Reply to Is residency fraud a real issue or is it overblown?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]After my divorce, my ex moved to Maryland while I remained in DC.

We were at a popular charter where we knew many parents and interacted at school events, Stoddert soccer, etc,  and--all of a sudden--quite a few moms and dads felt the need to casually ask, "so where are you living these days."

Our registar was a stickler and I had to not only show my license but show that it matched recent paystubs.

Most of the fraud takes place at schools that need more kids for their headcount. Other states have sent school leaders to prison for allowing such fraud.[/quote]

I appreciate your story -- especially about how people questioned your status even though you had the paperwork to prove your residency. There is residency fraud and it is an issue but what's overblown, IMO, is the idea that it's the school that is skirting the rules rather than parents. It is the parents. I am at a school (charter) and OSSE does a review of 100% of the paperwork submitted by parents. Maybe there are different rules for DCPS or maybe OSSE is sloppy and only full audits some charters but I don't understand how it's possible that there are schools that are not getting proper paperwork. A DC license alone is not sufficient to prove residency according to OSSE's rules. If you are using a license for residency, you must provide a second document as evidence. Your registrar isn't a "stickler". He/she is simply following the rules.[/quote]

OSSE absolutely does not review the paperwork submitted by parents. That is fully the responsibility of the school. OSSE may audit schools and conducts individual level residency investigations, but the OSSE staff of two in the residency investigation team certainly are not reviewing paperwork for hundreds or thousands of kids on a routine basis.

And yes, a paystub is sufficient to verify residency, but a driver's license requires a secondary source (like a paystub).[/quote]

I'm glad you cleared up the part about the license. The registrar is doing their job (not extra) by getting a second document when the parent only presents a license. Schools have to keep and submit annually to OSSE the entire set of information showing verification of residency for every enrollee except those who are already "OSSE verified". There is an OSSE enrollment audit handbook that schools must follow and it clearly states that "LEAs shall upload all residency forms and supporting residency documents to BOX by their LEA e-file deadline."

OSSE may only have a small staff but they contract a team of auditors each year that do this work and review submissions.[/quote]

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