Students Told to Beware of Invitations for Listings in Honor Roll-Type Books
Officials of the Long Beach Unified School District are warning students to beware of invitations to be listed in honor roll-type books that cost between $29 and $35.
“The implied message is that if you buy the book and you have your name in there, it helps you get an academic scholarship or an athletic scholarship or get into a college,” said Richard G. Van Der Laan, the district’s spokesman.
Students and their parents should be leery of such offers, officials said. “Now is the season. It begins now and lasts through June,” Van Der Laan said.
The state Department of Education last fall advised all school districts to stop providing information about students--such as addresses and school activities--to companies that market who’s who-type books.
State officials surveyed college admission directors across the country and concluded that inclusion in student directories that are compiled for a profit do not improve a student’s chance for college admission, Van Der Laan said.
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