Using relative's address to get child into different school district in MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the repercussions if MCPS finds out you've used a relative's address to get your child enrolled in a different MCPS school district? Does anyone have experience with this? And if so, what is the process that MCPS uses to discover and crack down on such situations?

MCPS is overcrowded and poorly managed. If this is a close relative who has your back and will not snitch, you can pull it off. Granted, you have to produce documentation to prove you live there. I strongly considered doing that, but decided to forego MCPS altogether. If your local school is such sh1t that you wouldn't send your child there, why send them to any of the schools in MCPS?

OP, do NOT follow this advice. MCPS has identified families not living in the proper school zone and has removed those students from their schools mid year.

No, they haven't. We go to an in-demand ES with several families who live in Howard County but have property in bounds for the school. This is well known - even the principal knows - and no one is doing a thing about it.

OP, [b]as long as you have a genuine link to the county, send your child. Trust me, no one is following up on this. If you don't have a genuine link (property, family who'd be willing to "rent" to you, etc) then yes, it's trickier. Otherwise, don't think twice.

This has been our experience also. Nobody is following up on 'residency fraud'. Even if they did, it is incredibly hard to prove.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the repercussions if MCPS finds out you've used a relative's address to get your child enrolled in a different MCPS school district? Does anyone have experience with this? And if so, what is the process that MCPS uses to discover and crack down on such situations?

MCPS is overcrowded and poorly managed. If this is a close relative who has your back and will not snitch, you can pull it off. Granted, you have to produce documentation to prove you live there. I strongly considered doing that, but decided to forego MCPS altogether. If your local school is such sh1t that you wouldn't send your child there, why send them to any of the schools in MCPS?

OP, do NOT follow this advice. MCPS has identified families not living in the proper school zone and has removed those students from their schools mid year.

No, they haven't. We go to an in-demand ES with several families who live in Howard County but have property in bounds for the school. This is well known - even the principal knows - and no one is doing a thing about it.

OP, [b]as long as you have a genuine link to the county, send your child. Trust me, no one is following up on this. If you don't have a genuine link (property, family who'd be willing to "rent" to you, etc) then yes, it's trickier. Otherwise, don't think twice.

This has been our experience also. Nobody is following up on 'residency fraud'. Even if they did, it is incredibly hard to prove.

Only the serious sports schools.

[Anonymous]

my guess is that if MCPS ever redraws boundaries, you'll see a LOT more people renting out rooms

[Anonymous]

Several people are saying that home inspections and reviews never happen. The reality is that it rarely happens. There aren't enough staff and resources to investigate all of the reported cases. So they review what they can. Many families get through without being investigated, but there are many cases that do get investigated and children are sent back to their home school.

As someone else said, it happens more than you would expect or hear about, but still the majority of cases get away with it without being investigated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our W cluster there are a few families that let their maids or nannies claim the employer's address to send their kids. Everyone knows (they are easy to spot) between parents and the school more or less and during elementary it wasn't really an issue. During middle school the kids started to take notice and it got cruel form time to time. Which is kind of the point, I empathize with the parents wanting to send their kids to school with a more positive peer group but running the risk of the kids being called out for being frauds and being rejected by said peer group sort of negates the benefits.

It's not always just to get their kids into a better school.

I know one case where it was done for logistics. The nanny had to report to work to get the employer's kids ready for school and take them to school. She also had to pick up the employer's children from school and watch them until dinner time. This meant she couldn't be home to send her own child to school or pick him up. Also, based her wages, she couldn't afford childcare and none of the childcare available fit the hours she needed to be at the employer's plus travel back and forth.

The easiest solution for her situation was the enroll her child at the employer's home, and take all three kids to school and pick them up at the same time. And her child stayed with her through her work day.

[Anonymous]

When I got divorced, my ex moved a couple of clusters over to a W-school from the DCC and we actually left our kid in his "bad" school so he wouldn't have to leave his friend group. Now he's starting HS and staying in the DCC because of the different programs. But it's nice to know we have the backup of the W-school if his DCC HS isn't a good fit.

[Anonymous]

As a kid we moved a lot for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I lived in the assigned school zone and sometimes I didn’t. When I didn’t we used a relative’s address. This allowed me the stability of staying in the same cluster. I was an excellent student and went on to college and grad school. I understand peoples’ frustration but parents are really out here trying to do their best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our W cluster there are a few families that let their maids or nannies claim the employer's address to send their kids. Everyone knows (they are easy to spot) between parents and the school more or less and during elementary it wasn't really an issue. During middle school the kids started to take notice and it got cruel form time to time. Which is kind of the point, I empathize with the parents wanting to send their kids to school with a more positive peer group but running the risk of the kids being called out for being frauds and being rejected by said peer group sort of negates the benefits.

It's not always just to get their kids into a better school.

I know one case where it was done for logistics. The nanny had to report to work to get the employer's kids ready for school and take them to school. She also had to pick up the employer's children from school and watch them until dinner time. This meant she couldn't be home to send her own child to school or pick him up. Also, based her wages, she couldn't afford childcare and none of the childcare available fit the hours she needed to be at the employer's plus travel back and forth.

The easiest solution for her situation was the enroll her child at the employer's home, and take all three kids to school and pick them up at the same time. And her child stayed with her through her work day.

This makes total sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the repercussions if MCPS finds out you've used a relative's address to get your child enrolled in a different MCPS school district? Does anyone have experience with this? And if so, what is the process that MCPS uses to discover and crack down on such situations?

You will be in trouble for doing this type of thing.

So very unlikely. I have 3 kids in MCPS and have been in the system for 10 years now. Each one of my kids has know families who live out of bounds and use ‘alternative addresses’. Not a single one has ever faced any consequences.

It’s even easier now than it was 5-7 years ago. Most communication is by email anyway. Not that much stuff comes in the mail. Report cards are online, etc.

I'd report them in a heartbeat.

I have several times and MCPS has done nothing!

[Anonymous]

I know a boy who had to leave Pyle for that reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our W cluster there are a few families that let their maids or nannies claim the employer's address to send their kids. Everyone knows (they are easy to spot) between parents and the school more or less and during elementary it wasn't really an issue. During middle school the kids started to take notice and it got cruel form time to time. Which is kind of the point, I empathize with the parents wanting to send their kids to school with a more positive peer group but running the risk of the kids being called out for being frauds and being rejected by said peer group sort of negates the benefits.

It's not always just to get their kids into a better school.

I know one case where it was done for logistics. The nanny had to report to work to get the employer's kids ready for school and take them to school. She also had to pick up the employer's children from school and watch them until dinner time. This meant she couldn't be home to send her own child to school or pick him up. Also, based her wages, she couldn't afford childcare and none of the childcare available fit the hours she needed to be at the employer's plus travel back and forth.

The easiest solution for her situation was the enroll her child at the employer's home, and take all three kids to school and pick them up at the same time. And her child stayed with her through her work day.

This makes total sense to me.

This arrangement was allowed by MCPS years ago. I know someone whose nanny worked for them for 10-14 years and applied COSA for their nanny’s three kids to attend ES, MS, and HS in one of the W school area.

[Anonymous]

If you have a legitimate reason, just apply for a COSA. If it's denied, appeal it and point out that you pay taxes to the county, not the specific school, and reiterate your legitimate reasons.

I have three kids who all attended out-of-area with approved COSAs for all or most of their education. Every once in a while, a guidance counselor or attendance secretary or other school official made it their business to make me 'prove' my kid had a right to be at that school. Also, one of my kids had an IEP and that triggered a few people being 'interested' in why my kid was at a different school. It is just so much easier to apply for the COSA so your kids don't have to lie and you have nothing to hide.

[Anonymous]

You have to show proof of residency when you enroll your child in MCPS. There are multiple documents required to ensure you live where you say you live.

[Anonymous]

what is to stop you from renting a cheap apartment in the area you want? can his be pulled off?

[Anonymous]

cosas are rarely approved