Time and attendance tracking is a mainstay of business and secondary education. But everyone knows that watching the clock is the worst way to measure results. One student recently paid a serious price when shooting for perfect attendance.

The story of this pupil has been in the headlines recently. Robby Slaughter’s guest post on the topic appears on the CultureRx blog:

It’s a cliché but it’s still correct: children are our future. So it’s especially telling that an 18-year old student from Indiana, Elizabeth Olivas, may be denied the chance to become a productive member of our society.

This is especially tragic because Olivas is a striking example of the American experience. Although she was born in Mexico, she was brought the United States at the age of 4. Since then she has excelled in virtually every regard. She is an accomplished student and athlete. In fact, she has a 3.9672 and is the salutatorian of her high school.

Except, it looks like won’t be able to give the speech at graduation. In fact, she’s already missed weeks of activities at the end of the school year. That’s because she’s stuck in Mexico and has been refused re-entry to the United States.

Read the full piece online courtesy of GoROWE.com.