When the McQueen High School counselor told Sophie Harlin she needed only three years of math instead of four to graduate, the busy junior was glad — it meant she could take more art classes her senior year.
Sophie explained to her mom, Jenna Harlin, the changes her counselor talked about. Less math also meant Sophie could be a teaching assistant for a class credit and a grade. It was something her counselor signed her up to do.
The Harlins were happy with the change. High school hadn’t been as fun for Sophie as she had hoped. She started her freshman year amid tough times, bouncing back and forth between online and in-person learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Sophie succeeded, holding down a part-time job for most of her four years of high school while getting good grades. Her senior year, she had a 3.8 GPA.
And in February of her senior year, Sophie was accepted into the University of Nevada, Reno. Soon after, McQueen awarded Sophie a $500 art scholarship to help pay for college.
The family celebrated, knowing it would be a nice addition to the Kenny Guinn Millennium Scholarship, a state scholarship that Sophie’s two older brothers received when they graduated from McQueen.
The scholarship, named in honor of the late governor, pays $2,500 a semester up to $10,000. Among the list of qualifications, students must have a 3.25 GPA and graduate from a Nevada high school.
When summer came, Harlin checked the balance due to UNR for Sophie’s first semester. It didn’t show credit for the Millennium Scholarship or the art scholarship from McQueen.
With two kids in college full time, figuring out how to pay for it would be a juggling act for Harlin and her husband. But it was something they always did, proudly sending their children to college. The couple themselves had chosen professions that didn’t require a college degree.
“Don’t worry, Mom, it comes late,” her son said of the Millennium Scholarship.
Harlin left a message at the high school to ask about the art scholarship. She worried less about the Millennium because it had always just shown up for her sons.
By the end of July, Harlin was anxious. Sophie owed $5,900, due on Aug. 23. Otherwise, she was looking at paying more than $10,000 for two children at UNR.
She went to the financial aid office at UNR. They explained the scholarships were all handled by the school district. They didn’t have control over it.
Harlin started calling the Millennium Scholarship office in Las Vegas in early August. Sometimes the number would ring and ring without the option to even leave a message.
When she did get through, she left messages, and then she emailed.
After Harlin tried multiple times, an administrative assistant in the scholarship office reached out. Sophie wasn’t in their system as having qualified.
“Had she only taken three years of math?” the assistant asked.
Harlin explained that the district said requirements had changed.
“Aren’t the grad requirements and the scholarship both run by the state?” Harlin asked, not understanding. “Can she take a math class now or if she takes it in college, can she qualify next year?”
Harlin was told no.
She started doing her own research.
The state’s website said that a computer science class can count as a fourth year of math. Sophie had that. Harlin read that taking algebra in eighth grade would count, too. Something else said there were extra accommodations for students who went to high school during the pandemic.
She contacted the scholarship office with what she found. She was told there was no way to appeal.
The administrative assistant told her to call McQueen.
“We recommend that you contact her high school registrar and counselor directly as they are the ones who send our office eligible students at the end of each graduation year and we do not have access to their transcripts or student records,” the administration assistant wrote.
Harlin called McQueen. She left messages.
When Washoe County schools started up on Aug. 12, Harlin called again, leaving messages for the registrar, her daughter’s counselor and a graduation advocate.
She called again the next week. On Aug. 23, after not hearing back from anyone at McQueen for two weeks, she raced from work early to go to the school counselor’s office before it closed at 3 p.m.
Tuition for UNR was due at the end of the day.
The registrar apologized for not calling back.
“It’s the beginning of the school year and things are crazy,” she said.
The registrar pulled out a laminated sheet from a pile of papers. She pulled up Sophie’s transcripts on her computer.
“Yep, she doesn’t qualify,” the registrar said after studying the laminated sheet. “She only has three years of math.”
Harlin sat down. Her heart raced.
“What about the computer science class?” Harlin asked.
The registrar went back to her desk, looked at Sophie’s transcripts and back at the laminated sheet.
“No, it doesn’t qualify,” she said. “She needed that class to count for something else.”
The registrar said there was nothing she could do. The counselor had left for the day but would contact Harlin later, she said.
“She already graduated,” the registrar said. “But talk to the counselor because she should know she shouldn’t have said she didn’t need it.”
Sophie’s high school counselor called on Monday, Aug. 26. She told Harlin she’d had discussions with Sophie about her future. Harlin said the counselor acknowledged things might have been overlooked.
The counselor promised she would look into it, Harlin said. But the family says they still haven’t heard back.
When reached by the Reno Gazette Journal, the school district said that a student who got into UNR would have also qualified for the Millennium Scholarship.
They said they would look into it, too.
The RGJ reached out to the Department of Education. So did the district.
There were changes to the diploma requirements that became effective for the class of 2022, according to the Nevada Department of Education. A new state law allowed for a modification to graduate and receive a standard high school diploma.
But the scholarship requirements never changed.
When asked to explain the scholarship and who qualifies, the district told the RGJ, “A student can earn a standard diploma and qualify for the Millennium Scholarship based upon grade achievement.”
When asked what grade achievement means, the district said, “These are the requirements and achieving the GPA or test score and course completion are qualifying evidence of achievement.”
The district included a link to the scholarship’s website for more information.
The district told the RGJ that counselors provide a graduation plan based on a student’s goals, but they also evaluate that plan to determine proper placement.
“Graduation plans are reviewed with students annually as students approach their junior and senior years and this increases to two or three times a year. Additionally, parents/guardians are invited to attend these meetings.”
Sophie and her mom say she rarely saw the counselor. Harlin said she doesn’t remember being invited to any meetings. They said no one explained needing four years of math when she got into UNR.
When asked if every student sees a counselor a few times a year, the district told the RGJ, “This is what our counselors strive to achieve.”
On average, one counselor oversees 400 students.
According to Nevada Revised Statutes, there are laws that push school districts to put students in rigorous courses.
The law says that school boards shall adopt regulations that identify students in grades 3 through 12 and make sure they are put in courses that are challenging.
The state has always struggled with college graduation rates and career readiness.
“A pupil will be placed in a more rigorous course in that subject area unless the parent or guardian submits to the principal a written notice of his or her objection,” the statute says.
When asked if this law could be applied in this case, which allowed Sophie to take more art classes instead of math, the state said to ask the district how it is handled.
The district said privacy laws prohibit the WCSD from providing student-specific responses but this case was different.
The district said, “The law provides for notice to the parent regarding placement of a student in a more rigorous course. Further, the law states that if a student is signed up in a rigorous course, the parent has the option to provide written notice to the school opposing placement in the rigorous course. However, in there was no rigorous course in discussion for the student, the law does not apply.”
Harlin said no one talked to her about putting Sophie in challenging courses when she was signed up to take more art and be a teaching assistant.
The district said no two situations are the same and schedules and course loads are decided based on the student and their individual situation.
It doesn’t make sense to Harlin because they knew Sophie was going to college. Sophie had scored high on her college entrance exam, too.
“They knew she had applied and had been accepted,” Harlin said. “They knew because they gave her an art scholarship.”
Harlin said she feels like Sophie was overlooked.
She said she knows school staff are busy and overwhelmed.
Harlin also blames herself for not knowing all the requirements, but she said it was confusing to counselors and district staff, who had to look up answers even though they deal with guidelines and scholarship requirements every day.
She is frustrated that the district could have recommended or insisted Sophie take a math class instead of an extra art class and volunteering her to being a teaching assistant, a class where she received an A.
Harlin wonders if what happened to Sophie happened to others.
“I don’t understand why no one told us she should take another math class,” Harlin said. “Even if they told us her senior year or even at the end of her senior year, she would have done summer school.”
