WaPo takes deep dive into DCPS residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the posts on this thread are engaged in marveling or looking slack-jawed at the ongoing incompetence of DCPS. There's only so much you can say about the fact that residency fraud has been going on for a long time.

But looking at Grosso's latest response to the reporting of the issue, it is clear that he doesn't care to address these facts. Doesn't this mean that what we're looking at is NOT incompetence? Having one investigator on staff to manage the entire issue is just not incompetence. It's tolerance. I think the most interesting question is WHY DCPS managers and leadership are tolerant. And, the DC Council seem to be tolerant, combined with something like fear?

try to keep up - this is an OSSE issue not limited to DCPS. there is just as much residency fraud in charters as DCPS, if not more. Which is it -- 'the DCPS schools all suck and nobody wants to enroll in them or the schools are overflowing with unchecked non-residents'? SMH

What it IS is a lot of residency fraud. That's it. Clearly many of the fraudsters don't care if the schools suck, dcps or charter or whatever, they want to drop their kids off in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:once again, "the legacy of racism" justifies the problem, the illegality, or the rule-breaking. Rather than being appalled at the rationalization, I think spending time to contemplate that perspective explains a lot.

BS. The ‘legacy of racism’ does not entitle them to a spacious house in PGC plus the schools of their choice on someone else’s dime.

I feel very attached to the place I grew up. I feel like I’m more of an insider — I know more people and more history and have spent more time there — than people who moved there in recent years.

But I’m not assinine enough to believe that I ‘deserve’ to use their schools and other tax-funded services in real time. That is simply not okay, legally or morally.

[Anonymous]

OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

What was the reason they had for investigating you? I'm wondering what triggers an investigation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

Curious why you were investigated? What triggered an investigation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

What was the reason they had for investigating you? I'm wondering what triggers an investigation.

We were amicably separating at the time. Dad was staying with a relative in MD, borrowing a MD plate car. A busybody with an axe to grind in the school community wrote the residency fraud investigation people, claiming that we'd stolen "her" ECE spot. We were shown her letter and given a chance to clarify matters. No big deal, we had the required paperwork and weren't cheating. The system worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

What was the reason they had for investigating you? I'm wondering what triggers an investigation.

We were amicably separating at the time. Dad was staying with a relative in MD, borrowing a MD plate car. A busybody with an axe to grind in the school community wrote the residency fraud investigation people, claiming that we'd stolen "her" ECE spot. We were shown her letter and given a chance to clarify matters. No big deal, we had the required paperwork and weren't cheating. The system worked.

That's good to know it worked. I've often wondered if my family would be reported by someone, because my son splits his time between my home in DC and his dad's home in Maryland. His dad has Maryland plates. Hasn't happened yet, but if it ever does, sounds like it will be easy to resolve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

What was the reason they had for investigating you? I'm wondering what triggers an investigation.

We were amicably separating at the time. Dad was staying with a relative in MD, borrowing a MD plate car. A busybody with an axe to grind in the school community wrote the residency fraud investigation people, claiming that we'd stolen "her" ECE spot. We were shown her letter and given a chance to clarify matters. No big deal, we had the required paperwork and weren't cheating. The system worked.

That's good to know it worked. I've often wondered if my family would be reported by someone, because my son splits his time between my home in DC and his dad's home in Maryland. His dad has Maryland plates. Hasn't happened yet, but if it ever does, sounds like it will be easy to resolve.

Right, that is good to know. I'm going ot admit that when this debate started on DCUM a few years ago about MD plates I scoffed and thought it wasn't a big deal, and that there were probably many cases of divorce, or guardianship, or military, or nannies or whatever. I'm still sure that is a big part of the cars with MD plates issue, but I've swung around to believe there are a lot of cheaters and a great deal of fraud occurring and it warrants investigation.

[Anonymous]

Person who was investigated again.

I would have liked the chance to give DCPS the residency documents were were asked for under investigation when enrolling (particularly tax returns). We'd have been fine with that. It was a hassle to dash down to the fraud office - we had less than a week to do it. To this day, we avoid the b*$%# who came at us around campus. Maybe we were investigated because somebody in our school community actually wrote in to bust us, rather than just calling the tips line. Or because we have no connection to the DC government.

The let's-play-CSI movement isn't helping matters but I understand where it comes from - frustration with a documents/residency certification bar that's set much too low!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OSSE needs to start with going for the low-hanging fruit - stable, middle-class families who use DCPS and DCPC schools but don't pay income tax to the District.

When we were investigated for residency fraud a few years ago, we were given a few days to produce several years of certified tax returns showing an IB address and DC withholding, along with a good many other documents proving residency (multiple utility bills, car registration, driver's licenses etc.). No problem for us and we were cleared on the spot.

What was the reason they had for investigating you? I'm wondering what triggers an investigation.

We were amicably separating at the time. Dad was staying with a relative in MD, borrowing a MD plate car. A busybody with an axe to grind in the school community wrote the residency fraud investigation people, claiming that we'd stolen "her" ECE spot. We were shown her letter and given a chance to clarify matters. No big deal, we had the required paperwork and weren't cheating. The system worked.

That's good to know it worked. I've often wondered if my family would be reported by someone, because my son splits his time between my home in DC and his dad's home in Maryland. His dad has Maryland plates. Hasn't happened yet, but if it ever does, sounds like it will be easy to resolve.

Right, that is good to know. I'm going ot admit that when this debate started on DCUM a few years ago about MD plates I scoffed and thought it wasn't a big deal, and that there were probably many cases of divorce, or guardianship, or military, or nannies or whatever. I'm still sure that is a big part of the cars with MD plates issue, but I've swung around to believe there are a lot of cheaters and a great deal of fraud occurring and it warrants investigation.

I have said this before on other threads but I think the system works reasonably well in that scenario (there should be more investigations but these ones that turn up divorce/separation seem to work. However there is a ton of gaurdianship fraud going on. “I’m going though tough times so DS is staying with grandma” and then of course grandma does live in dc and has all the paperwork. I think there is a lot of sensitivity (some of it reasonable) around trying to tease out these situations, and we certainly don’t want to make life more difficult for people in distress and unstable housing situations. But I’m convinced that there are plenty of UMC/MC pulling this trick whocould be uncovered by looking at the parents’ taxes (the parents who claim tough times and kid needs to stay with a relative).

[Anonymous]

My ex lives in MD. She doesn't pull up right in front of our kid's DCPS to pick him up. We don't want to deal with the gossip or a possible investigation.

School systems aren't in a great legal position to demand tax returns for enrollment. But parents should definitely be allowed to submit returns voluntarily to head of residency investigations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ex lives in MD. She doesn't pull up right in front of our kid's DCPS to pick him up. We don't want to deal with the gossip or a possible investigation.

School systems aren't in a great legal position to demand tax returns for enrollment. But parents should definitely be allowed to submit returns voluntarily to head of residency investigations.

They could with consent. Instead of showing your documents at enrollment, you could instead sign a consent form. I'm sure DC could make it even easier to access DC returns (one of the benefits of having the state and local government the same. Fairfax couldn't get VA to do this, for example). Then they can focus verification/fraud prevention on the non-tax return population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ex lives in MD. She doesn't pull up right in front of our kid's DCPS to pick him up. We don't want to deal with the gossip or a possible investigation.

School systems aren't in a great legal position to demand tax returns for enrollment. But parents should definitely be allowed to submit returns voluntarily to head of residency investigations.

They could with consent. Instead of showing your documents at enrollment, you could instead sign a consent form. I'm sure DC could make it even easier to access DC returns (one of the benefits of having the state and local government the same. Fairfax couldn't get VA to do this, for example). Then they can focus verification/fraud prevention on the non-tax return population.

This is happening but it isn't being well publicized. Look at this year's enrollment paperwork.

See page 2 section B https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/Complete%20Enrollment%20Packet%20SY%2018-19%20-%20English.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the posts on this thread are engaged in marveling or looking slack-jawed at the ongoing incompetence of DCPS. There's only so much you can say about the fact that residency fraud has been going on for a long time.

But looking at Grosso's latest response to the reporting of the issue, it is clear that he doesn't care to address these facts. Doesn't this mean that what we're looking at is NOT incompetence? Having one investigator on staff to manage the entire issue is just not incompetence. It's tolerance. I think the most interesting question is WHY DCPS managers and leadership are tolerant. And, the DC Council seem to be tolerant, combined with something like fear?

try to keep up - this is an OSSE issue not limited to DCPS. there is just as much residency fraud in charters as DCPS, if not more. Which is it -- 'the DCPS schools all suck and nobody wants to enroll in them or the schools are overflowing with unchecked non-residents'? SMH

What it IS is a lot of residency fraud. That's it. Clearly many of the fraudsters don't care if the schools suck, dcps or charter or whatever, they want to drop their kids off in DC.

Before and after care is the main driver (no pun intended). It's free or almost-free stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ex lives in MD. She doesn't pull up right in front of our kid's DCPS to pick him up. We don't want to deal with the gossip or a possible investigation.

School systems aren't in a great legal position to demand tax returns for enrollment. But parents should definitely be allowed to submit returns voluntarily to head of residency investigations.

If there's gossip or a possible investigation, that's easy for you to deal with. It's the people who have something to hide who need to hide. Until their kid asks in a DC history class, "what ward is Landover in?" (true story from the WaPo).