can we stop with the threads about residency cheating, already?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one case I know of was basically Mom moved out to VA and wanted daughter to finish high school in DC where she had been attending. So she puts grandma on the residency documents.

Two things here, neither of which make this easier.

1. Wouldn't you want your kid to be able to finish with their school community? Things like this generate sympathy.
2. Let's be honest, the widespread broken or, to be less judgmental, at least multi-generational/matrilineal/typically fatherless family and housing structure of DC families makes people not want too challenge kids' claims that they live with a grandmother or other female relative in DC even of the face of other evidence or complex custody/care situations. And DC in fact has a lot of people in tough situations, so making judgment calls on residency in these kinds of family housing setups is likely to get administrators burned sometimes and they don't want that kind of trouble.

I'm pretty sure that any DCPS HS principal would allow a long-time student whose family moved to VA to option of staying to graduate with his/her friends. That mom probably didn't cheat in order to keep the child at the school. She cheated to avoid paying 12K per year in non-resident tuition.

That said, I'm a DC resident, and I don't blame her. 12K a year is a lot of money just to have your kid finish with his/her friends.

It seems particularly unfair given that the mom was paying income and property taxes in VA and thus contributing to the funding of her local HS, where her DD/DS was entitled to a spot.

Thus, I think the real solution is for DC to enter into a compact with MD and VA whereby each jurisdiction transfers the per-student funding amount for its school system to the other school system whenever a resident student attends or is found to have attended a school in the other jurisdiction. The parents would then be responsible only for the difference in the per-student funding amounts, if any.

Moving from DC to a close-in suburb does not have to result in the same sort of turmoil in kids lives as moving across the country. They should be allowed to stay at their DCPS pr PCS without having their families face financial ruin.

Furthermore, given the apparent demand for schools located in DC from families that commute to the city, such a compact would likely result in a large increase in enrollment in DCPS and PCS schools.

Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Kind of a silly idea, 12:35, to create a new layer of bureaucracy for a relatively unique situation more easily addressed by individual families being responsible for their choices.

If it's so important for a student to graduate with her class, maybe mom waits to move until after DD finishes school. If mom has to move, appeal to the school to stay and graduate. This is quite likely to be approved if the student is in her last year of school. If that doesn't work, well, it wouldn't be the end of the world if her DD doesn't graduate with her friends. Kids change schools all the time. Her DD's real friends will still be her friends and she will soon forget all the others. That's just life.

In the other PP's example of complicated custody issues, that's another straw man argument. Administrators don't get burned for asking legitimate questions about residency when there is a complicated family situation. Any family with a complicated situation recognizes that they are unique, and, if they have all the paperwork that supports the placement, there is nothing for anyone to worry about.

If you aren't cheating, you have paperwork and no worries. The only people who should worry are the cheaters.

Frankly, I'm surprised that some of you think this is even a question.

[Anonymous]

I drove down 12th Street NE and SE today behind a black acura with md plates and a "my student is an honor roll student at the Cluster School" bumper sticker. Made me want to ram his bumper.

[Anonymous]

I vote to keep posting to these threads. I find it fascinating to see what people come up with to get the school they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one case I know of was basically Mom moved out to VA and wanted daughter to finish high school in DC where she had been attending. So she puts grandma on the residency documents.

Two things here, neither of which make this easier.

1. Wouldn't you want your kid to be able to finish with their school community? Things like this generate sympathy.
2. Let's be honest, the widespread broken or, to be less judgmental, at least multi-generational/matrilineal/typically fatherless family and housing structure of DC families makes people not want too challenge kids' claims that they live with a grandmother or other female relative in DC even of the face of other evidence or complex custody/care situations. And DC in fact has a lot of people in tough situations, so making judgment calls on residency in these kinds of family housing setups is likely to get administrators burned sometimes and they don't want that kind of trouble.

please. stop. the .crap

yes, I would like my DD to finish school with her friends. for this I would have 1) waited for her to finish school before moving; or 2) if this was not possible I would have asked the school to let my DD stay and pay out of state tuition or if this was not an option, 3) I would have explained to her the situation and move her to the new school in VA. my DD would have learned that when you make a decision there are consequences and that sometimes you cannot get everything you want, ant that you cannot cheat to get your way.

[Anonymous]

Talking on here is getting nowhere, obviously. Why keeep up these threads. The same ppl are commenting. What are these ppl doing to communicate this to OSSE or Central office?

[Anonymous]

These threads raise awareness so more people can take action, PP. That's important so more people can take action.

[Anonymous]

Oops, sorry for the second sentence in the last post. I thought I deleted it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
2. Let's be honest, the widespread broken or, to be less judgmental, at least multi-generational/matrilineal/typically fatherless family and housing structure of DC families makes people not want too challenge kids' claims that they live with a grandmother or other female relative in DC even of the face of other evidence or complex custody/care situations. And DC in fact has a lot of people in tough situations, so making judgment calls on residency in these kinds of family housing setups is likely to get administrators burned sometimes and they don't want that kind of trouble.

absolutley agree. sometimes it's a judegment call, but sometimes it means just taking things at face value and not intervening. no one wants to make a bad situation worse, especially if they get it wrong.

If PP is correct about the ease of using automated HR systems at work for falsified verification, this seriously needs to be addressed by DCPS. At my job it would violate HR rules and be grounds for termination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not that hard in DCPS, particularly if you have a lot of family in the city - Grandma, sisters, cousin/sisters, etc. It happens, and under those circumstances, it's pretty easy.

BTW, it's also a black thing, and that drives some people crazy.

Please tell this to the VA white parents at my Charter. What else is expected from DCUM? Where do you guys move in from Mississippi. Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina?

[Anonymous]

Maybe we can verify class by class. If you know that everyone in your child's class is a DC resident and rightfully has a place in the school (with no family/divorce complications), then post to DC Urban mom with the school, grade and teacher's name. Let's go down the list and verify it ourselves!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These threads raise awareness so more people can take action, PP. That's important so more people can take action.

I'm sure 40k plus parents aren't aware of the cheating let alone this site. So how is your outreach done again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we can verify class by class. If you know that everyone in your child's class is a DC resident and rightfully has a place in the school (with no family/divorce complications), then post to DC Urban mom with the school, grade and teacher's name. Let's go down the list and verify it ourselves!

Why don't you take your idea to central office?

[Anonymous]

People who think this isn't a problem clearly do not live near some of these schools. The threads aren't going to go away because some of us are seeing a different reality from yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who think this isn't a problem clearly do not live near some of these schools. The threads aren't going to go away because some of us are seeing a different reality from yours.

Well what about the parents who aren't on this site. You guys are doing so much outreach, but what's the outcome? How many cheaters have you all caught?