Student Passes Without Attending Class

(Wake Forest, North Carolina) Having students promoted without meeting specified requirements is, sadly, not new nor isolated. The following is a recent example.

From WRAL.com:

Last fall, 15-year-old Joseph Veltrie was suspended from Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School for allegedly having marijuana. The charge was later thrown out in court, but the suspension continued.

According to a plan the school set up, Joseph was supposed to get four hours of tutoring a week for the remainder of the school year -- a total of nearly 100 hours.

Joseph's mother, Susan Veltrie, says he barely received a fraction of that -- two months of math tutoring and a handful of sessions in social studies and English. On more than a dozen occasions, Veltrie says the tutor never came.

"I felt a little bit disappointed that she didn't show up," Veltrie said. "I said Joseph is not getting any schooling at all. Nothing. I said I want something done about this."

This week, Veltrie received a letter saying the tutoring was complete. She also received a report card with passing grades for classes her son never completed, as well as a written note to promote him to the next grade.

There are many questions that need to be answered, however, as would be expected, school system officials are not talking. In any event, a determination needs to be made as to whether there are others in Wake Forest schools that are not being taught and then promoted. And, as a minimum, disciplinary action should be directed toward Joseph Veltrie's tutor and the cognizant supervisor.