upsetting because I worked hard to reach where I am and now to find out that I can't finish fourth form at ACC, it is very disappointing because I don't feel that I went and did a crime or anything because if I had won Queen of the Bay it would have been something great for me and for my school. Since the letter said that I will no longer be a part of ACC, I am shuffling around trying to find a school so I could continue and finish my fourth form education. I wouldn't have entered the pageant if I knew it would jeopardized my education and my education comes first because I really want to graduate because I will be the first in my family to graduate out of fourth form. So if I had known, I wouldn't have entered the pageant."
Today the school's principal Ismael Requena disputed her claim. He gave us a copy of the school's rules in which it clearly states that students cannot participate in pageants outside the school. Requena told us that what compounds this is that Flores did not register for the new school year and that at least two other rules of the school had been broken. Notwithstanding those arguments, Boiton says the school is doing an injustice to the young lady.
Emma Boiton,
"It is totally unfair to the child. She is a Belizean young woman and she is entitled to participate in the Queen of the Bay Pageant. I do not understand why the school, or the principal, has taken this stand that they have taken. In all the years that we have been accepting girls for the pageant, we have not had this problem because we try to keep the pageant at a certain standard. She should be given another chance. Education is the most important thing that we can give our daughters and that mother is thriving her very best to give her daughter an education, an education that she didn't get, so she's thriving very hard to give her that and I think other mothers will understand that."
Delonie Flores,
"I think I am being victimized because I know they have been lots of students breaking rules here and there and they are still at ACC. I have only broken one rule and I automatically have been expelled and its not fair to me."
And while she believes that she is being victimized the fact of the matter is that she is now out of school with very limited options.
Delonie Flores,
"I don't see why it is a big deal because Anglican Cathedral has pageants, I went up for Miss ACC once, and I don't see the problem. Even if that is one of their rules, I don't see why expulsion is the first they had to jump to. If they had said that I will be suspended for a week or two, I wouldn't mind because I know I'd be back in school and trying to get my fourth form going on because now I'm wondering, and crying every night, because where will I go? School is already started and I went to some other schools but they are full so I don't know what I will do."
Emma Boiton,
"It will be too sad for the child to be deprived of her chance of an education for doing something good, something worthwhile."
Flores says she has tried to get into a number of schools who simply say they do not have space. She is now awaiting a reply from St. Michael's College.
