Lost laptop may delay teen's diploma

A month ago, Paloma Stanley worked frantically to finish a term paper about civil rights, terrified that she would not graduate from high school. She turned in the paper, passed the class, and earned the right, she thought, to get her diploma.

Not so fast, said the principal of Boston Community Leadership Academy in Brighton. On the way to finishing that final paper, Stanley lost a laptop she borrowed from the school. Now, unless she makes a down payment of $300 on the $700 computer, she cannot join her classmates when they graduate tonight at John Hancock Hall.

Stanley, 18, said she is devastated by the news. She said she lives on her own and works 20 hours a week at a movie theater. Earning a diploma, she said, was a huge personal achievement and was her ticket to college.

''Technically I am responsible, but cut me some slack," she said yesterday, as she turned to the media after unsuccessfully lobbying the principal. ''I've done everything I could."

The principal, Nicole Bahnam, will not budge.

Stanley is one of two students who will not join the 115 graduating seniors because they failed to return a laptop.

''Those are the tough lessons in life," Bahnam said. ''Nothing comes for free. Hello. We all work very hard."

Bahnam said she gave students plenty of notice that they had to return the computers. The school purchased 30 laptops this school year to loan to seniors who cannot afford them.

Stanley said she last saw the laptop about a month ago when she left it in her English class in her rush to catch the bus home to Dorchester. The next day the computer was gone.

Stanley said she had checked out and returned laptops several times during the school year.

Michael Contompasis, chief operating officer for Boston Public Schools, said students must return school materials by the end of the year or pay for them. Each year a handful of students are threatened with not being able to attend graduation ceremonies because materials are missing. He said the students are considered high school graduates, but they cannot obtain a diploma or transcripts to use for colleges, scholarships, or work until they return all school property.

''These kids usually settle these things before it gets this far," he said.

Yesterday, Bahnam said she is open to setting up a payment plan, but she said she could not let students get away scot-free, especially at a school that emphasizes leadership and responsibility.

''You have to draw the line somewhere," she said.