Residency Requirement

[Anonymous]

Before all of the "I caught a residency cheater" posts get started this year, I thought I would post this helpful little bit from the DCPS residency website:

4. I don’t live in the District but my child(ren)’s other parent is a resident of the District. Can my child(ren) attend?

Yes, if one parent is a bona fide resident and provides document to prove residency. The DC resident parent should be the one to enroll the child(ren) in a DC public school.

So before you report that family with Maryland tags, realize that if one parent lives in DC they have just as much right to attend as any other family.

[Anonymous]

No one disputes this. But that is not the issue with all of the 50% of MD plates I see at our school every day.

[Anonymous]

What about, "if my child's grandparents live in DC and they sometimes sleep over, can my child attend DC schools?"

I know they can't but this is our whole neighborhood (of grandparents).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one disputes this. But that is not the issue with all of the 50% of MD plates I see at our school every day.

Because you know everyone’s personal situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one disputes this. But that is not the issue with all of the 50% of MD plates I see at our school every day.

Because you know everyone’s personal situation.

I know a lot of them, yes. And most are similar to the above PP post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one disputes this. But that is not the issue with all of the 50% of MD plates I see at our school every day.

Because you know everyone’s personal situation.

I know a lot of them, yes. And most are similar to the above PP post.

+1

[Anonymous]

I only wish my relatives lived in DC, then I could buy a much bigger house in MD and still send my kids to decent schools.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand. So many people are saying they are leaving the District to access MD or VA schools. Who are these people coming from MD to attend DC schools??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. So many people are saying they are leaving the District to access MD or VA schools. Who are these people coming from MD to attend DC schools??

It’s not Montgomery County, it’s Prince George’s county residents who think DC is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. So many people are saying they are leaving the District to access MD or VA schools. Who are these people coming from MD to attend DC schools??

It’s not Montgomery County, it’s Prince George’s county residents who think DC is better.

Legal examples and their reasons: 3 children in my neighborhood have divorced parents and the kids evenly split their time between MoCo and DC (one parent in each jurisdiction). Two kids attend DCI (wanted them to continue with cohort and language studies) and the third has 2 students at Ellington.

Many of the people cited in the cases pursued by the AG are parents who live outside the city but work in DC. Whether or not they like the schools in their neighborhood DC offers free PK3 and Pk4, and pickup/dropoff is convenient to their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. So many people are saying they are leaving the District to access MD or VA schools. Who are these people coming from MD to attend DC schools??

It’s not Montgomery County, it’s Prince George’s county residents who think DC is better.

Not just PG, our school has some from Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

My impression has always been that the cohort is not as big as some people think, but is still significant, and involves:

Legacies. People whose parents or grandparents went to DCPS or certain DCPS schools and would have the kids do the same. I think in particular this is a linkage between DC and the "black flight" to PG county and the continuing linkages, paralleling black churches in DC with Maryland congregations.

Convenience. DC like many cities has a hub and suburban spokes. It's more convenient at the end of the day to pick up your kids at the hub instead of having to get all the way home in the congestion to get your kids from school. Also, DC has early childhood at grades the suburbs do not.

Complicated family relationships and housing insecurity. Many DC families can turn out to be much more complicated than the single-household nuclear family you think of, and families can be standoffish and not interested in the school system getting into their business. The social justice-oriented staff don't want to look into it because of potential for harm and the rule-oriented staff at DCPS don't want to make a mistake and get caught being mean to poor people.

A related, but dissimilar issue: Maryland tags. I think there are a good number of people who live in DC but keep Maryland tags on their cars long-term. Probably not legal for the car but they would be DC residents for the school system.

Did I miss big items here?

Anyway, count me among that cohort that doesn't care too much. But since it keeps coming up places like here, that's my theory of those Maryland plates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My impression has always been that the cohort is not as big as some people think, but is still significant, and involves:

Legacies. People whose parents or grandparents went to DCPS or certain DCPS schools and would have the kids do the same. I think in particular this is a linkage between DC and the "black flight" to PG county and the continuing linkages, paralleling black churches in DC with Maryland congregations.

Convenience. DC like many cities has a hub and suburban spokes. It's more convenient at the end of the day to pick up your kids at the hub instead of having to get all the way home in the congestion to get your kids from school. Also, DC has early childhood at grades the suburbs do not.

Complicated family relationships and housing insecurity. Many DC families can turn out to be much more complicated than the single-household nuclear family you think of, and families can be standoffish and not interested in the school system getting into their business. The social justice-oriented staff don't want to look into it because of potential for harm and the rule-oriented staff at DCPS don't want to make a mistake and get caught being mean to poor people.

A related, but dissimilar issue: Maryland tags. I think there are a good number of people who live in DC but keep Maryland tags on their cars long-term. Probably not legal for the car but they would be DC residents for the school system.

Did I miss big items here?

Anyway, count me among that cohort that doesn't care too much. But since it keeps coming up places like here, that's my theory of those Maryland plates.

Not everyone who does this has housing instability or other issues. I know one elementary teacher (not in the DC area) who simply used a relative's address for convenience, because she wanted her kid close to where she worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. So many people are saying they are leaving the District to access MD or VA schools. Who are these people coming from MD to attend DC schools??

It’s not Montgomery County, it’s Prince George’s county residents who think DC is better.

\

Yes it is. I turned in someone who lived in Chevy Chase and had their kids attending a WOTP elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My impression has always been that the cohort is not as big as some people think, but is still significant, and involves:

Legacies. People whose parents or grandparents went to DCPS or certain DCPS schools and would have the kids do the same. I think in particular this is a linkage between DC and the "black flight" to PG county and the continuing linkages, paralleling black churches in DC with Maryland congregations.

Convenience. DC like many cities has a hub and suburban spokes. It's more convenient at the end of the day to pick up your kids at the hub instead of having to get all the way home in the congestion to get your kids from school. Also, DC has early childhood at grades the suburbs do not.

Complicated family relationships and housing insecurity. Many DC families can turn out to be much more complicated than the single-household nuclear family you think of, and families can be standoffish and not interested in the school system getting into their business. The social justice-oriented staff don't want to look into it because of potential for harm and the rule-oriented staff at DCPS don't want to make a mistake and get caught being mean to poor people.

A related, but dissimilar issue: Maryland tags. I think there are a good number of people who live in DC but keep Maryland tags on their cars long-term. Probably not legal for the car but they would be DC residents for the school system.

Did I miss big items here?

Anyway, count me among that cohort that doesn't care too much. But since it keeps coming up places like here, that's my theory of those Maryland plates.

A woman in my bookclub admits she does it because of the free PK3/4 and the school is on the way to work.

Free preschool/day care is a HUGE draw.