Half of Withrow High School seniors can’t get their diplomas on graduation day

High-school graduation is a milestone for any student, an achievement worth celebrating. But some Cincinnati Public Schools students won’t be able to get their diplomas because of unpaid fees.

At Withrow University High School in Hyde Park, 220 seniors will graduate on May 12. As of now, more than half of them will receive diplomas through the mail afterward.

“We have about 125 students that just don’t have the money to pay the school fees at this point,” Hope Johnson-Gordon, a teacher at Withrow High School, said Thursday.

Students owe fees for activities like field trips and classroom materials like books, tablets, pens and paper.

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At Withrow, the payments are due Friday.

“We have a stellar class of 2023,” Johnson-Gordon said. “Many of our kids have lots of obstacles, and finances are one of them, but yet, still, they’ve done the work to actually graduate.”

Johnson-Gordon says many have picked up part-time jobs to help their families pay off the remainder of their student fees, but charges of up to $100 remain on the accounts of those 125.

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A group of CPS graduates started Bridge the Gap under the Butts Family Foundation to help.

“Bridge the Gap is the campaign we came up with to help fundraise, to help the kids that graduation day truly belongs to, the ones who put in the work,” said Tabitha Anderson, Bridge the Gap secretary.

Anderson says the group has raised more than $17,000 over the past two years.

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This year, the group is aiming to help students with unpaid fees at multiple schools, including Withrow as well as Taft, Hughes and Woodward.

“These kids are our future,” Anderson said. “If we’re always on them about making sure they get to graduation day, we should give them that little extra push with whatever they need.”

To donate, contact the Butts Family Foundation.