Accepting lottery spot without DC residency?

[Anonymous]

I’m the OP. Thanks for this several of these responses that are helpful.

Please know that I am not intending to take a seat from anyone.

We plan to move to the district this summer, but we haven’t found a suitable home to buy in the three weeks since lottery decisions were announced, so are now shifting to searching for rentals, but may not find a great option to sign a lease on before 5/1 (lottery deadline).

If this were just me it’d be easier but I have multiple kids and a spouse, so have to find a place that works for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was overseas when I did the lottery and was told by DC MySchool that every school has a homeless liaison and if I was going to be in a hotel while looking for a DC rental I would technically be considered homeless. I ultimately didn’t get a lottery spot but was number 2 on a waitlist so I needed a backup plan prior to securing a rental.

But op isn't homeless. She has a home not in DC

If she is living in DC at the time of enrollment, even if she doesn't yet have a lease or permanent housing, the school will figure out how to enroll her.

Maybe, but most desirable schools are going to enroll the folks who have the documents and then go to the waiting list to fill any gaps. Why should they bend rules or do extra work for op when there are DC residents, perhaps siblings of their current students, who will take the seat op won?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the OP. Thanks for this several of these responses that are helpful.

Please know that I am not intending to take a seat from anyone.

We plan to move to the district this summer, but we haven’t found a suitable home to buy in the three weeks since lottery decisions were announced, so are now shifting to searching for rentals, but may not find a great option to sign a lease on before 5/1 (lottery deadline).

If this were just me it’d be easier but I have multiple kids and a spouse, so have to find a place that works for everyone.

If your kids are k-12, they have the right to enroll any time, so as long as you find a home in bounds by the time you want them in school you are set. If this is a charter, nonboundary dcps, or pk there is an issue, but pk isn't that big a deal and you could always move next year and do k as an inbound student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was overseas when I did the lottery and was told by DC MySchool that every school has a homeless liaison and if I was going to be in a hotel while looking for a DC rental I would technically be considered homeless. I ultimately didn’t get a lottery spot but was number 2 on a waitlist so I needed a backup plan prior to securing a rental.

But op isn't homeless. She has a home not in DC

If she is living in DC at the time of enrollment, even if she doesn't yet have a lease or permanent housing, the school will figure out how to enroll her.

Maybe, but most desirable schools are going to enroll the folks who have the documents and then go to the waiting list to fill any gaps. Why should they bend rules or do extra work for op when there are DC residents, perhaps siblings of their current students, who will take the seat op won?

1) If there's a sibling, they get priority already over OP. 2) If she applied and disclosed she didn't live in DC, she didn't get a slot for a school that has a waitlist. 3) Schools can't just opt out of dealing with students who don't have permanent addresses. If you live in DC, you have the right to enroll in a school in DC. The residency paperwork is one mechanism by which this eligibility can be confirmed, but it's the living in DC part which confers the eligibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the OP. Thanks for this several of these responses that are helpful.

Please know that I am not intending to take a seat from anyone.

We plan to move to the district this summer, but we haven’t found a suitable home to buy in the three weeks since lottery decisions were announced, so are now shifting to searching for rentals, but may not find a great option to sign a lease on before 5/1 (lottery deadline).

If this were just me it’d be easier but I have multiple kids and a spouse, so have to find a place that works for everyone.

Have you spoken to the registrar at your school to ask what options you have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was overseas when I did the lottery and was told by DC MySchool that every school has a homeless liaison and if I was going to be in a hotel while looking for a DC rental I would technically be considered homeless. I ultimately didn’t get a lottery spot but was number 2 on a waitlist so I needed a backup plan prior to securing a rental.

But op isn't homeless. She has a home not in DC

If she is living in DC at the time of enrollment, even if she doesn't yet have a lease or permanent housing, the school will figure out how to enroll her.

Maybe, but most desirable schools are going to enroll the folks who have the documents and then go to the waiting list to fill any gaps. Why should they bend rules or do extra work for op when there are DC residents, perhaps siblings of their current students, who will take the seat op won?

1) If there's a sibling, they get priority already over OP. 2) If she applied and disclosed she didn't live in DC, she didn't get a slot for a school that has a waitlist. 3) Schools can't just opt out of dealing with students who don't have permanent addresses. If you live in DC, you have the right to enroll in a school in DC. The residency paperwork is one mechanism by which this eligibility can be confirmed, but it's the living in DC part which confers the eligibility.

You can enter the lottery with an address in bounds for where you hope to live, and that is obviously what op did because it's the only way she would have to prove ib residency to enroll her kids. If she didn't claim in bound preference, she would only have to show she lives somewhere in DC. Her lottery results are based on her being in bounds; there may be other in bounds families on the waiting list for pk, or oob siblings on the waiting list for any grade.

[Anonymous]

OP does not live in DC. She put in some DC address where she does not live to do the lottery.

She took a spot that should have gone to an actual DC family and now she wants to try to game the system by trying to find a rental for a month or few months.

The ethical way to do it is to have moved before submitting for the lottery. Or if she did not move yet and it was after the lottery, then enroll her kid in their IB school, then play the lottery next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP does not live in DC. She put in some DC address where she does not live to do the lottery.

She took a spot that should have gone to an actual DC family and now she wants to try to game the system by trying to find a rental for a month or few months.

The ethical way to do it is to have moved before submitting for the lottery. Or if she did not move yet and it was after the lottery, then enroll her kid in their IB school, then play the lottery next year.

NP: This is simply false. The school lottery FAQ makes it perfectly clear that this is acceptable to do and you do NOT need to reside in DC when you enter the lottery. People move, it’s a reality the lottery plans for. You do need to be in living DC to accept the spot and enroll, but not to lottery. And there is nothing unethical about planning to move.

Here is the relevant portion from the FAQ: “ If you are planning or considering moving into DC, you may submit a My School DC application without a DC address. However, you will not receive in-boundary or proximity preference at DCPS schools.

If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must enroll at the school by the enrollment deadline or you will lose your space at your matched school. Accepting your space requires submitting required enrollment forms and proving DC residency.”
https://www.myschooldc.org/faq/faqs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP does not live in DC. She put in some DC address where she does not live to do the lottery.

She took a spot that should have gone to an actual DC family and now she wants to try to game the system by trying to find a rental for a month or few months.

The ethical way to do it is to have moved before submitting for the lottery. Or if she did not move yet and it was after the lottery, then enroll her kid in their IB school, then play the lottery next year.

NP: This is simply false. The school lottery FAQ makes it perfectly clear that this is acceptable to do and you do NOT need to reside in DC when you enter the lottery. People move, it’s a reality the lottery plans for. You do need to be in living DC to accept the spot and enroll, but not to lottery. And there is nothing unethical about planning to move.

Here is the relevant portion from the FAQ: “ If you are planning or considering moving into DC, you may submit a My School DC application without a DC address. However, you will not receive in-boundary or proximity preference at DCPS schools.

If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must enroll at the school by the enrollment deadline or you will lose your space at your matched school. Accepting your space requires submitting required enrollment forms and proving DC residency.”
https://www.myschooldc.org/faq/faqs

You didn't fully read the FAQ you quoted. It's fair game if you are disclosing you're a non-resident. But OP obviously didn't submit the lottery application with a non-DC address. They used a DC address to get the in-bound preference and get the spot. Now they are in a bind because part of that audacity also included thinking they could BUY a home within a few weeks — and sure it's not impossible, some may have managed that turnaround before but scrambling is no surprise.

OP isn't alone in this approach though. Have seen multiple posts in neighborhood groups over the years, and this year, from parents on lottery results day along the lines of "We just matched for a PK spot at [insert "desirable" boundary school] and need to find a rental in this neighborhood ASAP. Any leads?" They used a fake address to get the in-boundary preference.

Also note that OP wants this school spot but also ultimately doesn't even want to live within that school's boundary. They aren't sure about the area and want to live out of bounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP does not live in DC. She put in some DC address where she does not live to do the lottery.

She took a spot that should have gone to an actual DC family and now she wants to try to game the system by trying to find a rental for a month or few months.

The ethical way to do it is to have moved before submitting for the lottery. Or if she did not move yet and it was after the lottery, then enroll her kid in their IB school, then play the lottery next year.

NP: This is simply false. The school lottery FAQ makes it perfectly clear that this is acceptable to do and you do NOT need to reside in DC when you enter the lottery. People move, it’s a reality the lottery plans for. You do need to be in living DC to accept the spot and enroll, but not to lottery. And there is nothing unethical about planning to move.

Here is the relevant portion from the FAQ: “ If you are planning or considering moving into DC, you may submit a My School DC application without a DC address. However, you will not receive in-boundary or proximity preference at DCPS schools.

If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must enroll at the school by the enrollment deadline or you will lose your space at your matched school. Accepting your space requires submitting required enrollment forms and proving DC residency.”
https://www.myschooldc.org/faq/faqs

That's correct. So one of two things happened:
A) op used a DC address near where she hoped to move and got a slot with inbound preference, in which case she needs to have proof of residency in bounds by may 1. This would only occur for prek.
B) op got a slot without inbound preference, in which case she just needs to prove DC residency by 5/1.

Either way, if she can't prove what she needs to by 5/1, her kids can't enroll, she loses the match (though they stay on the waiting list for other schools and can add more through the post lottery process), and the school moves to its waiting list.

[Anonymous]

OP here:

We entered the lottery with full transparency that we live out of DC, using our our of state address, but checked the box that we would intend to move in boundary by the time of enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

We entered the lottery with full transparency that we live out of DC, using our our of state address, but checked the box that we would intend to move in boundary by the time of enrollment.

That sounds pretty straightforward then -- you need to rent something in boundary before May 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP does not live in DC. She put in some DC address where she does not live to do the lottery.

She took a spot that should have gone to an actual DC family and now she wants to try to game the system by trying to find a rental for a month or few months.

The ethical way to do it is to have moved before submitting for the lottery. Or if she did not move yet and it was after the lottery, then enroll her kid in their IB school, then play the lottery next year.

NP: This is simply false. The school lottery FAQ makes it perfectly clear that this is acceptable to do and you do NOT need to reside in DC when you enter the lottery. People move, it’s a reality the lottery plans for. You do need to be in living DC to accept the spot and enroll, but not to lottery. And there is nothing unethical about planning to move.

Here is the relevant portion from the FAQ: “ If you are planning or considering moving into DC, you may submit a My School DC application without a DC address. However, you will not receive in-boundary or proximity preference at DCPS schools.

If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must enroll at the school by the enrollment deadline or you will lose your space at your matched school. Accepting your space requires submitting required enrollment forms and proving DC residency.”
https://www.myschooldc.org/faq/faqs

You didn't fully read the FAQ you quoted. It's fair game if you are disclosing you're a non-resident. But OP obviously didn't submit the lottery application with a non-DC address. They used a DC address to get the in-bound preference and get the spot. Now they are in a bind because part of that audacity also included thinking they could BUY a home within a few weeks — and sure it's not impossible, some may have managed that turnaround before but scrambling is no surprise.

OP isn't alone in this approach though. Have seen multiple posts in neighborhood groups over the years, and this year, from parents on lottery results day along the lines of "We just matched for a PK spot at [insert "desirable" boundary school] and need to find a rental in this neighborhood ASAP. Any leads?" They used a fake address to get the in-boundary preference.

Also note that OP wants this school spot but also ultimately doesn't even want to live within that school's boundary. They aren't sure about the area and want to live out of bounds.

Nope, you’re the confused one. OP has been very clear they checked that they don’t live in DC when filling out the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here:

We entered the lottery with full transparency that we live out of DC, using our our of state address, but checked the box that we would intend to move in boundary by the time of enrollment.

That sounds pretty straightforward then -- you need to rent something in boundary before May 1st.

Renting doesn’t cut it. You have to establish residency and have the documents to prove it.

[Anonymous]

Maybe to enter the lottery rather than say you intend to move in boundary, dc should be forced to submit residency docs like at enrollment. This would mostly apply to PK3 and PK4, right?

It sounds like OP wasn’t skirting the system. But for the two years where IB is so critical, current residents and taxpayers should get first dibs.