Texas high school student, Destiny Brannon, stripped of valedictorian title and $25,000 scholarship after speech criticizing subpar teachers
A Texas high school senior had the whole world ahead of her – she was just named class valedictorian and was headed to college on a one-year scholarship.
However, Destiny Brannon’s hopes for the future quickly came crashing down when DeSoto High School officials told her they miscalculated her final rankings and she was fourth in her class instead of first.
Despite graduating and delivering her valedictorian speech on May 31, her school alerted her about the mistake on June 12, a week after she attended freshman orientation for her university.
It turns out the school had calculated the rankings based on fall semester grades instead of spring.
Not only did she lose the title, she also lost her scholarship that Texas grants to solely public-school valedictorians.
‘It’s embarrassing, because I got so much publicity from them on being valedictorian, only to be told that’s a mistake,’ Brannon said to the Dallas News.
Now her family is scrambling to find a way to cover the $25,134 yearly tuition.
Brannon and her mother – who works as secretary in Desoto High’s counselor’s office – said they believe it’s no coincidence she was stripped of her title.
They believe it could be retribution for Brannon’s poignant valedictorian speech in which she criticized the school’s value of athletics over academics and teachers.
