Leaders in the DeKalb County School District have apologized after more than 22,000 families were notified they’d need to pay tuition to the public school system.
The “urgent” message said the recipient’s address did not appear to be within DeKalb County, Decaturish first reported. Students could continue to attend DeKalb schools, the letter said ― if they paid a little more than $7,000 in annual tuition. Georgia law allows parents living outside a school district’s boundaries to attend a school if space is available and with the payment of nonresident tuition.
In a letter on Friday, the district said that those who received the original message were still eligible to attend DeKalb County schools, free of charge.
“We sincerely apologize for any confusion or concern this may have caused,” the letter said. “We appreciate your prompt attention to the matter and your cooperation throughout the verification process.”
DeKalb, Georgia’s third-largest school district, had roughly 91,000 students last school year.
The situation confused many parents. Some thought the message was a hoax.
The district verifies students’ addresses every year, though usually it’s done manually by school employees. This year, it’s using new software called CLEAR. The school board agreed to pay tech company Thomson Reuters $142,000 to use the program for one year.
It uses public records ― including court records, credit bureau reports, business records and more ― to identify possible discrepancies between a student’s actual address and the information the school has on file.
“We expect a few bumps as we scale up this process, but our team is ready to help families resolve any issues or documentation questions,” a DeKalb spokesperson said. “No student’s school placement will change for the upcoming school year based on this summer’s address updates.”
The emphasis on address accuracy comes as the district goes through the student assignment planning process. It’s a yearslong effort that will result in possible changes to which students attend which schools, inform the district’s future building plans and could lead to changes in the academic programs and services offered at various schools.
Having correct addresses on file is also important to ensure the district can contact families in emergencies and ensure the correct amount of state and federal funding finds its way to DeKalb, a spokesperson said.
In past years, only 20-30% of families completed the annual verification, which left gaps in DeKalb records, a spokesperson said.
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