Worth Reporting - In-Boundary Fraud?
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Anonymous
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A parent at my child's daycare recently advised some of us fellow parents that she and her husband purchased an apartment in a desirable location for in-boundary preference. They do not intend to live there, but rather plan to rent it periodically to pay the costs on it. They basically bought it for the sole purpose of using it as an address to gain in-boundary preference. This doesn't seem fair, particularly as my child sits on the waitlist for a number of schools as we "play by the rules." Curious if there is any value in notifying the school, or if it is pointless because the schools are limited in their ability to investigate things like this.
Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I think this is a legit way to get into a school, because the DC rules on residency are so loosey-goosey. |
Anonymous
No, you actually have to live at the address when you enroll the student. Note that you can then move out of bounds and stay enrolled through the last grade in the school, but you have to report that and they presumably switch you over to an OOB student. That said, this is not something that DCPS cares about at all. Maybe they'd investigate a specific report, but it seems pretty petty when they're actually paying taxes for that address. Maybe keep the idea in mind if playing by the rules doesn't work out in the next few years, OP. |
Anonymous
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Usually my instinct is to say no, but that's in cases when it's "I saw a child being dropped off in a car with MD plates."
But if they are bragging about it, I'd report them. But first I'd ask them if they understood that it was illegal. See bottom of this page: https://osse.dc.gov/service/enrollment-season-supporting-leas-schools Suspicion of Non-residency If an LEA/school suspects someone of attending a public school in the District and is not residing in the District, OSSE can be notified through the online tip form. |
Anonymous
Are the people OP is talking about living outside of DC or in DC but outside of the in-boundary for the specific school? |
Anonymous
There is nothing on this page that references school boundary fraud. Every single reference is to "DC residency." Notably, DCPS is one LEA, so the same logic that allows DCPS to place non-bilingual students at SWS instead of OA probably means they don't have any incentive to care which school DC residents are enrolling their kids in. I think OSSE cares more about MD students than EOTP kids in WOTP schools. |
Anonymous
I only ask because OSSE says this about reporting -- "OSSE does not investigate District of Columbia Public School boundary issues, only issues of non-residency." Which is kind of a cop out?!?!?! I mean, it would be super easy to flout this rule then, right? |
Anonymous
Where does it say that?? |
Anonymous
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You can also check on OTR's website to see if they are claiming the homestead deduction for where they say they are living (probably not, since the place they're actually living has higher taxes). If they're not claiming homestead there but on the place they actually live, you can tell OSSE. Not that they're likely to do something about it but if you want to report it.
If they are claiming homestead and don't live there, you can tell OTR. If they're renting the place out and you don't think they are reporting the income, you can tell OTR that (and if you think they are reporting the income, or you see places where the unit is advertised for rent, you can tell that to OSSE). This is also a good way to get people to lose their jobs or clearances if that's your goal (and if you don't want that to happen, think twice about reporting). If OSSE doesn't do anything you could tell your councilmembers or go to the press. It depends how aggressive you want to be. None of it is likely to get the kid kicked out of a school or your kid in, and some of it might blow back at you but I get the desire to make life hard for a cheater. |
Anonymous
What a jerk. Don't be like PP! IF you actually care about them doing the "right" thing, you could tell them they should move in for a month to enroll their kid, then report to the school that they're moving out of bounds. Then they're following the rules and can rent out their new condo. |
Anonymous
OSSE won't do anything because that isn't their job. The press will ignore you and your council member will ignore you in a more polite fashion. If they reside in the apartment when the register and notify the school when they move that are technically in compliance and not actually violating any rule and it seems like that may be what they are doing |
Anonymous
| Things get awkward as the kids get older and talk to each other about where they live, carpooling, birthday parties, etc. I'd let the parents know the rules so that their family is not stigmatized for cheating. |
Anonymous
| “Obeying the rules” is kind of subjective and in this case the parents have found a gray area to exploit, I think. Given the extremely competitive world our children are growing up in, I applaud them for doing everything they can to gain advantage. |
Anonymous
| What they are doing is not in the spirit of the law, but I doubt DC will do anything. We've reported vacant houses in our neighborhood (vacant for 15+ years) and they won't do anything. No matter that it will increase their tax base. We have a new neighborhood issue and nobody can agree on the jurisdiction in agencies and it's costing the city major of amounts of money, but nothing is happening. Cheaters gonna cheat in DC because the city lets them. |
Anonymous
| OSSE doesn’t care about boundary fraud. |