WaPo takes deep dive into DCPS residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Question-- what documents do areas with no fraud request? what is the norm for most places?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question-- what documents do areas with no fraud request? what is the norm for most places?

Fraud is everywhere - they just seem to catch it more elsewhere (MoCo had like 250 investigations last year, and found about half were cheating). Similar documents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question-- what documents do areas with no fraud request? what is the norm for most places?

Montgomery County -- http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/enroll/proofs.aspx

Acceptable Proof of Residency in Montgomery County

Homeowners: If homeowner, a copy of your current property tax bill. A copy can be obtained for a fee from the Montgomery County Department of Finance at 240-777-8950, or a free copy can be downloaded from Montgomery County Department of Finance.

Renters: If renting, a copy of your current lease (less than one year old). If lease is more than one year old, a copy of your lease and a current utility bill.

Shared Housing Residents: If living in shared housing, a notarized Shared Housing Disclosure (MCPS Form 335-74) and either a copy of the homeowner's current property tax bill or a copy of the renter's lease with whom the student and parent are living and other supporting documents.

Supporting documents for shared housing must be in the name of parent/guardian at the address shown on Shared Housing Disclosure (MCPS Form 335-74). Examples of acceptable supporting documents are: W-2, current pay stub, income tax return, two consecutive bank statements, medical bills, car registration, car insurance policy/bill, current utility bill, current phone bill, voter registration card, INS application, government or official correspondence at residential address. Three documents are needed.

Homeless Residents: If homeless, information and forms can be found on the Enrolling Homeless Students page.

Anyone who is not a resident of Montgomery County must complete Determination of Residency and Tuition Status (MCPS Form 335-73) and contact International Admissions and Enrollment at 301-230-0686.

[Anonymous]

So if you want to claim DC TAG for your college-age child, the residency documentation process is MUCH more stringent.

And OSSE runs that process too. It is stringent because the federal government is concerned that people will fraudulently claim the $10,000 / year benefit.

It costs far more than 410,000 to educate a school-age child per year.

This is a matter of will and priorities -- not system design.

[Anonymous]

DC decided to staff 1 person in that role. It was clear that it was not something they were taking seriously. This is not new.
Here is a link to an article from 2011. NOTHING has changed. DCPS does not want to take this seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question-- what documents do areas with no fraud request? what is the norm for most places?

Montgomery County -- http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/enroll/proofs.aspx

Acceptable Proof of Residency in Montgomery County

Homeowners: If homeowner, a copy of your current property tax bill. A copy can be obtained for a fee from the Montgomery County Department of Finance at 240-777-8950, or a free copy can be downloaded from Montgomery County Department of Finance.

Renters: If renting, a copy of your current lease (less than one year old). If lease is more than one year old, a copy of your lease and a current utility bill.

Shared Housing Residents: If living in shared housing, a notarized Shared Housing Disclosure (MCPS Form 335-74) and either a copy of the homeowner's current property tax bill or a copy of the renter's lease with whom the student and parent are living and other supporting documents.

Supporting documents for shared housing must be in the name of parent/guardian at the address shown on Shared Housing Disclosure (MCPS Form 335-74). Examples of acceptable supporting documents are: W-2, current pay stub, income tax return, two consecutive bank statements, medical bills, car registration, car insurance policy/bill, current utility bill, current phone bill, voter registration card, INS application, government or official correspondence at residential address. Three documents are needed.

Homeless Residents: If homeless, information and forms can be found on the Enrolling Homeless Students page.

Anyone who is not a resident of Montgomery County must complete Determination of Residency and Tuition Status (MCPS Form 335-73) and contact International Admissions and Enrollment at 301-230-0686.

But a lease is even easier to forge than a paystub!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Of the six residency fraud cases currently pending in D.C. Superior Court, four involve at least one current or former school employee."

FFS.

Why aren't these students told to leave the school at the end of the year instead of being allowed to remain at the school and "pay tuition"? Most of these students are taking seats at schools with waitlist s ( both elementary and high schools).

[Anonymous]

The fix is so easy: connect DC tax returns to residency status for purposes of enrollment.

Every DCPS family - aside from military and diplomats - should be filing DC taxes. The military and diplomatic status are very easy to verify and they have zero incentive to scam the system.

Don't file DC taxes and have kids in DCPS? You have some explaining to do and the investigators can start there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fix is so easy: connect DC tax returns to residency status for purposes of enrollment.

Every DCPS family - aside from military and diplomats - should be filing DC taxes. The military and diplomatic status are very easy to verify and they have zero incentive to scam the system.

Don't file DC taxes and have kids in DCPS? You have some explaining to do and the investigators can start there.

the world is a lot more complex than you are proposing.

[Anonymous]

This story is unfuriating. The proverbial fox guarding the henhouse. DC is so corrupt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"In neighboring Montgomery County, Md., where the public school system has almost twice as many students as the District, a spokesman said 52 employees spend at least part of their time on residency investigations. Last fiscal year, the system investigated 225 residency claims and found 135 of those families lived outside the county.

In Virginia’s Fairfax County, the school district’s central office employs 15 attendance officers whose duties include investigating residency fraud. A spokesman said fewer than 100 students were found to be living outside Fairfax County each year for the past eight years.

D.C. currently has a single investigator responsible for all residency fraud cases."

Ding ding ding.

Hey, this is the DC way. Just go along to get along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC decided to staff 1 person in that role. It was clear that it was not something they were taking seriously. This is not new.
Here is a link to an article from 2011. NOTHING has changed. DCPS does not want to take this seriously.

Because they needed the bodies, you can't say DCPS has grown if the count says otherwise!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fix is so easy: connect DC tax returns to residency status for purposes of enrollment.

Every DCPS family - aside from military and diplomats - should be filing DC taxes. The military and diplomatic status are very easy to verify and they have zero incentive to scam the system.

Don't file DC taxes and have kids in DCPS? You have some explaining to do and the investigators can start there.

+100. Yes, lives are complicated and there would be other situations to deal with. But doing what PP suggests would get DC 95% there, at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fix is so easy: connect DC tax returns to residency status for purposes of enrollment.

Every DCPS family - aside from military and diplomats - should be filing DC taxes. The military and diplomatic status are very easy to verify and they have zero incentive to scam the system.

Don't file DC taxes and have kids in DCPS? You have some explaining to do and the investigators can start there.

the world is a lot more complex than you are proposing.

This has been suggested before; Rotate and deploy outside DC public and charter schools police or similar vehicles that have those license plate readers. Scan the plates of cars dropping off or picking up on various days. It's easy for the software to run the registered owner addresses against the names parents of children of children in the schools. When there are hits for Maryland or Virginia addresses, dig in and investigate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do people mostly think this is a PG county issue? Mostly because there are cultural linkages between inner-ring suburbs and DC proper?

Ward 9, baby! The Barry generation and their progeny basically moved to PG a long time ago.