LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. -- In just a few days, many high school seniors will be graduating, but some may not get their diplomas because of unpaid school fines.
In Liberty Lake on Thursday, a Facebook post asking for donations to help pay off one student's fine of almost $300 got a lot of attention from community members.
The post was made by Moriah Quimby, who has a son graduating from Ridgeline High School this year.
One of her son's friends was concerned he would not get his diploma because he could not afford the fines, so Quimby went to Facebook for help and was met with an overwhelming response.
"The last thing I want is for our seniors or their families to be stressed out on graduation day and feel like they are not getting the whole experience," said Quimby. "Within literally 20 minutes, I was able to pay off the $287 fine."
Her post started a ripple effect of people wanting to help other students in the same boat.
Dozens of Liberty Lake community members called Ridgeline and other Central Valley District schools, chipping away at the thousands of dollars unpaid by graduating seniors.
"Everything from nutritional balances that have been paid off to fees from middle school that they never turned in a library book or something," said Quimby.
According to Quimby, the fines ranged from $25 to $300.
The post even had parents sharing their gratitude for the generosity and help.
One parent said she just found out her child had $300 in fines, and it was taken care of by the time they went to pay it. She said it would have been a huge burden for her to pay and thanked whoever took care of it.
Ridgeline High School and the Central Valley School District are not unique in their policy, which says that for seniors to receive their diplomas, all fines must be paid. It's something that is in place in many districts across the country.
If you look at their social media pages, many posts remind students to pay their fines, and some parents said they had received emails and letters alerting them to their balance.
But no matter if families couldn't afford the fines or were unaware of them, Quimby said the response was an act of kindness and a testament to her tight-knit community.
"Whether they could afford it or not doesn't necessarily matter. It's a nice thing to do as a gift and to be able to show them that there is good in the world," said Quimby. "My hope is that these kids see that they have gotten help and can do that to someone else in whatever way they would like."
Less than five hours after the original post, Quimby was told all senior fines were paid, and no diplomas would be withheld this weekend.
We reached out to the Central Valley School District for a comment on these donations. They gave the following statement:
"We very much appreciate the caring, compassion, and generosity of our Liberty Lake and Central Valley community. CVSD encourages those that may have a question about their individual fines to contact their school to verify information about their particular situation and how this may or may not affect them."
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