News 6 gets results for Umatilla student told to take summer classes after graduating

'News 6 got results for us, that's what it all came down,' mom says

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Alexis Darrin left a store today with bags filled with school supplies. She's getting ready to attend technical college for  phlebotomy at the end of June, like she's been planning to for months. But just a few days after graduating from Umatilla High School last month, her future plans were suddenly halted.

"I was upset and I thought it was going to delay my life and what I was going to do," she said.

Her mom had received a surprise call from from a school official, saying that even though Darrin walked in her graduation ceremony, she had to take two required classes to be considered a graduate. Darrin's mom says she was also told two classes Darrin had taken, under the advisement of her guidance counselor, were electives, meaning, they were not required.

"I was beyond mad. Words couldn't explain how mad I was because, like I said, she really buckled down," her mom, Melissa Darrin, said.

Feeling helpless and getting nowhere, the two called News 6, hoping it could help.

"I felt it was going to get somewhere, and I'm glad it did," Darrin said.

Just a few days after the News 6 story aired explaining the problem, the Lake County School Board president called Darrin's mom, apologizing and saying her daughter didn't need to take those two classes.

"News 6 got results for us. That's what it all came down to, I believe," Melissa  Darrin said.

News 6 asked a Lake County School District spokeswoman why Darrin would no longer need to take those summer classes and if that guidance counselor would be disciplined. But the spokeswoman said that due to privacy laws, all she could say is that the situation is resolved.

News 6 also asked if any other students were told after graduation that they needed to take more classes. She said it does not appear that way.


Recommended Videos