Someone's not paying attention - $650 in school fees and fines

SS owes $650 in school fees. That includes $200 in school lunches purchased, but not paid for (why they keep letting him "buy" lunch, I don't know), $60 in parking tickets, $120 for a "lost textbook" from the 8th grade (he's a high school senior) and two lost chromebooks (one from freshman year and one from junior year). He also hasn't paid the very minor fee ($45) required to play sports ever although he's been allowed to play sports for the past three years.

Why do I somehow believe he will not end up having to pay these fees, despite having the means? BM not only gets nearly 1/4 of DH's income, but also makes over $300K a year (not a typo, she's a partner in a professional services firm...of course, she claimed less than half of that during the CS modification portion of the mediation and DH's lazy lawyer simply said, "you can request a modification in two years" when BM said she "didn't have" info on the profit payments she received as a partner). I would love to think that both she and SS will somehow be held accountable for these outstanding fees and he won't be able to partcipate in graduation, or some other appropriate consequence, but I know that based on BM's luck...and ability to avoid consequence...he will likely have his fines forgiven.

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There was a time... when SS would not be granted his HS diploma.

Unfortunately, that time is long past and replaced by the no accountability epoch.

Wanna bet that BM and SS will try to guilt daddy into paying it?

OMG.

Well, SS will be 18. That's on him! Plus, if she is getting CS she is the custodial parent, so BM is the next in line. In our county they hold your diploma for unpaid fines!

Paper Diploma?

You mean they withhold your paper diploma until the fees are paid? In which case...who cares? I've never needed to pull out a copy of my paper diploma to show for a job. And, I imagine that the school has long since transmitted the grades to colleges and universities to allow admission (if they withhold those, that would make a difference). If it was a case of pay $650 to get a paper diploma and walk at graduation, or not pay the $650 and call it a wash, I imagine BM will be happy to walk away, take him out to a nice dinner and ignore the whole thing!

I guess if she doesn't care

I guess if she doesn't care if he walks the stage or not, it wouldn't matter!

Not sure if it is still true,

Not sure if it is still true, but I am in Michigan and when my kids were in high school, if you had overdue fees/fines/books/whatever, you wouldn't get to walk, you wouldn't get your diploma, but more importantly, your final grades would not be transmitted to your college. Thing2 had a friend in that situation and he ended up having to start college in the winter semester, because he had some fines that he hadn't taken care of, yhe high school wouldn't transer the final grades and the University to which he had been admitted wouldn't let him enroll without those final grades.

They do not confer the graduation... until fees are paid.

Two very different things.

They do not complete HS unil the graduation is conferred.

No college, no notable job opportunities, it hurts.

As it should.

There was a time when not completing all credits, clearing all fees and bills, etc.. would mean... you wasted a ton of your time and effort and do not become a HS of college graduate.

My SIL is one who snaked her way out of HS with the forced graduate bullshit. Fortunately, the whiney, sympathy, "I'm spe-cial" , manipulative bullshit did not work and she is sitting on about $100K in school loans on a degree she never completed and.... cannot weasle out of paying back. She is always whining about the banks going after their investent accounts, putting a lean against their home, etc...

Again... as they should. I truly wish they would... to send a clear message to by crook assed SIL, and set the right example for her kids that cheating, stealing, and thieving is not tolerable or commendable or that those that do are to be valued. At all.