Sister: Marion County school allowed me to walk at graduation for brother who died

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Bellview High School administrators were not budging Thursday from their refusal to allow the sister of a deceased student to walk across the stage during graduation to pick up her honorary diploma.

The school said the decision was made because it didn't want to set a precedent.

The precedent has already been set, though, said the sister of a teen killed in 2010 by a drunken driver.

"They allowed me to wear his robes, sit in his section, in his seat, and walk across the stage to accept his diploma," Ashley Smith said of her brother Jacob.

Nikki Collins died of viral pneumonia in December and her family has asked that her sister, Summer Lynn, walk in her place during the Bellview High School graduation.

“It’s the only thing she wanted,” Lynn said. “She worked so hard, day in and day out.”

Lynn met with school administrators Thursday, who said she could sit on the graduation stage and stand to accept Collins' honorary degree, but not walk across the stage.

Lynn said she appreciated the thought, but walking during graduation was the one thing her sister wanted.

"It's not her fault that she's gone. It's not her fault that she didn't get to complete school," Lynn said. "One hundred percent, I appreciate (the school's offer), but my sister's last wish was to walk off that stage."

Jacob Smith's mother, Lindie Reiss, said the Bellview High School administrators should let Lynn walk in her sister's place, just like Ashley did for her brother.

"They should allow a sister to pick up a diploma, or a symbol of the diploma for a sister," Reiss said. "Because it's just right. It took the whole family to get her there."

Cox Media Group