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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Clearing Out Residency Scofflaws
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clayton County has become the latest metro Atlanta school system to crack down on students sneaking across district or county lines. This week, families of every child enrolled in a Clayton public school had to submit two utility bills or other documents as proof of residency.
Clayton spokesman Charles White told me that officials would be checking not only whether students actually live in the county, but also whether they’re attending the right school. He said administrators would begin withdrawing students whose paperwork doesn’t pass muster after Labor Day.
Fulton County Schools also has tightened its residency policies. Families there had to fill out a notarized “Affidavit of Residence” form this year certifying that they lived within the school system’s borders. A press release announcing the new form — which parents will need to complete every year — blamed outsiders who have found “creative ways” to enroll their children in the county’s public schools.
The further crackdown on residency scofflaws in the metro area follows a push last year by Fayette County to prosecute families who had lied about their home addresses to circumvent enrollment requirements. In recent years, Coweta and Henry counties also have taken steps to ensure that only certified residents attend their schools.
Officials in the systems say local tax dollars are being wasted on children who shouldn’t be in their schools. But the state Department of Education pays schools for all students who are enrolled, regardless of where they live.
So tell me: Is this about saving money or is it about saving schools’ reputations?
UPDATE: Eric Stirgus, the AJC’s Clayton County reporter, just sat down with the school system’s interim superintendent today. This is what Gloria Duncan told him about why the residency checks were needed:
“I have worked in the schools many years and one frustrating feeling is [when] a student has a seizure or falls out and you try to reach a parent and all of the telephone numbers are not working. We have to know how to reach the parents.
“Some of our parents have moved two or three times since the last time the information was in our system. If we send out a message on our communications system [and] someone says, ‘I didn’t get it,’ nine times out of 10 you didn’t get it because the numbers we have for you are wrong. And you have people calling us saying: ‘Please stop sending this message. I don’t have any children in Clayton County schools.’
“Another issue is students who don’t live in Clayton County … and [use] false addresses, and that contributes to overcrowding.”
