How to Report Out of State DCPS student?

[Anonymous]

10:56 Because there is information about the parent's / parents' income on tax documents. Really, let's not go there.

[Anonymous]

schools with significant numbers of cheaters, if they exist, are probably crappy schools that would not enrol enough DC kids to stay open, and are a waste of DC taxpayer dollars.

Not necessarily. Hearst ES has a pretty significant number of MD license plates at drop-off and pick-up. Not far away, Eaton ES used to have a very noticeable number of MD-plated vehicles at these times. Situation seems to be a little better now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

If the school is not oversubscribed, out-of-state residents can pay DCPS to attend. Sometimes that makes sense. That could explain the MD plates.

Why do this now, in the middle of the school year? If they are doing something wrong, why not wait until the end of the school year, for the child's sake?

There are relatively few tuition paying students in DC schools. When I checked a few years ago at the Ward 3 elementary school my DS attended, there were NO tuition paying students there. But there sure were a lot of cars from Maryland at morning drop off and in the afternoon pick up hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:56 Because there is information about the parent's / parents' income on tax documents. Really, let's not go there.

Why does it matter if a school sees the parent's tax forms? I think it is an effective way to prove residency and there is no harm in showing tax forms to a school official. This information will not be made public anymore than the current forms of identification are made public to other parents. Other states already do this and it has not caused any problems for them. Why would DC be different?

[Anonymous]

Remember this priceless column from the Washington Post?

"What ward is Landover in?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/dc-tries-to-draw-line-on-school-residency-fraud/2011/10/07/gIQALxDRTL_blog.html

[Anonymous]

I was suprised to go to the open house of a charter in the past 4 months where they said very clearly, and then repeated it "At the time you apply, you don't necessarily need to have a DC address." While that is true, it kinda felt like they were encouraging people to go ahead and apply, knowing they didn't live in DC. When I asked the enrollment person afterwards, it felt like they are, let's call it "accomodating" of parents who fudge it. I really liked the school, but that seriously turned me off.

I'm not going to name the school, because I believe strongly in reporting cheaters and I don't want to encourage non-DC parents to try to apply there, but it was interesting how open the school seemed to allowing for this cheating. Given how popular it is, I don't think it's from a concern about under-enrollment. Maybe at some point I'll see their staff and just ask them more directly what is up with that.

[Anonymous]

What about diplomat tags? Do they get reported too?

[Anonymous]

Thompson. Seriously, 1/4? Of the kids who go there are from out-of-state but with parents working in downtown DC and using work or a relative's address. It's blatant and ridiculous. I had a lady in line at the grocery store next to me who was telling me how she drove her kids in from Maryland and dropped them off on her way to work. It's so convenient!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't DC just require a parent to show a copy of IRS forms and/or DC tax forms when enrolling a student? Things like utilities and leases can be easily forged, but it is very difficult to do so with IRS/tax forms. Even poor parents will have a W-2, Earned Income Tax Forms, or have a government-issued form for them to receive welfare benefits at a certain address. For people who move into a school district mid-year, it would seem fair for them to enroll provisionally with other identification and then have to show a tax form by February 1st when W-2's must legally be issued. Parents would at least be deterred from cheating because they would know that they would be removed by mid-year if they couldn't show tax form proof. I believe that VA requires a tax form to prove residency and doesn't accept lesser forms of residency establishment.

This would solve the objections to people who are worried about issues like divorced parents, etc., since those parents would still have a current IRS form that has their legal DC address. It would also get around the problem of people owning a house in the city that they don't live in or a grandparent putting a parent on the title but the family lives out of state because the parent would not be able to claim residency without being required to pay DC taxes.

I completely agree. However, tax docs can't always be used. What about new residents that move to DC that haven't filed yet? What about military families that can still file in their home state? I agree a pay stub is not enough, I can change my address with my online HR to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and next week that address would appear on my pay stub. Fwiw, Arlington county only requires a lease. I think DC employment office systems should be used to cross reference to ensure that DC wages are being taxed that would fall in line with income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MYOB

This. With a side of STFU. Seriously, you need a hobby.

This. All this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't DC just require a parent to show a copy of IRS forms and/or DC tax forms when enrolling a student? Things like utilities and leases can be easily forged, but it is very difficult to do so with IRS/tax forms. Even poor parents will have a W-2, Earned Income Tax Forms, or have a government-issued form for them to receive welfare benefits at a certain address. For people who move into a school district mid-year, it would seem fair for them to enroll provisionally with other identification and then have to show a tax form by February 1st when W-2's must legally be issued. Parents would at least be deterred from cheating because they would know that they would be removed by mid-year if they couldn't show tax form proof. I believe that VA requires a tax form to prove residency and doesn't accept lesser forms of residency establishment.

This would solve the objections to people who are worried about issues like divorced parents, etc., since those parents would still have a current IRS form that has their legal DC address. It would also get around the problem of people owning a house in the city that they don't live in or a grandparent putting a parent on the title but the family lives out of state because the parent would not be able to claim residency without being required to pay DC taxes.

I completely agree. However, tax docs can't always be used. What about new residents that move to DC that haven't filed yet? What about military families that can still file in their home state? I agree a pay stub is not enough, I can change my address with my online HR to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and next week that address would appear on my pay stub. Fwiw, Arlington county only requires a lease. I think DC employment office systems should be used to cross reference to ensure that DC wages are being taxed that would fall in line with income.

If DC was serious about establishing residency, all of the situations that you mention could be handled with relatively easy administrative language. A new family to the district can show alternative residency documents and then show tax forms after the first of the year when new W-2s or 1099s are issued. Sure, a person could start the school year as a cheater, but it wouldn't be worth it of they knew that the child would be removed mid-year without the proper paperwork. Military families could submit their out-of-state tax forms and also their DC base IDs to prove that they are currently stationed at a post in DC. These items cannot be faked like leases or utility bills. The point is that there is no reason why DCPS can't have a documentation system that is much harder to cheat. By not making relatively easy changes to their system, they are choosing to look the other way and keeping legal DC residents from attractive DCPS programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP,

If the school is not oversubscribed, out-of-state residents can pay DCPS to attend. Sometimes that makes sense. That could explain the MD plates.

Why do this now, in the middle of the school year? If they are doing something wrong, why not wait until the end of the school year, for the child's sake?

There are relatively few tuition paying students in DC schools. When I checked a few years ago at the Ward 3 elementary school my DS attended, there were NO tuition paying students there. But there sure were a lot of cars from Maryland at morning drop off and in the afternoon pick up hours.

Hope the OP has more than an out of state tag to go on. In Ward 3 you are probably looking at lots of nannies/babysitters handling drop offs/pick ups. This is certainly our situation. I'd be super annoyed if we had to re-verify our residency simply because someone felt it was their civic duty to monitor our nanny's comings and goings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't DC just require a parent to show a copy of IRS forms and/or DC tax forms when enrolling a student? Things like utilities and leases can be easily forged, but it is very difficult to do so with IRS/tax forms. Even poor parents will have a W-2, Earned Income Tax Forms, or have a government-issued form for them to receive welfare benefits at a certain address. For people who move into a school district mid-year, it would seem fair for them to enroll provisionally with other identification and then have to show a tax form by February 1st when W-2's must legally be issued. Parents would at least be deterred from cheating because they would know that they would be removed by mid-year if they couldn't show tax form proof. I believe that VA requires a tax form to prove residency and doesn't accept lesser forms of residency establishment.

This would solve the objections to people who are worried about issues like divorced parents, etc., since those parents would still have a current IRS form that has their legal DC address. It would also get around the problem of people owning a house in the city that they don't live in or a grandparent putting a parent on the title but the family lives out of state because the parent would not be able to claim residency without being required to pay DC taxes.

I completely agree. However, tax docs can't always be used. What about new residents that move to DC that haven't filed yet? What about military families that can still file in their home state? I agree a pay stub is not enough, I can change my address with my online HR to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and next week that address would appear on my pay stub. Fwiw, Arlington county only requires a lease. I think DC employment office systems should be used to cross reference to ensure that DC wages are being taxed that would fall in line with income.

If DC was serious about establishing residency, all of the situations that you mention could be handled with relatively easy administrative language. A new family to the district can show alternative residency documents and then show tax forms after the first of the year when new W-2s or 1099s are issued. Sure, a person could start the school year as a cheater, but it wouldn't be worth it of they knew that the child would be removed mid-year without the proper paperwork. Military families could submit their out-of-state tax forms and also their DC base IDs to prove that they are currently stationed at a post in DC. These items cannot be faked like leases or utility bills. The point is that there is no reason why DCPS can't have a documentation system that is much harder to cheat. By not making relatively easy changes to their system, they are choosing to look the other way and keeping legal DC residents from attractive DCPS programs.

If VA and MD don't require tax returns for school, I highly doubt DC will ever adopt that policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP,

If the school is not oversubscribed, out-of-state residents can pay DCPS to attend. Sometimes that makes sense. That could explain the MD plates.

Why do this now, in the middle of the school year? If they are doing something wrong, why not wait until the end of the school year, for the child's sake?

There are relatively few tuition paying students in DC schools. When I checked a few years ago at the Ward 3 elementary school my DS attended, there were NO tuition paying students there. But there sure were a lot of cars from Maryland at morning drop off and in the afternoon pick up hours.

Hope the OP has more than an out of state tag to go on. In Ward 3 you are probably looking at lots of nannies/babysitters handling drop offs/pick ups. This is certainly our situation. I'd be super annoyed if we had to re-verify our residency simply because someone felt it was their civic duty to monitor our nanny's comings and goings.

So we shouldn't investigate residency fraud in case someone might get "super annoyed"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP,

If the school is not oversubscribed, out-of-state residents can pay DCPS to attend. Sometimes that makes sense. That could explain the MD plates.

Why do this now, in the middle of the school year? If they are doing something wrong, why not wait until the end of the school year, for the child's sake?

There are relatively few tuition paying students in DC schools. When I checked a few years ago at the Ward 3 elementary school my DS attended, there were NO tuition paying students there. But there sure were a lot of cars from Maryland at morning drop off and in the afternoon pick up hours.

Hope the OP has more than an out of state tag to go on. In Ward 3 you are probably looking at lots of nannies/babysitters handling drop offs/pick ups. This is certainly our situation. I'd be super annoyed if we had to re-verify our residency simply because someone felt it was their civic duty to monitor our nanny's comings and goings.

I would not be at all. I would invite the Principal to stop over for coffee on his way to school (we live few blocks away), chat with our neighbors who see us in and out of our home every day, check with parents of our kid's classmates, who routinely come for playdates. I would show him our car (with DC license plate) and our nanny's car if we had one. quick and easy, no annoyance