Starting to feel forced into private school

[Anonymous]

With the long shot of getting into one of the good public or charter schools, is anyone feeling like they are being forced to apply to private schools to avoid their in boundary school? This is assuming the in boundary school is not acceptable....

[Anonymous]

I hear you. We got lucky in our charter school, but if we had to attend our local public we'd have done the same thing.

This is not going to be cheap, but here's one option that's more cost effective than 14 years of private school tuition (starting at Pre-K). Rent an apartment near to a school you like and then enroll your child in-bounds. Then once the child is enrolled you can sublet the apartment until the lease runs out and not renew it. Once your child is attending the school you can live anywhere and it won't matter that you're OOB (but do bear in mind that most of your child's friends will be living near the school so it may complicate your playdates).

[Anonymous]

Is this legit? Or would DCPS yank your kid's spot if they discovered you did this?

[Anonymous]

No it's not legit. They check your residency every year but I am sure people find ways to game the system.

But if you try this at one of the popular schools and other parents find out, especially those with limited OOB slots....well you can only imagine the drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this legit? Or would DCPS yank your kid's spot if they discovered you did this?

It's at the principal's discretion whether formerly-in-boundary students may continue attending the school. I have no idea how that plays out in real life (and wouldn't want to play that game personally unless I were sure how it would end up).

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is at the principal's discretion.

[Anonymous]

Although it is within the principal's discretion to allow the student to stay after the family moves out of boundaries, renting an apartment in order to establish residency in a place where you do not live constitutes fraud. It has been done, but it's fraud. The schools are trying to get ahead of it by requiring, in some cases, that the parent bring a pay stub with the in boundaries address, not just a utilities bill. And if you get your HR department to do that but are claiming mortgage interest deduction on a different address, have fun with the IRS too.

This is not to burst anyone's bubble, but it's not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

OP, read down to the 4th post (03/03/2009 08:17) on this thread:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/44494.page#301779

"Yes, as an OOB parent for a number of years, it was a pain in the neck to get dd to school and to get her to playdates with her friends. And we were fortunate in that we started out renting in-boundary and were able to keep dd in the school when we bought a house out-of-boundary so we didn't go through the lottery anxiety."

There's your answer. Everyone is entitled to a quality education, your child too. This is how the game is played. Good luck in the lotteries, but if you have to use it, this is your ace in the hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, read down to the 4th post (03/03/2009 08:17) on this thread:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/44494.page#301779

"Yes, as an OOB parent for a number of years, it was a pain in the neck to get dd to school and to get her to playdates with her friends. And we were fortunate in that we started out renting in-boundary and were able to keep dd in the school when we bought a house out-of-boundary so we didn't go through the lottery anxiety."

There's your answer. Everyone is entitled to a quality education, your child too. This is how the game is played. Good luck in the lotteries, but if you have to use it, this is your ace in the hole.

Just a clarification. I wrote that and FWIW we didn't rent in-boundary with the intention of getting dd into school. We moved into a specific faculty apartment that was provided for a limited time as part of a job offer and then found out that the in-boundary school was good. Actually, when our time in the apartment was up, we decided to buy a house in the District in order to keep dd in that school. So we are one of the few families that probably will ever say they bought a house in DC for the public schools.

I would be careful about renting an apartment and then abandoning it shortly after your dc got into a school (you never know when the rules will change) but if I were desperate I certainly would consider it.

[Anonymous]

Just out of curiosity, how would you then explain this to your (presumably) bright five-year-old. "Yes, honey, we're only going to live in the apartment a few months because... the light is particularly lovely in late August. Then we're moving back home, but you'll stay in the school near the apartment. And, please, don't mention to any of your new friends that you have another house." I can't claim to lead a blameless life (my kids love watching the speedometer in the car and making comments) but I've tried to avoid obvious fraud.