'It's negligence': Texas senior says school district error caused her not to graduate

HOUSTON, Texas -- An AP student at Sharpstown High School is calling the administration negligent for misguiding her and then punishing her for their mistake.

She says they pulled her from her final semester of theater, only to tell her at the end of year, it was their error.

However, she would still not be allowed to graduate.

Senior Perla Lopez says she volunteered, took dual credit classes through the University of Texas, maintained a 3.8 GPA and landed in the top 10 percent of her class during her high school career.

"It seems ridiculous that I did all of that, and I still didn't graduate," says Perla.

Now, a moment she'll never be able to get back, is gone for good. She was not allowed to walk across the stage with her friends and classmates.

Just three days before Sharpstown High School's graduation, Perla was told she was missing one semester of theater, the same class she says her dean took her out of months before.

Lopez was so concerned about that class that she checked with that same dean four more times throughout the year and was told each time she was on track to graduate.

"For them to not graduate somebody because of their fault, it seems like negligence," she says. "Simply put, it's negligence."

ABC13 Eyewitness News reached out to Houston Independent School District for answers on how this happened and what would be done to protect students in the future.

The district stated, "HISD is looking into this unfortunate matter."

In the meantime, Lopez will soon be heading to summer school, putting her degree and future at the University of Houston on hold.