Aimee Bell expected to be one of the students walking across the stage at Monroe High School's commencement exercises Friday.
In fact, she was an honor student with a 3.3 GPA who anticipated walking with honors.
Instead the day ended in disappointment when school administrators asked her if she had printed counterfeit graduation tickets, and she admitted to doing so.
Bell was banned from the ceremony moments before it was to start.
"I had family from Colorado and we only got four tickets so what could I do with four tickets," Bell said. "You could have purchased two more but it would have been $20 and you had to get up at 6 a.m. in the morning."
Bell said she printed at least two additional tickets that she gave to family. She said she was not the only one who did it.
"I feel like if I got kicked out of the line there should have been about 25 others that got kicked out of the line as well," she said. "It's not right."
Family members said the punishment was too much for the deed.
"If they really wanted to give her a consequence they could have just let her walk across the stage and handed her a fake piece of paper and told her she had to come pick up her diploma on Monday," said Bell's sister Shirley Thompson. "We would have understood."
In a statement school officials said:
"The principal was made aware of this, did his investigation and made a decision based on the rules after talking to the student and her family."
"I’m not perfect and everybody makes mistakes so why can't you let me walk," Bell said.
"We cannot get this day back," Thompson said.
School officials said Bell could pick up her diploma from school on Monday.
In fact, she was an honor student with a 3.3 GPA who anticipated walking with honors.
Instead the day ended in disappointment when school administrators asked her if she had printed counterfeit graduation tickets, and she admitted to doing so.
Bell was banned from the ceremony moments before it was to start.
"I had family from Colorado and we only got four tickets so what could I do with four tickets," Bell said. "You could have purchased two more but it would have been $20 and you had to get up at 6 a.m. in the morning."
Bell said she printed at least two additional tickets that she gave to family. She said she was not the only one who did it.
"I feel like if I got kicked out of the line there should have been about 25 others that got kicked out of the line as well," she said. "It's not right."
Family members said the punishment was too much for the deed.
"If they really wanted to give her a consequence they could have just let her walk across the stage and handed her a fake piece of paper and told her she had to come pick up her diploma on Monday," said Bell's sister Shirley Thompson. "We would have understood."
In a statement school officials said:
"The principal was made aware of this, did his investigation and made a decision based on the rules after talking to the student and her family."
"I’m not perfect and everybody makes mistakes so why can't you let me walk," Bell said.
"We cannot get this day back," Thompson said.
School officials said Bell could pick up her diploma from school on Monday.
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