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

[Anonymous]

Anyone with any experience on how LAMB handles this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I don't see the problem with this. The parents and the school did everything legally in this scenario. If you are a DC resident and you want a spot for your child at a particular school, then apply. Seems silly to complain about a spot going to someone else if you don't apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I don't know if the proposed rules were adopted, PP, but let's suppose they were. The section you cite is not really on point. The more relevant section is 5006.1:

Students who qualify as residents of the District of Columbia have priority over
non-residents seeking admission to District public schools. A LEA may enroll a
non-resident student after a determination is made that space is available at a
District public school because no District resident is seeking admittance for the
same grade at that location for the same period of time.

Again, there is a distinction to be drawn between enrollment, i.e., admission, and re-enrollment, i.e., attendance in subsequent years. The rule applies to enrollment, not re-enrollment.

As for section 5007.6.e, it has to do with penalties for committing residency fraud. If a family is found to be committing residency fraud, they can only stay if they pay tuition for the current year and all prior years they attended as non-residents and if no DC resident is on the wait list for that grade.

A reasonable interpretation of the rules is that families who are honest about their non-residence in DC and pay non-resident tuition can keep their spots, while families who commit residency fraud run the risk of losing their spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I don't see the problem with this. The parents and the school did everything legally in this scenario. If you are a DC resident and you want a spot for your child at a particular school, then apply. Seems silly to complain about a spot going to someone else if you don't apply.

Agree completely, PP. I posted the summary simply to illustrate that precedent exists for non-residents keeping spots at HRCSs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Again, there is a distinction to be drawn between enrollment, i.e., admission, and re-enrollment, i.e., attendance in subsequent years. The rule applies to enrollment, not re-enrollment.

Perhaps, and I see your point, although I think your interpretation is very generous towards non-residents. 5006.4 seems to say that OSSE wants to be able to compare resident waitlists and non-resident enrollment as well as attendance, which would lead me to a different interpretation.

5006.4: Upon request, a LEA shall provide to OSSE or its designee waiting lists that were in effect or established during the time period(s) a nonresident student attended or was enrolled at its school.

[Anonymous]

Judging by this thread, we'll be able to keep our spot. Nobody knows what the hell is going on and I doubt the school or I will hire lawyers to figure it all out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Judging by this thread, we'll be able to keep our spot. Nobody knows what the hell is going on and I doubt the school or I will hire lawyers to figure it all out.

I think you're right, OP. As long a the school lets you stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

To LAMB? Does his/her classmates know? How is she/he treated at play dates etc... And how have they not been turned in if not paying tuition? Also, would would decide if younger pre-k kid can stay and pay in the situation where there's an older sib?

I can't speak to who knows what or how people are treated at playdates. I also don't know why they have not been turned in. I assume that just like everything else in DC - apathy.

NP - Apparently including your own apathy PP, since you too know about this MD family and have not reported, or whoever told you about them hasn't reported.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Judging by this thread, we'll be able to keep our spot. Nobody knows what the hell is going on and I doubt the school or I will hire lawyers to figure it all out.

OP if this is you, I agree that no one here knows what's going on and if you're at LAMB, maybe LAMB doesn't care. But I'm at a different HRLICS and parents at our school DO care and would report if they knew, and the Admins are very by the book. So if you're not at LAMB and since you are (wisely) wanting to find out the lay of the land, I'd tell the Principal at your school that you are going through a separation, that right now one parent may remain in DC, but you want to know what the process is for keeping your child enrolled permanently if both of you move out of DC and are willing to pay tuition. Then see what the Principal tells you about your particular school's policy on this.

Good luck OP, and good for you for being by the book. We're the same way in our family, we do NOT like to take the chance of being found out and our kid being kicked out when doing it the right way is possible.

[Anonymous]

Don"t live in DC, but strikes me as crazy that a non resident can stay at a school, even paying tuition,when there are many dc residents who would fight over the spot. I definitely think other parents at the school would rightly make a stink and it would be hard to keep it a secret and for your child to also have a normal social life. I'd either find a way for one parent to stay in DC or move somewhere else with a good preschool. Your kid is so young it would be not be a difficult transition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don"t live in DC, but strikes me as crazy that a non resident can stay at a school, even paying tuition,when there are many dc residents who would fight over the spot. I definitely think other parents at the school would rightly make a stink and it would be hard to keep it a secret and for your child to also have a normal social life. I'd either find a way for one parent to stay in DC or move somewhere else with a good preschool. Your kid is so young it would be not be a difficult transition.

+1 If your child was in an older grade, maybe. But your child is so young. Just move and let your child go to school where you live or make a decision for one parent to stay in DC. Of course there's always another option of trying to figure out a way to keep your family intact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don"t live in DC, but strikes me as crazy that a non resident can stay at a school, even paying tuition,when there are many dc residents who would fight over the spot. I definitely think other parents at the school would rightly make a stink and it would be hard to keep it a secret and for your child to also have a normal social life. I'd either find a way for one parent to stay in DC or move somewhere else with a good preschool. Your kid is so young it would be not be a difficult transition.

It may strike you as crazy, but that's the rule. Reading legalize on here makes it clear the rule isn't going to change or that people don't know what the rules are.

[Anonymous]

Legalese

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don"t live in DC, but strikes me as crazy that a non resident can stay at a school, even paying tuition,when there are many dc residents who would fight over the spot. I definitely think other parents at the school would rightly make a stink and it would be hard to keep it a secret and for your child to also have a normal social life. I'd either find a way for one parent to stay in DC or move somewhere else with a good preschool. Your kid is so young it would be not be a difficult transition.

It may strike you as crazy, but that's the rule. Reading legalize on here makes it clear the rule isn't going to change or that people don't know what the rules are.

Actually I am a lawyer and I think what was cited here could be subject to more than one interpretation. Even if OP had the right to remain at the school, they and their child could be socially ostracized. Seems crazy to spend $9,000 or more a year when there are equivalent options that would be free after one year and no tension. Or one parent could stay in DC

[Anonymous]

There's enough gray area where the kid can stay