Students owe school $79,228

Nearly half of all Blair students had outstanding financial obligations that totaled $79,228 as of Feb 10.  This figure exceeds the previous record set at the end of first semester last year by more than $25,000.

On Feb 10, 1,509 students, or 46 percent of the Blair population, had their report cards withheld due to financial obligations.  According to Business Manager Anne Alban, most students who did not receive report cards incurred their obligations from replacement IDs.

Last year, any student who had an outstanding obligation at the end of a marking period did not receive his or her report card. This year, however, Blair's administration decided to withhold the report cards of students with obligations only at the end of the semester.  In addition, the SGA will not sell prom tickets to students who have obligations.

The administration decided to withhold report cards only at the end of the semester because withholding first-quarter report cards was inconvenient for teachers and was not effective at encouraging students to pay off their obligations, Alban said.

According to security guard Cedric Boatman, nearly 100 IDs are made every day. As at other schools throughout the county, each replacement ID costs $5. Alban stated the money is used "strictly for replacement materials."