Residency Fraud Hotline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happens a lot for the earlier grades PK3 - 3 and makes drop off and pick up for parents who work in DC easier. This is so unfair to those of us who pay taxes in DC.

So true, my bank teller lives in PG County and her child attends a Charter school. She said it's free childacare and better for her communte.

Have you reported her? You are JUST as guilty if you know and don't report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drove by Watkins and noticed that someone had made a printed and laminated sign with "Residency Fraud Hotline" and the telephone number. it was attached to one of the parking signs next to the drop off lane. I live near Watkins (but don't have kids there) and see cars with Maryland plates dropping off kids all the time.

Any other schools have the fraud hotline posted out front?

Could be nannies or babysitters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you talking about this happening in the past, it can still be prosecuted. Just because the crime is not still taking place does not make it less worthy of reporting. Report it or else you become complicit in the fraud.

That's a good point. I hadn't thought of reporting it after the fact. The case I knew of was several years ago and actually ended before I had a child in DCPS. At the time I had no real awareness of the context, ramifications, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all of you talking about this happening in the past, it can still be prosecuted. Just because the crime is not still taking place does not make it less worthy of reporting. Report it or else you become complicit in the fraud.

That's a good point. I hadn't thought of reporting it after the fact. The case I knew of was several years ago and actually ended before I had a child in DCPS. At the time I had no real awareness of the context, ramifications, etc.

There is the statute of limitations, though. DC probably can't go back more than, say, three years even they wanted to.

[Anonymous]

Remember- statutes don't toll until the wrongdoing was discovered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember- statutes don't toll until the wrongdoing was discovered.

Or could/should have been discovered, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A former colleague of mine did it for her son's entire elementary school education beyond first grade after they moved from DC to Ft. Washington MD. The concept of it being a crime and something to feel bad about was completely lost on her. She made her decisions based on the fact that the school (Amidon) was better than the school where they had moved, that it was more convenient for her commute, and that her son was comfortable there/had friends there. When it came time for middle school she pondered whether to keep him in the DC system or not and again made her decision as if she were choosing between two legitimate choices --no weight given to the illegal/unethical issues involved.

the school in ft washington must have been a hot mess for amidon to look better.

another issue I've observed in some families is children getting punted to different families due to incaceration or drugs or other issues. Grandma might enroll the kid in her neighborhood school even if she is not the legal guardian.
And sometimes it is a case of tradition the family has always gone there so they will keep sending the kids there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember- statutes don't toll until the wrongdoing was discovered.

Or could/should have been discovered, no?

Right. There's no reason for DCPS to have known that the child was a residency cheat in most cases.