Your high school senior may be getting ready to submit their college applications, but a systems error at two Lompoc Unified high schools has kept some local students from even sending theirs out.
“The window for college applications opened on October 1 and closes on November 30. At this time, every senior in LUSD cannot submit applications for college,” said a concerned Lompoc Unified parent during Tuesday’s board meeting.
Tuesday evening, a few Lompoc parents voiced their concerns during the Lompoc Unified board meeting — as for the past several weeks, students at Cabrillo and Lompoc High Schools have been unable to access their transcripts, which are required when applying to college.
“Many county and statewide scholarships require transcripts as well; therefore, these may not be applied for either. In the sea of applications, LUSD’s class of 2024 is dead in the water,” the parent added.
More than a year ago, the district began using Aeries, an information system designed to manage student data including schedules, attendance and transcripts.
However, district officials say the transition has not gone as smoothly as they had hoped, leaving Lompoc Unified seniors without access to their official transcripts.
“Without them, me and my peers will be unable to apply for Early Action to college or scholarships, something our students cannot afford to miss out on,” a Lompoc High School senior said during the meeting.
Some local parents say they spent the past several weeks trying to reach out to district officials about the situation but could not get the issue resolved.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the IT Department of Lompoc Unified sent letters to the parents of high school seniors, saying the transcript issue should be resolved by the end of the week.
“We are down to just the last few dozen transcripts that are being reviewed over the next 24 hours or so," said Lompoc Unified Superintendent Dr. Clara Finneran. "There does need to be some cross-checking from our staff, so we are working on that. They should be ready to print and go and deliver on Friday."
On behalf of the district, during the board meeting, Dr. Finneran told parents she recognized the importance of having transcripts available for high school seniors right now as the college application window is now open, adding that district staff are actively working to fix the problem.
She says high school counselors will spend the coming days reviewing and double-checking the remaining transcripts before they are released and made available to students.
Lompoc Unified officials declined an opportunity for an on-camera interview to explain more about the situation.
