Catholic High School withholds diploma of Wichita State player

The parents had no business sending the kid to a catholic school if they couldnt afford it. He shouldve went to public school. If the kid couldn't continue college then thats the breaks unless somebody wants to bail them out of the problem they caused. Why not let the kid work and help pay down the debt if hes a healthy abled body. Time for someone to grow up here and take responsibility

quote:

Originally posted by zombywoof:
The parents had no business sending the kid to a catholic school if they couldnt afford it. He shouldve went to public school. If the kid couldn't continue college then thats the breaks unless somebody wants to bail them out of the problem they caused. Why not let the kid work and help pay down the debt if hes a healthy abled body. Time for someone to grow up here and take responsibility

otoh, the Catholic school had no business accepting a student whose parents couldn't pay. oh, the kid did have a work study program that helped with $4,000, so they knew the problems the parents were having. Meanwhile, the pope still wears Prada, and Episcopal cloth.... urp

Another ironic fact is that the Catholic high school, DeSmet Jesuit, knowing that the family couldn't afford their exorbinant tuition, still financed it for them at an annual percentage rate of 18%!!!

It's just like the credit card companies who only want you to pay their minimum payment so you never get out of hock...very chirstian thing to do eh???

I believe the entire topic is summed up by one statement in the article:


Kyle's father accepts blame. "It's really my fault," said Albert. "If I had a job, this wouldn't have happened."


It is very unfortunate that a kid is stuck in the middle. Unfortunately the only way the school has to even try to get the money they have already had to cover is by holding the diploma. The father has a degree in Accounting. Companies preparing tax returns every year are always hiring.

The Arch Diocese in that area, most likely, already contributes a pretty large amount for the education of the students. The rest has to be covered by the student's family. They have expenses based on this and can't just say "Well, it's ok, you don't have to pay." because there would be nothing keeping others from saying "Ok, I just won't pay either."

To cover any shortage the school has, they would most likely have to take out a loan to cover. Their interest rate would not be 0% either.


We have developed such a belief of "entitlement" in this country that we forget that we are to do the work and not wait for others to do it for us.

While I applaude the people that stepped up to pay the bill, so the kid could get his diploma, they did not send a good message. They just reinforced the "If I wait, someone else will take care of it." principle. It would have been better for someone to step up and give the dad a job and say "We will cover the outstanding expense and he can pay for it by working for us."

quote:

2014_Lefty_Dad

GREAT POST!

Sums it up very well

Give a man fish, feed him for a day.

Teach him to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

This young man will soon learn what that saying above truly means.

Any idea if this affects his amateur status? Apparently they have also set up a fund to help with his college expenses too since his scholarship was only about 50% of his cost of attendance.

BTW, I would have liked the dad to work for the school to pay off the debt. I bet there is plenty of painting to do and grass to cut.

I don't understand the position that it's the schools fault for the family's failure to pay. They paid for the sisters private education and first two years for thier son so there was plenty of evidence that they had capabilities to pay the tuition. To say that the school is some sort of predatory business is nonsense.

I also don't buy the notion they were duped. After all the Dad here is an accountant. It seems he is not a very good one that can't get and hold a job but again that's not the schools fault, it is his and he does say so.

They wanted their son to be in this school and they negotiated to keep him there. For the school to collect the fee does not make it evil, criminal or unchristian.

If the school is guilty of anything it is being too generous to deadbeats. I wonder how this would have played out if they booted the boy once the family got behind on payments. Same reporter writing a story about how this hard working unfortunate family that has a unemployable father suffering in the down economy is being shabbily treated by the uncaring school. That's because DeSmet is a bunch of money grubbers that wouldn't give them a chance to work something out.

The school was put in a no win situation by the family who knew or should have known they couldn't pay. In the end they were trying to steal the diploma from the school. The Jesuits might point out that's rule #8.

I don't understand blaming the school either. They provide an aducation for a price. That high school education culminates with a diploma for those that choose to pay to attend and meet the academic requirements. If you don't pay, why would you expect to get the diploma?

Those that say you can't punish the kid for the sins of the parents are off base in my opinion. Parents make decisions all of the time that affect their kids. We don't stand back and say that a bank can't forclose on a home because of the kids that live there, do we? No.

I'd still like to know if the financial help jeopardizes the kid's amateur status and how he was able to enroll at Wichita State without final transcripts being approved? How did they offer/give him a scholarship without him being cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse? Final transcripts are required, correct? I hope the kid doesn't get screwed because of all of this.

"For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction"

I have a cousin who goes to DeSmet. His parents told him upfront that he could go there, BUT that was his college money so when it's gone it's gone.


Withholding the dimploma is likely the only chance the school has at getting its money. I'm sure many schools like this are able to write off some of that and they find a way to make it work. But they can't do it all the time.

I don't know what part of St. Louis this kid is from, but I'll bet he could have gone to a public school and gotten an excellent education for much, much less. That's the choice they made; now they should live with it.

Strike 3 - Your question about standing is a good one. I have to think there are thousands of kids in private schools all over America that get some assistance from various sources with tuition so this might be a pretty broad question.

Even in this circumstance the school had some arrangement generating $35-$50 jobs. Have to wonder what's going on and if someone has ever looked under the hood to see if it's on the up and up.

I understand that these private schools give financial assistance to some families based on need. However, the debt was paid by private individuals so basically they paid for him to go to this school. Now, they have set up a fund for donations to cover his college expenses that are not covered by his scholarship. I don't know how the NCAA will view this but I ask the question out of my own curiosity.

Bulldog, it says they live in Ferguson, so I would imagine if he went to a public school it would be Hazelwood Central or McCluer, I guess.

luv baseball,
I think what was meant by the "$35-$50 an hour" was in reference to the amount of the reduction in tuition that was given compared to the number of hours the school was requiring the kid to work.

The point was, they were providing them with opportunities that were way above the norm for working torward the tuition.

As was mentioned in the article, there were others that had this same situation and were working through it (someone was still paying $50/month on a 2007 graduation).

So the family paying $50 a month is still waiting for the release of their child's diploma? I wonder how many other families are in this situation? I do see this as an ethical/moral/Christian issue. If the school can't afford those that can't pay, they shouldn't accept them. It's just not very Christian to hold a child's future hostage.... I wonder what Jesus would do?

Something just doesn't add up. I'll withhold judgement on these "deadbeats". I wonder if the child was allowed to play baseball in the spring while still owing all that money? Parents don't always think clearly when dreaming of a child's future. Assuming the article is accurate, there are clearly issues other than financial in the family.

oh, and by the way, if all fees are not met at public schools, (high school and university) you can't receive your diploma either. I just think a church is held to a much higher standard.

quote:

Originally posted by 55mom:
So the family paying $50 a month is still waiting for the release of their child's diploma? I wonder how many other families are in this situation? I do see this as an ethical/moral/Christian issue. If the school can't afford those that can't pay, they shouldn't accept them. It's just not very Christian to hold a child's future hostage.... I wonder what Jesus would do?

Something just doesn't add up. I'll withhold judgement on these "deadbeats". I wonder if the child was allowed to play baseball in the spring while still owing all that money? Parents don't always think clearly when dreaming of a child's future. Assuming the article is accurate, there are clearly issues other than financial in the family.

oh, and by the way, if all fees are not met at public schools, (high school and university) you can't receive your diploma either. I just think a church is held to a much higher standard.

I know DeSmet to be a private high school, not a church. It is affiliated with a religion though. I guess they should close the doors since they can't afford to do this at no cost to the students.

But 55mom, this is not a church, it is a private high school that is supported by the church.

I believe Jesus taught us to be compasionate and help those that can't help themselves, but that is where the debate starts. It appears from the article that the father knows he could have done something to keep this from happening.

The school worked with them on several occasions, per the article, to work through the outstanding debt. The parents did not hold up to their end, it appears.

Maybe the school could have given the father some other options, like coming and working off the debt by doing things for the school, but I think there becomes a limit on what you can expect the school to do and still be able to stay open for the other students.

Would DeSmet let a kid who was in the same financial situation stay at the school if he was not a stud pitcher?

The high school has a right to collect tuition that it is owed. I just wonder if DeSmet wanted the extra wins and prestige this kid would bring to their baseball program.

The Catholic High Schools I know would have treated the kid the same whether he was a stud pitcher on the baseball team or not.

This kid had a 3.5 in HS so it may have had as much to do with the fact that he was a good student as well. Who knows.