Districts ramping up efforts to verify student residency
In nearly two decades of listening to excuses, private investigator Bill Beitler can easily recall the strangest reason a parent gave for why she knowingly enrolled her son in an out-of-district public school.
The suburban mom said she didn't like how a teacher had "structured her classroom," says Beitler, who is hired by school districts to help verify residency of students who might not live where they claim to.
When questioned, the parent, an interior decorator, admitted she didn't like how her son's classroom was decorated. "She yanked him out of school because she did not like what the teacher had on the walls," he says.
Whatever the reasons given for out-of-district enrollment, school officials are taking notice. Though not a new issue, many districts have recently been ramping up safeguards to protect against it, from implementing new registration procedures to hiring private investigators to check on questionable students.
"With the economy being what it is and the school district being more accountable, there's a greater interest in making sure that our students are residents in our district," says Jeff Arnett, spokesman of Barrington Area Unit District 220.
State law requires public school students to live within the district where they attend school. Though no state records are kept of how many students attend or try to attend the wrong school each year, and no official statistical trends indicate a rise, school leaders say there's a renewed interest in preventing the problem.
In a time when they are more money-conscious than ever, officials have gotten more perceptive and sophisticated in determining if students are district residents, Arnett says. "There's so many more opportunities to interact with families today," he says.
Nonresidency is often discovered in the spring when registration information for the upcoming school year is mailed out but returned because the families don't reside at that address. School officials also are tipped off by bus drivers, neighbors or other students.
Many school officials say they see anywhere from a handful to several hundred students each year who try to attend the wrong school.
Last spring, the Barrington District 220 board voted to dis-enroll six students after learning their families lived outside district boundaries. While they see a handful of similar cases each year, it was the first time in recent memory the board took this kind of action, Arnett says.
"They want to show taxpayers they're accountable to them," he says. "And to those families who are trying to take advantage, we want them to know we are vigilant and have ways of determining if they are residents."
Ramping up effortsEach district handles the registration process differently. Some require parents to show a combination of proofs of residency such as a driver's license, utility bills or a mortgage statement or rental contract.For the first time, all incoming freshmen in the Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 must prove residency this year with three original forms of documentation. Each year, officials see a handful of students from adjacent districts try to attend their high schools, and "we are becoming increasingly aware of (the issue)," says Associate Superintendent Al Fleming.Facing similar challenges, Naperville Unit District 203 leaders have in the past turned to Beitler's firm, National Investigations, based in Channahon, to help with residency investigations.And they're not alone. The firm counts among its clients nearly 60 school districts in the Chicago area, including schools in Barrington, Schaumburg, North Aurora and Carpentersville.Some districts have their own staff assigned to check residency. Aside from talking to neighbors, students and family and friends, investigators verify residency by checking to see where students get on and off the school bus and by doing home visits, school leaders say. "There's a little bit of detective work that's involved," Fleming says.Warnings usually are enough for nonresident students to leave the school, leaders say. Many districts have formal hearing procedures to allow the family an opportunity to prove residency.The child's best interestSometimes, parents are just confused, resulting in honest enrollment mistakes. Families move during the year, or they're unaware of school boundaries, particularly in towns served by several districts.Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 leaders are seeing more students living with a relative, making it harder for the family to prove residency. "We've had to come up with some creative ways to prove residency when the parents don't have a lease," said Terri McHugh, district spokeswoman.Parents can now submit a notarized letter or form in lieu of residency that's signed by the guardian, plus the renter or homeowner, who must prove ownership.But often, parents deliberately enroll their children in the wrong school, and for all kinds of reasons, Beitler says."The number one reason is convenience," he says. There's construction on their normal route, or it's easier to drop their children off at a school that's on the way to work, he says."Parents look at it that way," he says. "The number two reason is the district has a better school, and the number three reason is that this school has a better sports program or facilities."His firm has not only seen an increase in schools as clients, it's also seen a rise in out-of-district students. In 2009, it had roughly 10,000 Illinois cases - its highest ever - where a student was attending the wrong school. The year before, it had about 8,000 cases and previously had hovered in the 5,000-6,000 range. In the early 1990s, his firm saw 1 percent to 2 percent of total students being out-of-district; in the past three years, it's been as high as 5 percent, he says.Investigators often talk with the parents, explaining residency law and providing options. "They know they're caught. They're very upset. We try to calm them down," he says. "They'll say, 'I thought I could do this for only one year, or 'I own an apartment building within the district, so I'm still paying taxes.' We have to explain it is about where the child and guardian reside."But in explaining his findings to school officials, Beitler says he considers the child's best interest, particularly in cases that involve issues like custody disputes or spousal abuse. He'll sometimes plead the parent's case, and nearly every time, school officials will agree with him, he says.As in the case of the dis-enrolled Barrington students - who were allowed to finish their school year - Arnett says leaders want to show compassion to all students. "We want to work with their families," he says, "but our first and foremost responsibility is to those paying taxes in our district."True20001381Barrington High School students get their schedules for the 2010-11 school year, which starts this week.Bill Zars | Staff PhotographerTrue