In-bounds verification

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the properties are yours and you’re not formally renting either or you’re moving back and forth between them seasonally, do what you want. Hint: DC isn’t an authoritarian state.

that last bit is a nonsequitur. DC isn’t an “authoritarian state” but it does have laws. when you sign the OSSE residency form you are attesting under penalty of perjury that you actually live at that address - not that you own the property. you probably won’t get caught but please be clear on this - there is no property ownership loophole for school boundaries in DC.

There is also no boundary law on the books to break for DC residents. Only out of state residents.

That’s totally untrue. DC regulations spell out the boundary system based on residence. When you complete your OSSE enrollment form you attest that you are being truthful about your residence. Residence can be factually tricky to determine in some cases, but it’s defined as the place you live and intend to continue living. So yes, if you put down an address where you don’t live and don’t intend to continue living, you’re engaging in fraud & perjury. It’s more serious in terms of consequences if you live out of state, but still fraud and perjury.

[Anonymous]

Fraud and perjury? More like barely concealed envy and resentment that, de facto, better-off DC families enjoy more school choice than worse-off families. DCPS simply isn't interested in going at families who own multiple residences and choose between or among them for residency, regardless of where the family members sleep most of the time. School system leaders have bigger fish to fry, particularly a big rise in chronic truancy post Covid in low SES communities. You can come here to harp about fraud and perjury, seeking to shame offenders, without accomplishing a thing. If you're really concerned about boundary "cheating" on the part of families who own more than one residential property, take it up with your city council member's office. There have been one or two threads like this one annually on DCUM for a good decade now and, to my knowledge, none has ever amounted to a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fraud and perjury? More like barely concealed envy and resentment that, de facto, better-off DC families enjoy more school choice than worse-off families. DCPS simply isn't interested in going at families who own multiple residences and choose between or among them for residency, regardless of where the family members sleep most of the time. School system leaders have bigger fish to fry, particularly a big rise in chronic truancy post Covid in low SES communities. You can come here to harp about fraud and perjury, seeking to shame offenders, without accomplishing a thing. If you're really concerned about boundary "cheating" on the part of families who own more than one residential property, take it up with your city council member's office. There have been one or two threads like this one annually on DCUM for a good decade now and, to my knowledge, none has ever amounted to a thing.

yeah I know you don’t care about commiting fraud and perjury. pointing out that’s what you’re doing is just the truth. if you feel shamed, well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do what you want OP, just make sure you create all the residency docs DCPS wants to verify residency. We started on gf in a small house in Ward 6 during the ECE years. We continued to use that address for six years after we’d moved out, living in a much bigger house nearby. We rented the small house to young single people month to month during the 6 years. People at our DCPS didn’t necessarily know if we’d lotteried in or had an IB address. No great stress involved in staying at the same DCPS ES for 8 years. You pay taxes and own real estate. Use the IB address you want for school of the residential properties you own. Just be careful who you tell.

this is allowed at DCPS to stay at the same school after you move.

So, live in the right studio sublet for the first month of kindergarten, and you don't have to worry until the kid is finishing 5th grade. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to actually live there, at least at the time of enrollment. Owning property isn't enough. They might not check, but if you want to know the rule, it's that you have to live there.

Consider how you would explain it to other parents if you want to have any playdates at your house. There's a lot of social shade thrown at boundary cheaters.

I think it’s actually ambiguous if you have multiple houses that no one lives in, especially if you could legitimately meet the residency documentation requirements at multiple of them. Then for most legal purposes, you could claim any as your residence. If what you mean is you own a house you rent out to someone else, then legally they can claim that as their residence and you cannot.

Yes, I think that's right. I know of a family that lives in bounds for Garrison but owns property in Dupont and I know their kids go to Ross. So people can fudge a bit.

There are many families that do this and I think it’s disgusting.

Your disgust is delightful to me. Can I drink your tears?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just send your kid to private school.

Private school is for creepy white people, hard pass.

[Anonymous]

NP. The bottom line here is that if you “boundary cheat” you have to know that there are many parents who have had sleepless nights over whether or not their child would lottery into a “good” (safe) school. Those parents will likely feel some kind of way about you if they find out that you do not live in bounds.

I personally remember a family that lived in Virginia but worked in DC. They entered the lottery for a highly desirable elementary school using a friend’s address and got in. Right before school started they rented a house in bounds. So technically they were within their right. I met this family at a party. They were telling a group of parents jow easy ot was to get into this school and that they were only planning to stay a year when they applied. They seemed clueless about the fact that some of us who lived here for many years had tried to get in and didn’t.

It’s true that was in their right. But be aware that parents in DC often stress about getting into schools. So, be aware that the “shade” someone mentioned is really just disappointment about wanting the best for your kid and feeling slighted.

Real talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. The bottom line here is that if you “boundary cheat” you have to know that there are many parents who have had sleepless nights over whether or not their child would lottery into a “good” (safe) school. Those parents will likely feel some kind of way about you if they find out that you do not live in bounds.

I personally remember a family that lived in Virginia but worked in DC. They entered the lottery for a highly desirable elementary school using a friend’s address and got in. Right before school started they rented a house in bounds. So technically they were within their right. I met this family at a party. They were telling a group of parents jow easy ot was to get into this school and that they were only planning to stay a year when they applied. They seemed clueless about the fact that some of us who lived here for many years had tried to get in and didn’t.

It’s true that was in their right. But be aware that parents in DC often stress about getting into schools. So, be aware that the “shade” someone mentioned is really just disappointment about wanting the best for your kid and feeling slighted.

Real talk.

Definitely learned this lesson the hard way. It's a thing to do but not a thing to talk about, and you should do it in a way that maintains plausible deniability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of all the issues in DC in general and with DCPS specifically, it blows my mind that people care about boundary fraud. Definition of a victimless “crime”.

If someone commits boundary fraud, they’re either (a) taking away a space from someone who could’ve gotten it legitimately through the lottery or (b) if the school is at capacity and doesn’t offer lottery spaces, they’re illegitimately contributing to overcrowding.

But, by your logic, nobody should care about an issue if there are other issues that are more important, right?

[Anonymous]

Right, please move on, get a life, don't waste time envying the opportunities or the more resourceful, confident and better off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right, please move on, get a life, don't waste time envying the opportunities or the more resourceful, confident and better off.

LOL. What does “confident” mean in this context? Confident that they won’t get caught committing fraud? Or perhaps confident that they won’t face any consequences if they are caught?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do what you want OP, just make sure you create all the residency docs DCPS wants to verify residency. We started on gf in a small house in Ward 6 during the ECE years. We continued to use that address for six years after we’d moved out, living in a much bigger house nearby. We rented the small house to young single people month to month during the 6 years. People at our DCPS didn’t necessarily know if we’d lotteried in or had an IB address. No great stress involved in staying at the same DCPS ES for 8 years. You pay taxes and own real estate. Use the IB address you want for school of the residential properties you own. Just be careful who you tell.

LOL. Yes, we all knew. It was not exactly secret.

[Anonymous]

It’s not unusual for UMC families EotP to start in smaller houses that are in boundary for desirable schools then trade up for larger ones that aren’t, keeping house #1 as a rental and residency address. We know Maury families who use in boundary houses they haven’t lived in for years for Stuart Hobson access. Just not a big deal. Nobody seems to get investigated. Dumb issue, not worth reading sanctimonious crap about it here.

[Anonymous]

Agree. A few Boy Scout types invariably turn up on every in-bounds verification thread to sound off.

Avoid these threads and do what works for your family as a DC taxpayer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. A few Boy Scout types invariably turn up on every in-bounds verification thread to sound off.

Avoid these threads and do what works for your family as a DC taxpayer.

Do what works, however know that it is fraud!