Is residency fraud a real issue or is it overblown?

[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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Residency fraud is an issue, but not at the schools that get posted about here. Too many struggling charters would go under if they didn't look the other way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think residency fraud is probably not widespread at popular DCPS schools.

People with out of state tags living in DC, however…

THIS.

(and also: yes, it's maybe more visible for free PK3 and PK4 ...less so after)

[Anonymous]

The registrar at our NW DC elementary school is a stickler.. glad for her thoroughness!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Residency fraud is an issue, but not at the schools that get posted about here. Too many struggling charters would go under if they didn't look the other way.

+1. Most of the popular schools on DCUM are full of in-boundary kids.

[Anonymous]

The cheater who uses my address went to Walker Jones and Phelps.