Dist. 59 may investigate residency

Whether it's because mail is returned by the post office or because children who would be expected to walk to school are instead dropped off, Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 administrators suspect that a growing number of students don't live within the district.

Every year, one or two families at each school are identified by staff as living outside the district, administrators said. The students either disenroll or are allowed to continue attending school if the family transports them and they lived in the district on the first day of school.

But because the problem seems to be growing, administrators recommended Monday that the district's board of education hire the firm National Investigations Inc., based in Channahon, to conduct residency investigations.

"We just have more and more families (that) wherever they live, they don't want their children to go (to school) there and want to come here," said Nancy Wagner, the district's assistant superintendent of instruction.

Such cases often involve affidavits, presented at registration, stating that students live in someone else's home within the district, she said.

Wagner speculated that many are commuters who find it more convenient to drop off their children at schools located near their work. The problem affects all 14 district schools equally, and it's not linked to any specific type of family, she said.

State law requires that students live within a school district four out of seven nights per week, said District 59 Superintendent Daniel Schweers.

National Investigations estimated that 3 percent to 4 percent of students might not be residents, Wagner said. That would amount to up to 250 students out of the district's 6,250 students.

"That blew us out of the water," said Ruth Gloede, the district's assistant superintendent for business services.

National Investigations generally hires staff with backgrounds in social work and psychology, and it would bill the district $65 per hour in 15-minute increments to conduct the residency investigations, Gloede said. The firm uses its own informational database and simply "knocks on the door" to verify residency, she said.

The district would inform local police departments that investigators are performing checks so as not to arouse concern, Gloede said.

Board secretary Brian Gilligan said he didn't want the district to infringe on families' privacy by playing "Big Brother" and suggested that the policy be implemented only on an "as needed" basis. The board did not vote on the matter Monday.

National Investigations' owner Bill Beitler will be asked to attend the next board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 12. Among the firm's clients are nearly 60 school districts in the Chicago area.

District 59 includes parts of Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village and Mount Prospect.