Senior class owes thousands in obligations

As the 2008 senior class prepares to graduate from Blair this June, as a whole the grade currently owes the school an approximate total of $72,000 in obligations.

financial office

Photo: The long list of Blazers who owe obligations is posted outside the financial office.

The long list of Blazers who owe obligations is posted outside the financial office. Photo courtesy of Susie Branson.

This trend of schools with alarmingly high obligations is spreading throughout Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). According to NBC 4, MCPS students owe more than one million dollars in obligations.

Blair seniors have until noon on June 4 to pay off their fees in order to receive a diploma and walk at graduation on June 11. According to Financial administrator Donna Franklin, about 200 seniors still have unpaid obligations, averaging about $360 per student. A list of all students with obligations is posted outside of the financial office.

The financial office sent out warning letters to any student with obligations along with the last interim reports, but according to Franklin, most seniors will get it in on time, waiting to the last minute of the deadline. "Withholding a diploma for obligations does happen, but not often," Franklin said. The class of 2007 graduated with about $5000 in obligations, and Franklin estimates this year's class will end with about the same dividend.