In an attempt to make amends for a scoring error that cost a 10-year-old girl a shot at the finals in the Chula Vista Elementary School District’s annual speech competition, the board of trustees publicly recognized student Alayda Guerrero with a recognition award at its May 18 board meeting.
But the girl’s mother, Maria Guerrro, said the district’s efforts only made matters worse.
As the five-member school board introduced Alayda to a room full of parents, students and district staff, they referred to her as a sixth-grader.
Guerrero said she could have lived with that error but when she looked at the certificate of recognition her daughter received she noticed Alyda was referenced as a sixth-grader there, too.
“Do they (the district) have an issue with numbers? Do they an issue with paying attention? Do they not care?,” Guerrero asked outside the boardroom.
Guerrero did not notice the misprint until she left the meeting.
This is just the second mishap by the district in months regarding Alayda.
In February, Alayda gave a speech about her favorite artist, Freda Kahlo and the benefits a district-wide arts program would have on the Chula Vista Elementary School District.
When her total scores from three judges were added, Alayda learned she did not have a high enough score to be one of eight finalist with the opportunity to win a cash prize. That’s because one of the judges, former Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, had incorrectly added her score.
A district spokesman had previously acknowledged the miscalculation and agreed that Alayda would have been a finalist had her score been tallied correctly.
Board member Francisco Tamayo personally invited the Vista square Elementary School student to the May board meeting to recognize the student because he said “It was only the right thing to do” in rectifying the situation.
Guerrero initially had wanted an apology from the district for the scoring error as well as recognition for her daughter through the district-wide newsletter.
Guerrero said she settled with the recognition of the board meeting instead of the apology through the district’s newsletter.
But when she learned the district messed up on the award, she said the district ruined their chance to recognize Alayda.
“The fact that she fought this and then she comes out with a plaque that’s not really hers is disappointing,” she said.
“Alayda was looking forward to this, she really was.”
Tamayo said he was unaware about the misprint,
“I don’t know if there’s a mistake on the certificate, I didn’t see it,” he said. “It’s unfortunate if we are continuing to make mistakes. We definitely need to make sure that we don’t add more mistakes to this situation.”
Guerrero said she plans to ask the district for a reprint. Tamayo said the district would grant Guerrero’s request if asked.
