Is residency fraud a real issue or is it overblown?

[Anonymous]

We have been in three different public schools in DC thus far, one charter and two DCPS. All three have been very meticulous and detailed oriented when verifying the residency paperwork requirements.
My point is that— generally, some people are going to attempt fraud if they could, but really the burden falls on the registrar offices in schools not doing their work properly and with ethics and integrity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Residency fraud threads used to be bread and butter for DCUM. I would think it is still an issue, but, maybe not? I feel like people have quit complaining about it post-Covid. Maybe it is a generational difference with younger parents having a MYOB attitude.

I think a lot of those were fed by the Daily Wire crowd. Before they tied their star to Trump, people like Tucker Carlson were on the "DC has too many black people" beat.

[Anonymous]

I only know of a family whose father worked in our condominium. They used a broom closet/ employee break room as their address.
The kids never stayed in the building. Three kids got into our school using the address.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been in three different public schools in DC thus far, one charter and two DCPS. All three have been very meticulous and detailed oriented when verifying the residency paperwork requirements.
My point is that— generally, some people are going to attempt fraud if they could, but really the burden falls on the registrar offices in schools not doing their work properly and with ethics and integrity.

A parent with fraudulent paperwork can get past the most meticulous registrar. A pay stub that shows DC taxes, a copy of a lease, a DC license are options. People move out of state and don't change their driver's license. People change their address and tax forms at work and the paystub shows DC taxes, etc.

[Anonymous]

It seems like a pretty big issue at YY and Mundo Verde C8

[Anonymous]

Probably more in FCPS than anywhere else. Hello football scandal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably more in FCPS than anywhere else. Hello football scandal.

Doesn't FCPS have like 30 staffers devoted to rooting out residency fraud? DCPS has like two.

[Anonymous]

A lot of working class families have incredibly complicated and ever changing housing arrangements. Mom lives one place, dad lives somewhere else, mom’s ex who is the dad of some of the kids lives somewhere else and his mom serves as a 4th grandma to all of the kids, a best friend from childhood is also a cousin who the kids stay with in the summer, etc etc. I’m not passing judgment; these can be incredibly warm and happy families. But the idea of “kid grows up in one house with one mom and one dad and that’s it” is just not the reality. So it isn’t residency fraud, families just are trying to figure out the best educational and logistical options given all the places to stay and fluctuating family dynamics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of working class families have incredibly complicated and ever changing housing arrangements. Mom lives one place, dad lives somewhere else, mom’s ex who is the dad of some of the kids lives somewhere else and his mom serves as a 4th grandma to all of the kids, a best friend from childhood is also a cousin who the kids stay with in the summer, etc etc. I’m not passing judgment; these can be incredibly warm and happy families. But the idea of “kid grows up in one house with one mom and one dad and that’s it” is just not the reality. So it isn’t residency fraud, families just are trying to figure out the best educational and logistical options given all the places to stay and fluctuating family dynamics.

The problem with that line of thought is that most of the publicized cases of DCPS residency fraud -- the ones the DC attorney general has prosecuted -- do not involve the situations you describe but rather non-resident city employees with ostensibly stable households who cheat the system simply because it aligns with their commutes. Or high-ranking city officials who use their pull to get their kids into desired DCPS schools and think they can get away with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of working class families have incredibly complicated and ever changing housing arrangements. Mom lives one place, dad lives somewhere else, mom’s ex who is the dad of some of the kids lives somewhere else and his mom serves as a 4th grandma to all of the kids, a best friend from childhood is also a cousin who the kids stay with in the summer, etc etc. I’m not passing judgment; these can be incredibly warm and happy families. But the idea of “kid grows up in one house with one mom and one dad and that’s it” is just not the reality. So it isn’t residency fraud, families just are trying to figure out the best educational and logistical options given all the places to stay and fluctuating family dynamics.

The problem with that line of thought is that most of the publicized cases of DCPS residency fraud -- the ones the DC attorney general has prosecuted -- do not involve the situations you describe but rather non-resident city employees with ostensibly stable households who cheat the system simply because it aligns with their commutes. Or high-ranking city officials who use their pull to get their kids into desired DCPS schools and think they can get away with it.

Because no one is prosecuting it if the kid kind of lives with Grandma in DC!

[Anonymous]

I totally agree that residency fraud is a thing. I can name 3 instances of the top of my head.


1.My cousin used our other cousin’s address to enroll her daughter into a charter for Prek.
2. A parent at a former school I worked at had her children enrolled in a school that was in Ballou’s feeder pattern and lived in Maryland. She did not have a traditional job and completed pickup and drop off herself.
3. At my current school we have at least 4 employees that live in Maryland and have kids enrolled at our school and at other DCPS schools as they matriculate through school. I’ve reported to the hotline once and nothing has been done. My principal also knows but will act like they don’t.


I will say that the registrar has told me that if a parent is OSSE verified, that that kinda covers them and the registrar doesn’t need to do added work.

[Anonymous]

It is wwwwwaaaaayyyyyy overblown in DCUM.
Investigations have discovered so far just a few legitimate residency frauds, as in the case of DC employees who commit residency fraud because of childcare and convenience.

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen one of these cases happen in a while. I think they did a big data match, caught a bunch of school and city employees, and that must have had some sort of deterrent effect. And cases that reach a settlement don't tend to make the news.


https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-seven-adults-residency-fraud-dc

https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-six-maryland-parents-residency

https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-four-maryland-parents-and-dcps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of working class families have incredibly complicated and ever changing housing arrangements. Mom lives one place, dad lives somewhere else, mom’s ex who is the dad of some of the kids lives somewhere else and his mom serves as a 4th grandma to all of the kids, a best friend from childhood is also a cousin who the kids stay with in the summer, etc etc. I’m not passing judgment; these can be incredibly warm and happy families. But the idea of “kid grows up in one house with one mom and one dad and that’s it” is just not the reality. So it isn’t residency fraud, families just are trying to figure out the best educational and logistical options given all the places to stay and fluctuating family dynamics.

The problem with that line of thought is that most of the publicized cases of DCPS residency fraud -- the ones the DC attorney general has prosecuted -- do not involve the situations you describe but rather non-resident city employees with ostensibly stable households who cheat the system simply because it aligns with their commutes. Or high-ranking city officials who use their pull to get their kids into desired DCPS schools and think they can get away with it.

I am the PP who posted about a colleague asking to use my address to switch from one JKLMM to a different, more convenient JKLMM. Her spouse is a city employee.

There is no complicated family situation. They live in PG where they don’t have free preK. That is why they are stealing 2 spots at a DCPS school where the actual neighborhood kids are often waitlisted and not guaranteed a preK spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't seen one of these cases happen in a while. I think they did a big data match, caught a bunch of school and city employees, and that must have had some sort of deterrent effect. And cases that reach a settlement don't tend to make the news.


https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-seven-adults-residency-fraud-dc

https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-six-maryland-parents-residency

https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-four-maryland-parents-and-dcps

I don't think Schwalb is nearly as interested as Racine was in catching residency cheaters. For one, I don't think he's particularly competent. And for two, I don't think he would like what he finds if he were to investigate.