Letter from Cancellor re moving schools - opps - I got caught moving my kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve concluded he must be either dumb (buy in Brookland if he was not planning to go IB- Optics!) or lacking scruples (was always planning on skirting the system). Does anyone know if he bought his house pre or post lottery?

If his address is accurate from a public record search, he is renting on HAREWOOD RD NE

Then this is even more ridiculous!

[Anonymous]

Wait a second -- he is renting, and he didn't just effing MOVE into a Wilson zone when he belatedly discovered the truth about Ellington? What's wrong with this guy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of pressure must Wilson’s wife have applied to the deputy mayor for her to essentially compromise her reputation forever? The DM has to have known that this situation would be discovered. The wife must have held something over her head right?

I'm amazed it went on as long as it did. I'm sure the first time the kid walked through the doors at Wilson there were raised eyebrows.

But don’t kids move in and out of the schools all year long? Not sure general public would have known. They might have thought she was on a waitlist and a space opened up...

Not at WOTP schools. They're like roach motels in reverse, kids move out but they don't move in, because of the way the lottery works. If you spend any time on these boards you know that a lot of parents are hyper-aware of suspected cheats.

And the response from DCPS to suspected cheating is "call the tip hotline." Maybe somebody did just that.

Parents call the tip hotline and, as a result, sometimes succeed in getting suspected cheaters investigated and busted. How would you prefer to have the investigations work? Vigilante parents playing CSI run the show?

Parents being "hyper-aware of suspected cheats" can mean that innocent in-boundary families, and those who lottery in OOB, are harassed as the targets of whispering campaigns and downright stalking. I can point to a couple of recent cases at our DCPS.

We are friends with an in-boundary single mom who is quietly renting out her home while renting a studio apt, also in-boundary. Other parents gossip about her without knowing, or perhaps caring, that she does this because she lost her job and has had difficulty finding another that pays well.

Come on. No one is harassed. On the off chance someone actually investigates, it should be quite easy for someone who actually lived in bounds (or properly had an OOB spot, through lottery or otherwise), to provide proof of their right to the spot.

The alternative is to never investigate, allow rampant cheating, and make those of us who follow the rules feel like schmucks.

If you suspect cheating, you're welcome to call the tips line, and/or report the family to your DCPS principal. As somebody who was investigated last year, and cleared, in the wake of unkind gossip during a divorce, the busybody residency vigilantes are the schmucks.

The residency fraud investigator we dealt with (very professional) told us that hundreds of DCPS parents are investigated each year. Most are cleared. Wonder if the residency fraud people got involved in Wilson's case, or just the OIG's Office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait a second -- he is renting, and he didn't just effing MOVE into a Wilson zone when he belatedly discovered the truth about Ellington? What's wrong with this guy?

The public records may not be up to date.

He moved here at least 5 months ahead of the rest of the family. Would be normal to be in an apartment alone here, then more with family.

Again, why he didn't move IB for a decent school - who knows. Clearly he / his wife didn't know to come to DCUM to talk about their lottery entries / where to live.

[Anonymous]

Colbert King from the Post weighs in https://twitter.com/kingc_i/status/964981991321079808

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of pressure must Wilson’s wife have applied to the deputy mayor for her to essentially compromise her reputation forever? The DM has to have known that this situation would be discovered. The wife must have held something over her head right?

I'm amazed it went on as long as it did. I'm sure the first time the kid walked through the doors at Wilson there were raised eyebrows.

But don’t kids move in and out of the schools all year long? Not sure general public would have known. They might have thought she was on a waitlist and a space opened up...

Not at WOTP schools. They're like roach motels in reverse, kids move out but they don't move in, because of the way the lottery works. If you spend any time on these boards you know that a lot of parents are hyper-aware of suspected cheats.

And the response from DCPS to suspected cheating is "call the tip hotline." Maybe somebody did just that.

Parents call the tip hotline and, as a result, sometimes succeed in getting suspected cheaters investigated and busted. How would you prefer to have the investigations work? Vigilante parents playing CSI run the show?

Parents being "hyper-aware of suspected cheats" can mean that innocent in-boundary families, and those who lottery in OOB, are harassed as the targets of whispering campaigns and downright stalking. I can point to a couple of recent cases at our DCPS.

We are friends with an in-boundary single mom who is quietly renting out her home while renting a studio apt, also in-boundary. Other parents gossip about her without knowing, or perhaps caring, that she does this because she lost her job and has had difficulty finding another that pays well.

Come on. No one is harassed. On the off chance someone actually investigates, it should be quite easy for someone who actually lived in bounds (or properly had an OOB spot, through lottery or otherwise), to provide proof of their right to the spot.

The alternative is to never investigate, allow rampant cheating, and make those of us who follow the rules feel like schmucks.

If you suspect cheating, you're welcome to call the tips line, and/or report the family to your DCPS principal. As somebody who was investigated last year, and cleared, in the wake of unkind gossip during a divorce, the busybody residency vigilantes are the schmucks.

The residency fraud investigator we dealt with (very professional) told us that hundreds of DCPS parents are investigated each year. Most are cleared. Wonder if the residency fraud people got involved in Wilson's case, or just the OIG's Office.

Right, but you weren't harassed. You dealt with a professional investigator. Since you weren't cheating, you were able to easily show your entitlement to the spot. You went on with your life.

The system worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a great opportunity for Grosso to step down and devote his expertise to leading DCPS as the new Chancellor. Let him bask in the glory of a heroic rescue. I'm not kidding. He wouldn't be worse than what we've got.

Huh? Grosso doesn't know who's on first. You might as well appoint a donkey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve concluded he must be either dumb (buy in Brookland if he was not planning to go IB- Optics!) or lacking scruples (was always planning on skirting the system). Does anyone know if he bought his house pre or post lottery?

If his address is accurate from a public record search, he is renting on HAREWOOD RD NE

Near Yu Ying?

[Anonymous]

He doesn’t even live in Brookland. He lives in Woodridge. Other two kids go OOB for their elementary, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve concluded he must be either dumb (buy in Brookland if he was not planning to go IB- Optics!) or lacking scruples (was always planning on skirting the system). Does anyone know if he bought his house pre or post lottery?

He only has a 2-year contract. Would be dumb to buy.

He bought. Redfin says house closed 6/9/17. Property tax records show mortgage recordation date is 6/12/17.

[Anonymous]

Did his younger kids legit get in OOB to their elementary and the older daughter to Ellington? he bought on 6/9, did they really apply to the lottery and application HS by 2/1? Or is that tbd as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did his younger kids legit get in OOB to their elementary and the older daughter to Ellington? he bought on 6/9, did they really apply to the lottery and application HS by 2/1? Or is that tbd as well?

I mean really out of all the schools, they would choose to cheat to get into J.O. Wilson; come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did his younger kids legit get in OOB to their elementary and the older daughter to Ellington? he bought on 6/9, did they really apply to the lottery and application HS by 2/1? Or is that tbd as well?

Apparently the younger kids go to JO Wilson, and that's not a hard school to get into after preschool. My DD got in for PK4 despite not even listing it in the initial lottery. I don't think it's unreasonable to move to Brookland on the assumption that you'll get into an adequate elementary school nearby-- a lot of schools around there have plenty of space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did his younger kids legit get in OOB to their elementary and the older daughter to Ellington? he bought on 6/9, did they really apply to the lottery and application HS by 2/1? Or is that tbd as well?

Every story says he entered the lottery for all 3. The records are easily checked, so likely the truth.

He arrived in DC in Feb (before lottery closed) and children didn't arrive until after the school year ended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait a second -- he is renting, and he didn't just effing MOVE into a Wilson zone when he belatedly discovered the truth about Ellington? What's wrong with this guy?

The public records may not be up to date.

He moved here at least 5 months ahead of the rest of the family. Would be normal to be in an apartment alone here, then more with family.

Again, why he didn't move IB for a decent school - who knows. Clearly he / his wife didn't know to come to DCUM to talk about their lottery entries / where to live.

Whatever public records those refer to are out of date. He lives in Langdon in NE in a house he bought in June. That address is zoned to Langdon ES, McKinley MS, and Dunbar HS.