The family of a Texas high school senior who was stripped of her valedictorian title over a ‘miscalculation’ has held their own ceremony where she was honored with the achievement.
Maya Veliz was chosen as Blue Ridge High School’s 2024 valedictorian in March, but was devastated when the school principal revoked her title in April because some of her credits did not transfer when she changed schools.
Her family, including members traveling from Guatemala and Switzerland, decided not to attend the schools commencement and held their own on Thursday where Maya was recognized as the top student.
Wearing a white dress and blue cap and gown, Maya delivered the speech she wrote when she was first awarded valedictorian status on a stage decked out with balloons.
‘It was great. She gave her speech,’ her father Jorge Veliz told The New York Post.
Maya Veliz delivered her valedictorian speech in a private ceremony after she was stripped of the title over a ‘miscalculation’
Her family, including members traveling from Guatemala and Switzerland, decided not to attend the schools commencement and held their own
‘An anonymous viewer of our local news [who also featured Maya’s story] paid for her first year at University of Texas.’
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.
A draft copy of Maya’s speech viewed by The Post revealed how ‘honored’ she was to be named valedictorian.
‘I stand here before you tonight, Honored as the valedictorian for the class of 2024,’ the draft of Maya’s speech said.
‘Failure has made me who I am today and to have found success and persevere regardless of the outcome.’
Maya delivered the speech she wrote when she was first awarded valedictorian status
Her father described the private ceremony as ‘great’ and said an anonymous donor has paid for her first year of college
Maya said that she has dreamed of becoming valedictorian and even set a goal to do so four years ago.
She 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.
‘To hear those words, not even 30 days before graduation was gut-wrenching,’ Maya told WFAA.
‘It’s almost the end of the year and I kind of saw this going a different way.’
According to her father, after Maya transferred as a junior from another school in Frisco, Texas, in 2022, he and his wife made sure to stay in contact with her new school counselor and make sure her credits and grades were in order.
‘[The counselor] had told us, “Oh, don’t worry. Maya’s on the good road. The only way that I can foresee Maya not being valedictorian is if Maya fails her course completely”,’ Jorge told People.
The cheerleader 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
Her father added that Maya ‘hasn’t failed anything’, was enrolled in AP honors classes and was taking dual credit courses.
‘We even asked if it was necessary for her to take any extra courses, and [the counselor] told her, “No, everything is good,”‘ Jorge said.
He then discovered that under a policy established in 2017 by the Blue Ridge Independent School District, Maya wasn’t able to obtain credit for the courses she took at her previous school.
Jorge said that credit is not given for classes from another school if they aren’t offered at the Blue Ridge school district.
‘Well, some of those courses are in the catalog, but they’re saying that they don’t have any teachers to teach [them],’ he said. ‘So they kind of contradicted themselves on the policy.’
Under a policy established in 2017 by the Blue Ridge Independent School District, Maya wasn’t able to obtain credit for the courses she took at her previous school which alerted her rank
‘She said she feels like the school keeps saying that they respect her and she’s a big part of the community, but it makes her feel like she’s not.’
The school district told WFAA that they have ‘investigated’ the ‘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,’ the district added.
‘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.’
The district added that they have created plans to make sure that ‘a mistake like this’ does not happen again.
Maya said that she has dreamed of becoming valedictorian and even set a goal to do so four years ago
It is unclear who the new valedictorian is. DailyMail.com contacted the school district for comment.
Jorge has expressed his disappointment with the situation and feels for his daughter.
‘This is something I wouldn’t want any kid to deal with or any parent,’ Jorge said.
He said that he would ‘understand’ if the policy was in effect for ‘a year or two,’ but it was in place before Maya transferred to the school.
‘She’s worked her butt off,’ he said. ‘She used to be a dancer, and she put that dream to the side to dedicate her time to school because she knew it was going to be a hard task managing both.’