“All of this is in our handbook that [deVisser] was given when she chose to participate in the program. It says we don’t guarantee graduation or a diploma or several other things.”

Mayhugh said deVisser has already graduated high school in her native Holland and it would not be fair to American students.

“They don’t come here to get diplomas, they come here to get the American experience,” Hoskins said.

The principal said officials have made announcements since September as to what the students needed for graduation and that deVisser did not come to her until Tuesday.

“When Britt was given a list of classes she had to take to graduate, she enrolled and took all of them and received excellent grades and met the requirements,” Brittain argued.

“That is false information; she has not met our requirements for graduation,” Hoskins countered.

However, deVisser said she was never told that she did not meet the requirements for graduation or even what those requirements were. She said she took all the classes school officials told her to take and thought she would be able to get her diploma for doing so.

“Britt was under the assumption that she would be getting a diploma,” Brittain said.

AHS officials will allow deVisser to attend the ceremony and receive a certificate of attendance.

“Most of our foreign exchange students don’t even get that,” Hoskins said.

“It’s better than sitting in the audience with my parents,” deVisser said. “They are flying all this way to see me graduate.”

She said she still considers herself a graduate of Albia High School, but it would have been nice to have the diploma.

Besides deVisser, Hoskins said only one other exchange student that she knows of has ever requested to participate in the ceremony.

“This has never been an issue before,” Crall said.

“I really think the school didn’t do their part in informing us earlier about these things though,” Brittain said.