Dist. 59 to start tracking out-of-district students

This week, Elk Grove Township District 59 will begin giving a residency investigations firm the names of students suspected of living outside the district.

Nancy Wagner, District 59's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said Wednesday that each of the district's 14 schools will likely identify two or three families who might live outside the district.

National Investigations Inc., based in Channahon, will then be given the students' names, the names of their parents or guardians, their address, and the reason why school officials suspect out-of-district residency, she said.

The board of education on Tuesday approved a contract with the firm to conduct the investigations at $65 per hour, billed in 15-minute increments.

Wagner said that, according to National Investigations' president Bill Beitler, out-of-district students could amount to 3 or 4 percent of the student population, or up to 250 of the district's 6,250 students.

District officials don't believe the problem is linked to any specific school or type of family.

Beitler said his firm will check for alternate, or “real addresses based on a search of National Investigations' own database, and searches of motor vehicle records, mail service, credit card applications and more.

Investigators will not have access to families' personal information, only the dates and addresses listed in the databases, he said.

Investigators will then visit what they believe is the child's true residence and speak with their parents, Beitler said. Visits are not conducted after 9 p.m., he added.

District officials hope that if students are found to have lived outside the district for the entire school year, parents will agree to take them out and re-enroll them in the appropriate school district.

“That would be the easiest, cleanest, solution, Wagner said.

If parents still deny they are living out-of-district but investigators believe otherwise, the school board will conduct a hearing.

The district has never conducted residency hearings because all past residency issues were resolved amicably, Wagner added.

Administrators have not discussed how the hearings would unfold, Wagner said. “We haven't talked through all those procedures yet, she said.

The district will “start small, and is not planning to conduct a full investigation of all its families, although it might consider this in the future, she said.

“We want to see how it goes before we take it to the fullest extent, she said.

National Investigations currently contracts with 64 school districts in Illinois, Beitler said.

Students who legitimately lived in District 59 at enrollment but later moved out are not included in this investigation. Those students allowed to continue attending school if parents or guardians provide transportation.