Woodland starts cracking down on residency requirement

In a stepped-up effort to ensure taxpayers aren't supporting children who should be educated elsewhere, Woodland Elementary District launched its first proof-of-residency event.

Hundreds of parents, some with children in tow, went through the process Monday at Gurnee-based Woodland District 50's middle school. The event at Woodland -- the state's seventh-largest elementary system with about 7,100 students -- runs at various times through Friday.

District 50 officials said roughly $579,000 in public money was used to educate 60 children who didn't live within district boundaries in the last school year. Superintendent Joy Swoboda said schools generally can't remove out-of-area pupils after the academic season starts.

"Our goal and intent is to make sure the children find their home schools," Swoboda said.

Parents are required to bring two sources of documentation to prove residency. Utility bills, a current mortgage statement or coupon, driver's license, state identification card and home insurance papers are among the accepted documents.

Laura Liljegren of Waukegan needed more than 40 minutes to work her way up the line to show her documents and proceed to step two in the process.

Liljegren said she agreed with the decision to verify residency. However, she said, it might be impractical to accommodate about 5,000 families in one week.

"There should be another way to do it," she said.

Gurnee resident Michael Vandenberg said he didn't consider the event an inconvenience and supported the reasons for it. Still, he said, it might be worth considering another method.

District 50's information systems manager, Paul Fegley, said the program will be evaluated this week. The event is expected to be held annually.

"We've got to live it to learn from it," Fegley said.

Parents were also able to collect school, transportation, class and lunch menu information. They could complete surveys to provide feedback, which District 50 spokeswoman Jennifer Tempest Bova said would be studied by officials.

Children who didn't belong at District 50 attended school undetected, in part, because residency had been verified only at initial enrollment. Parents had provided updated addresses and other personal information on forms sent by mail.

Sessions today through Thursday are from 8 to 11 a.m., from 1 to 4 p.m., and from 6 to 8 p.m. at the middle school on Washington Street at Almond Road in Gurnee. Friday's sessions are from 8 to 11 a.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m.