Anonymous wrote:Ugh. What business is this of yours? Don't be a rat fink. You're a lousy friend if you do this. If she gets caught, her child will suffer the consequence. Don't make yourself the reason for his unhappiness.

Seriously? If someone's stealing money from their church, should people they know MYOB? How about if their best friend is molesting children? MYOB?

If someone is stealing DC taxpayer money, depriving DC students of a place at one of the only decent high schools in DC, OP has a responsibility to report that criminal.

Don't do that to your friend's child.

Anonymous wrote:OP her, The school is Wilson, which is the main reason I'm considering reporting her. I live in DC as well, for that one PP who was wondering, though I don't see how that makes any difference.

And no, I'm not a troll, I have been debating this with DH since the beginning of the school year, which is why I came here.

you are not a friend b

Does anybody know if the hotline/increased efforts to identify non-residents has resulted in kids leaving schools, or # of non residents identified? Just curious to see results of increased enforcement

I'm someone who lives in a terrible DC HS boundary. I would LOVE to send my kid to Wilson next year but alas, no OOB spots available. Maybe there would be if all the MD scammers didn't have their kids there. And then the siblings of the original MD scammers. It goes on and on for years.

Your friend is cheating the system and has ignored your attempts for her to act ethically. The problem is her, the issue is black and white. There is no grey area here.

Nobody wants to disrupt a child's life. But if someone tells you they're breaking the law, then they're making it your business. It's not fair to put a friend in the position of keeping up appearances. You're friend may be using emotional blackmail by saying you're the only one she told. After all, if she's lying about residency, what's to keep her from lying to you? Or her own child and mother?

You warned her once. If she says anything at all about the situation to you again, you can either a) ask her to never mention it again because you're upset that she's expecting you to be a party to her fraud that you already told her not to do, or b) use the anonymous reporting phone or link and don't feel guilty about doing your civic duty, or c) let it go for now, but if she says she plans to do the same thing next year, warn her that she's abusing your friendship by telling you and basically making you an unwitting accomplice. She's leaving you no choice but to report the situation if she keeps doing it and telling you.

You can support a friend without enabling questionable behavior. It's not fair to you, OP, or to the families struggling to live in bounds in DC.

You may love her, but is she loving you back?

For that small portion of cheaters who think that this doesn't affect anyone but the friend and her child, you are wrong. This is something that could be costly for many people around the child. There were several cases in the 2012-2013 school year that were very costly for people other than the cheating family.

Wilson's high school football team had to withdraw from the championship match because a player was found to be from MD. They had to forfeit the games he had played.
A Woodson football coach was fired because he had a player on his team from MD.
A public charter school employee was sued by the district because she conspired to conceal a residency fraud case and allow an out-of-district student to attend a DC school without paying tuition.

And there are more. Not only is your friend taking a oversubscribed slot from a resident, but she may be at risk for costing other students, teachers and school staff in many different ways. It would be one thing is only the student and parents took the risk, but they are taking risks with other people's livelihood and other children's educational and extracurricular experiences.

OP--do the right thing. Report your friend. You can do so anonymously and no, she will not know. It is quite possible a student, teacher or school staff member overhears something her child says or someone notices her license plate at drop-off. From the DC

http://www.dcpcsb.org/Parents/Residency-Fraud-and-Verification-Guidelines.aspx

District of Columbia Public Charter School Board wrote:If any member of the public has any information that a non-district resident is receiving District-funded public education free of charge, you may contact the PCSB using any of these methods:

1. Call the OSSE hotline at 202-727-7224
2. Call PCSB at 202-328-2660
3. Email residencyfraud@dcpcsb.org
4. Fill out a residency fraud form online here

Information can be provided anonymously.

OP - I understand your dilemma and I appreciate the fact that you are thinking about the DC residents that pay taxes and can's send their kid to Wilson. Just tell us her name and we'll report her for you. Problem solved.

I agree to MYOB.

Don't report her. Let it work itself out on its own without you putting your nose into it. She might get found out some other way. She is your friend and you will be the cause of a major upheaval in that family's life. You don't want that on your conscience.

I'm not condoning the behavior, I just don't think YOU should be the one to rat her out. Also, the kid's grandmother pays taxes for the school, so at least someone in the family is contributing.

If this is true, your friend is allowing her child to take the place of another student whose parents pay taxes to support Wilson, which she does not. She is committing a crime, and choosing to break the law because it works better for her.

Not okay, not a good lesson to model for her child, and frankly, shows some questionable character. Not sure I could respect a friend who chooses to do something like this. I do know people here in DC who "cheat" using rental or non-primary addresses to get in-bound preference for WotP schools, though at least they are DC residents. And yes, I have shared with them I don't agree with their choice.

Still technically fraud, maybe to a lesser degree. Tough call on the reporting--I see both sides of the argument, but would be more likely to report someone if I knew for a fact they did not even live in the city.

If she is your friend then she would know your standard. I guess she believes you are ok with lying and stealing.

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. What business is this of yours? Don't be a rat fink. You're a lousy friend if you do this. If she gets caught, her child will suffer the consequence. Don't make yourself the reason for his unhappiness.

You're a selfish and sick person. Worst case scenario, a DC child who was stolen from will have a seat open up once the cheater is outed.

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. What business is this of yours? Don't be a rat fink. You're a lousy friend if you do this. If she gets caught, her child will suffer the consequence. Don't make yourself the reason for his unhappiness.

Wow, it took one of the DCUM cheaters awhile to jump into this thread! Y'all are slowing down...