Reply to Do you think we have a "unique hardship" for an MCPS COSA/Transfer?

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[quote=givingtree]First, I absolutely hate to post my personal woes out to the interwebz. But I'm at a loss as to the right course of action for my daughter.

Basic facts:
I had been with my partner for 5 years, and we lived as any husband and wife, just without the paperwork. The agreement from the beginning was for me to be a stay at home mom, and he would work (he made WAY more money than I ever could, and I wasn't able to earn enough to justify childcare expenses).

Long story short, without any warning, he left last week after draining the bank account to $0, and took both our vehicles (we're 5 miles from public transit). In 2 days, I was left penniless, without a vehicle, 5 days before rent is due, and 10 days before the electric would be turned off (that's today, yay!). I have no paystubs to get into a new, cheaper place, so I face eviction as well.

There are only 2 places for rent in my daughter's elementary school zone. One is an MPDU apartment complex, which requires 6 recent paystubs, which I don't have. I went to view the other place, and it is literally crumbling and dilapidated (we live in a funky old farmhouse now, so my standards are pretty low!).The landlord said it would have a new roof because the old one leaks, fixed wet basement, and dozens of holes and damages repaired in 2 weeks. That's not going to happen, and if it did, I am no match for the myriad applicants who have jobs, income, etc. all vying for the place because it's the only one available (also why the rent is WAY overpriced.)

The adjoining elementary boundaries do have suitable rentals that I might be able to get into and afford once I'm on my feet (my mom is willing to be on the lease and has enough income to be approved), but there still aren't many. These all feed into the same middle school, so any COSA would only need to be for the next three years (my daughter's in 2nd grade).

In short, we have less than a month to move somewhere in the school zone, after suddenly being left destitute and unemployed, and there is no place to rent in the school zone.

This entire thing has obviously been very traumatic for my daughter. We live in constant fear of my ex (who is not her father). She is afraid he will take her away, I'm afraid he will try to sneak into the house [i]again[/i], and do who-knows-what. He was violent to himself and property, cruel and emotionally abusive, stole items as he left, including her Nintendo which was a Christmas gift, all of my birthday gifts from other people, my grandmother's antiques, and much more. Both her and I live in fear as long as he knows where we live. The last thing she needs after having her whole life ripped away and going through all this, is to have to change schools too, so I'm trying to avoid that at all costs. I do have documentation of all of this.

Technically I could move to an out-of-bounds rental, get approval for her to finish out the year, and hope that by August I could move [i]again[/i] back into the current school zone. After all this, my daughter will have the stress of yet another move and instability, and I will struggle to afford 2 moves in 6 months or less.

Questions:

Assuming we move to a place outside the current boundary, I'm positive we could get some kind of exception for this school year. But as I understand it, if I apply for a COSA right now, it would take effect [i]next [/i]school year. Who do I contact or what forms do I submit to get an exemption in the next month?

Based on your previous experience, and assuming again that we move outside the current boundary, do you feel like we could get a COSA under a "unique hardship" for the next three years?

Do you have any other advice for anything mentioned here? This has been an awful experience, and while I'm a tough cookie and work to the bone to make things better, I'm overwhelmed and I'm sure I'm missing something that I'd see if I wasn't so stressed.

Thanks for your help!

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