After snub, Orange district vows change
Valedictorian was not allowed to speak at commencement
Orange County school board members vowed to implement a districtwide policy for graduation speakers Tuesday night in response to a public outcry over a valedictorian who was barred from speaking at her commencement last month.
Kriya Naidu told board members that her school leaders’ refusal to allow her to deliver her long-planned graduation speech — and the district’s silence when her mother pleaded for help — ruined the day for her and her family.
“I poured my heart into a speech that included praise to my immigrant parents and a message that I believed would inspire my class to be successful in all
their future endeavors despite any challenges they may face,” said Naidu, who graduated from University High School with a 5.5-weighted GPA. “But I did not get to give that valedictory address. Needless to say, a day that should have been filled with happy memories for my family and I was instead filled with sadness and frustration.”
Naidu, 18, was prevented by administrators from delivering her commencement speech at the school’s May 28 graduation. A school administrator told her mother she wouldn’t be allowed to speak because she hadn’t pre-recorded her message. After the ceremony, Naidu recorded a video of herself delivering the speech in her home. She posted her message on social media, where thousands of people viewed it.
Naidu’s three-minute message focused mostly on her parents’ experiences as immigrants from South Africa, touching on the challenges they faced as newcomers to the country and encouraging her classmates to rise above their own struggles. The district says the topic of the speech wasn’t a concern.
Orange County Superintendent Barbara Jenkins later apologized for the snub, writing in an email to Naidu’s mother she was “deeply saddened” by the “unfortunate mistakes” that kept the teenager from speaking.
School board members did not specify changes they planned to make, but said there would be a districtwide policy regarding graduation speeches and that all students would receive advance notice of what’s required. Several said they were puzzled by what happened and disappointed with the district’s response.
“I don’t have an explanation yet,” Chair Teresa Jacobs said. “I think we would all like an explanation for why you weren’t allowed to speak and why you were asked to pre-record it. I can tell you this: Changes are occurring because of you.”
Jacobs and board member Angie Gallo, who represents the district that includes University High and attended the graduation ceremony, apologized to Naidu for the mix-up.
“There were mistakes made all around and I apologize for those mistakes,” Gallo said.
Those mistakes include a lack of accessibility to district leaders, said her mother, Kavitha Naidu. She said she suffered from a sense of “futility” as she desperately tried to work with them in the days leading up to her daughter’s graduation.
She said she first questioned an assistant principal at University about why the school had requested changes to the originallyplanned speech. She said he referred her to an administrator who oversees the district’s high schools “in a condescending manner.” She repeatedly got his voicemail.
The school’s principal was unavailable because she was attending her own son’s graduation, Naidu said. When she finally reached her, the principal responded that she was out and would respond the day of University’s commencement. She asked Kavitha Naidu to have her daughter make the recording.
But the day of the ceremony, Naidu said she missed a call from the principal saying her daughter would not be allowed to speak. Naidu said she called back to no avail.
Kriya Naidu and her mother say they only received a response from the district after the media picked up on the story. They complained of rudeness and deaf ears from district staffers.
“It saddened me it took such media attention to get a response from OCPS,” Kriya Naidu said.
And her mother asked why her daughter had been “punished” by the administration at University High.
“Where were you all when I needed you, where were you all when my child needed you?” Kavitha Naidu asked board members. “I wish to emphasize in this meeting the need for accessibility because not everything can wait for a board meeting.”
There were other problems during the University graduation, Kriya Naidu said, including students who had their names mispronounced or were called out of order. She called for the district to investigate administrators at University and hold them accountable.
“Finally, I deserve an apology from those directly responsible for ruining my graduation day,” she said. “I want to know why I was not allowed to give my speech at graduation.”