Moving out of DC, but want to keep slot at HRCS. Experience with paying tuition...

[Anonymous]

If it were me, and I loved the school, I would make the parent with custody stays in the city so the child could continue. I wouldn't want to risk forcing the kid to leave a beloved school on top of a split. And even if the school said they would allow it, I'd be worried that a future crackdown on non-residents would force us out.

[Anonymous]

How much is out of state tuition? We pass by a charter on our way into the city and I know they had empty slots at the beginning of the year. We are considering this for our DC...

[Anonymous]

^^ Please don't derail a helpful thread with this BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ Please don't derail a helpful thread with this BS.

What do you mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much is out of state tuition? We pass by a charter on our way into the city and I know they had empty slots at the beginning of the year. We are considering this for our DC...

~ 9-12K I looked in the past and this is the range. Cheaper than daycare

[Anonymous]

If you are moving out of DC anyway, why not move to a location with decent neighborhood schools? That way, they'll make friends close by and you'll be able to take advantage of your local tax dollars versus paying local tax and tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving out of DC anyway, why not move to a location with decent neighborhood schools? That way, they'll make friends close by and you'll be able to take advantage of your local tax dollars versus paying local tax and tuition?

They don't have public pre-k like in DC

[Anonymous]

Many private preschools are less Ruthann 9 to 12k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here in a similar situation. We're at LAMB. I have one kid in an older grade so I don't think they'd care about him. But, my younger child is pre-k 3. Would they allow you to keep the younger child because you have a sibling there or would they likely force the younger one out for a dc resident?

LAMB is pretty well known for having MD residents at it's school. I don't think you'll have a problem.

Yeah, but now the school is full of gentrifiers and they're cracking down on cheats. I wouldn't want that problem. Would this be a question to pose to the principal or to the charter board? Who's in charge and what are the lawful rules?

I don't think they are "cracking down" as I know a MD admitted this year.

Have you reported this, given many DC residents would like to attend the school?

[Anonymous]

Could someone post a link to the rule on this? I'm googling everywhere and can't find anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like the school does allow kids to enter at K, correct? If so, I think they would only be able to allow you to continue for the rest of this academic year while you pay tuition, assuming that you and your partner are both not DC residents for the 2015-2016 school year. After that, they would have to offer up the slot to a DC resident in the lottery. You're only allowed to stay in a school and pay tuition if there isn't a DC resident who can get the slot. So, for example, if you were in PK4 at LAMB, I think you could stay while paying tuition because they don't allow kids to enter at K. But if you are in PK4 at Yu Ying, which does allow kids to enter at K, then you're out of luck.

Any chance that either you or your partner can remain in DC?

OP, I recommend that you call the school. I asked at our PCS, and the answer was unequivocal: A former DC resident who moves to MD or VA can keep his/her spot at the school provided the family pays the non-resident tuition. The spot does not have to be made available to current DC residents in the lottery the following year.

My suspicion is that most (if not all PCSs) have the same policy. While it is true that spots at some PCSs are scarce and should be allocated preferentially to DC residents, PCSs also have to do their best to maintain enrollment stability. Many PCSs have terrible re-enrollment rates, suggesting that many charter families bounce from school to school until they find the right fit or give up entirely on charters. Thus, it makes little sense to force out a former DC resident who has been enrolled one or more years and is sufficiently committed to the school that the family is willing to pay $10K or more to stay just to replace that student with a DC resident who might leave before the year is up. Enrollment stability is especially important for PCSs that do not admit students into higher grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could someone post a link to the rule on this? I'm googling everywhere and can't find anything.

Here's the text of the DC Regulation http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Gateway/RuleHome.aspx?RuleNumber=5-E915:

915 ADMISSIONS

915.1 Enrollment in a public charter school shall be open to all students who are residents of the District of Columbia and, if space is available, to nonresident students who meet the tuition requirements of the District of Columbia.

...

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 48 DCR 1694, 1701 (February 23, 2001).

My understanding, however, is that there is a distinction to be drawn between enrollment and re-enrollment, and that this rule does not apply to re-enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Here is a link to the language--out of state can only be admitted if there are no DC residents who want the spot:

http://dcregs.dc.gov/Notice/DownLoad.aspx?VersionID=280929

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP, I recommend that you call the school. I asked at our PCS, and the answer was unequivocal: A former DC resident who moves to MD or VA can keep his/her spot at the school provided the family pays the non-resident tuition. The spot does not have to be made available to current DC residents in the lottery the following year.

I can't figure out what actually happened after the proposed 2014 residency verification rulemaking was announced (http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/Residency_Regulations_1_21_14.pdf), but if that rule is currently in effect, your PCS is incorrect, assuming that the relevant grade is one in which DC residents can be admitted.

See 5007.6.e:
Indicate that the LEA has discretion to allow a non-resident student an opportunity to remain at the school, provided: (1) the non-resident tuition is paid for the current school year and for any other period the student has attended the school as a non-resident; and (2) the school does not have a resident student on the waiting list seeking a space at the school for the same grade level as the non-resident student.

The rule seems very clear that if there is a resident student on the waiting list, they have priority in both admission and retention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Please don't derail a helpful thread with this BS.

What do you mean?

There was a post on DCUM a few years back from a MD family who did something like this.

IIRC, there was a HRCS along the commute of one of the parents. The family submitted an application, thinking that there was little chance they would get a spot. At some point, the HRCS ran out of applications from DC residents and called the family to offer them a spot. I imagine the call came shortly before count day. The family raced to the school that very day and submitted their registration paperwork before any DC residents got wind of the availability of spots and submitted an application. The child was then allowed to stay at the school for years, having never been a DC resident.