North Carolina dad buys billboard for son after school doesn't recognize him as valedictorian

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. -- A North Carolina father bought his recently-graduated son a billboard recognizing him as valedictorian even though the school refused to do so.

Gary Allmon purchased the billboard for his son Josh on U.S. 264 in Wake County.

The billboard reads, "Congrats! Josh Allmon you will always be our valedictorian."



"East Wake High School and Wake County Public School Board may not recognize Josh's hard work but we will," the proud father wrote in a Facebook post along with a picture of the billboard.

Josh graduated with a 5.31 GPA. However, East Wake High recently did away with naming a valedictorian, according to the News & Observer. They replaced naming a valedictorian with the Latin honors ranking system as a “better way to recognize students who may have barely missed being named valedictorian or salutatorian by several decimal places.”

The entire Wake County school system plans to move to the Latin honors ranking system next year.