Post by gatormom on Aug 23, 2008 7:24:55 GMT -5
Suburban schools staying tough on residency rules
By Matt Arado
Daily Herald
8/22/2008
Thousands of students all over the suburbs will attend new schools this month. You can bet that school district officials are checking their addresses.
In the midst of the annual back-to-school rush, suburban educators say they're on the lookout for people trying to enroll children in school districts they don't live in. Verifying residency has always been a priority for local districts, but the issue has gained some renewed attention recently, with home foreclosures on the rise and districts under pressure to keep costs down.
"It's a matter of fairness to the taxpayers," said Carolyn Waller, spokeswoman for Warren Township High School District 121 in Gurnee. "We understand parents wanting the best education for their children, but the law is the law."
The Illinois School Code states that students must be residents of a public school district before they can enroll in one of its schools. (Federal law prevents schools from denying enrollment to homeless students.)
Most districts require families to prove residency during initial registration, though a few have started holding annual proof-of-residency events. When suspicious residency claims arise, districts look into the matter on their own or hire outside investigators to pursue them.
Dan Oldham is the full-time residency and truancy officer for District 121. He draws on his 27 years of experience as a police officer to verify addresses and investigate possible residency violations at Warren Township High School.
Last school year, Oldham discovered about 105 students wrongly enrolled at the district's two campuses. Educating those students for four years could have cost local taxpayers as much as $1.3 million, he said.
"The cost adds up quickly," he said.
Oldham cited a number of reasons why parents would fake an address to get into a school district. The parents could simply be looking for better schools or a particular program they can't get at their home district, he said. Or their children might have run into trouble in their home schools.
"Maybe there's been an issue with fighting, or some similar problem," he said. "The parents lie so they can get their kids out of that situation."
Oldham checks every single student's address as part of his job. Other districts rely on tips from the community and red flags like returned mail to uncover cases of faked addresses.
Private investigator Bill Beitler specializes in checking residency for school districts in the Chicago area. He said the recent rise in home foreclosures is exacerbating the problem.
"People are losing their homes, but they don't want to lose their schools," he said. Beitler's company, National Investigations Inc., is based in Channahon, south of Joliet, but it has worked for school districts all over the region.
Beitler said he has contracts with about 36 districts this year, up from about 20 last year.
"My business has skyrocketed in the past two years," he said.
Northwest suburban officials haven't noticed a dramatic spike in false residency claims recently, but they say the numbers have gone up a bit.
"There's so much more mobility within families," said Roger Thornton, superintendent of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211. "When people move around more, you're going to see more residency questions come up."
District 211, like most districts, requires families to prove residency at registration. Thornton said his district has occasionally turned to private investigators to verify addresses.
In Naperville Unit District 203, new families must provide three forms of documentation to establish residency before they can enroll in district schools. Among the documents accepted are mortgage papers, lease agreements, driver's licenses and utility bills.
"It's something we have to stay on top of," District 203 spokeswoman Melea Smith said. "It would upset our taxpayer base to allow families who don't pay taxes to us to enroll here."
Woodland Elementary District 50 in Gurnee started holding annual proof-of-residency events last year, and Antioch Elementary District 34 held its first one last week.
District 50 spokeswoman Jennifer Tempest Bova said the idea for the events arose from discussions about improving the district's financial picture.
Warren High's Oldham said he expects the number of false residency claims to decrease as districts take such measures to track them, but he doesn't think they'll ever disappear entirely.
"There will always be people who think they just won't get caught," he said.
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=229532&src=2
By Matt Arado
Daily Herald
8/22/2008
Thousands of students all over the suburbs will attend new schools this month. You can bet that school district officials are checking their addresses.
In the midst of the annual back-to-school rush, suburban educators say they're on the lookout for people trying to enroll children in school districts they don't live in. Verifying residency has always been a priority for local districts, but the issue has gained some renewed attention recently, with home foreclosures on the rise and districts under pressure to keep costs down.
"It's a matter of fairness to the taxpayers," said Carolyn Waller, spokeswoman for Warren Township High School District 121 in Gurnee. "We understand parents wanting the best education for their children, but the law is the law."
The Illinois School Code states that students must be residents of a public school district before they can enroll in one of its schools. (Federal law prevents schools from denying enrollment to homeless students.)
Most districts require families to prove residency during initial registration, though a few have started holding annual proof-of-residency events. When suspicious residency claims arise, districts look into the matter on their own or hire outside investigators to pursue them.
Dan Oldham is the full-time residency and truancy officer for District 121. He draws on his 27 years of experience as a police officer to verify addresses and investigate possible residency violations at Warren Township High School.
Last school year, Oldham discovered about 105 students wrongly enrolled at the district's two campuses. Educating those students for four years could have cost local taxpayers as much as $1.3 million, he said.
"The cost adds up quickly," he said.
Oldham cited a number of reasons why parents would fake an address to get into a school district. The parents could simply be looking for better schools or a particular program they can't get at their home district, he said. Or their children might have run into trouble in their home schools.
"Maybe there's been an issue with fighting, or some similar problem," he said. "The parents lie so they can get their kids out of that situation."
Oldham checks every single student's address as part of his job. Other districts rely on tips from the community and red flags like returned mail to uncover cases of faked addresses.
Private investigator Bill Beitler specializes in checking residency for school districts in the Chicago area. He said the recent rise in home foreclosures is exacerbating the problem.
"People are losing their homes, but they don't want to lose their schools," he said. Beitler's company, National Investigations Inc., is based in Channahon, south of Joliet, but it has worked for school districts all over the region.
Beitler said he has contracts with about 36 districts this year, up from about 20 last year.
"My business has skyrocketed in the past two years," he said.
Northwest suburban officials haven't noticed a dramatic spike in false residency claims recently, but they say the numbers have gone up a bit.
"There's so much more mobility within families," said Roger Thornton, superintendent of Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211. "When people move around more, you're going to see more residency questions come up."
District 211, like most districts, requires families to prove residency at registration. Thornton said his district has occasionally turned to private investigators to verify addresses.
In Naperville Unit District 203, new families must provide three forms of documentation to establish residency before they can enroll in district schools. Among the documents accepted are mortgage papers, lease agreements, driver's licenses and utility bills.
"It's something we have to stay on top of," District 203 spokeswoman Melea Smith said. "It would upset our taxpayer base to allow families who don't pay taxes to us to enroll here."
Woodland Elementary District 50 in Gurnee started holding annual proof-of-residency events last year, and Antioch Elementary District 34 held its first one last week.
District 50 spokeswoman Jennifer Tempest Bova said the idea for the events arose from discussions about improving the district's financial picture.
Warren High's Oldham said he expects the number of false residency claims to decrease as districts take such measures to track them, but he doesn't think they'll ever disappear entirely.
"There will always be people who think they just won't get caught," he said.
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=229532&src=2