Officials didn’t collect up to $648,000 over three years
D.C. Public Schools officials have failed to collect at least several hundred thousand dollars in nonresident tuition from students living in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs discovered to be using fraudulent addresses.
In the past three years, officials have identified as much as $648,000 in nonresident tuition fees that had not been paid. But that may be just a fraction of the money owed city schools.
| Free education | ||
| Total cases over three school years | 329 (487 students) | |
| Cases determined to be D.C. residents | 158 (252 students) | |
| Cases determined to be Nonresidents | 163 (235 students) | |
| Students assessed nonresident tuition | 53 | |
| Students paid nonresident tuition | 0 | |
| Note: Cases can include more than one student | ||
While the problem goes unaddressed, parents are questioning whether nonresidents are illegally filling the limited number of coveted slots in programs such as preschool and prekindergarten. City officials also worry that incorrect contact information is a safety issue.
The DCPS Student Residency Office has taken on 329 cases involving 487 students in the past three years. The two-person staff — consisting of just one coordinator and one investigator — determined that 235 students were nonresidents listing addresses that were either fake or belonged to relatives or friends.
School officials acknowledged that the numbers could be much higher, as investigated cases usually develop from family custody cases and other court hearings.
Following notification, DCPS said many parents withdrew their children. But 53 students were billed for nonresident tuition in the past three school years, which ranges by grade level from $9,125 to $12,227 for general education. Zero paid.
“I am deeply concerned that District tax dollars are being spent on a significant number of students that are not eligible to attend our schools,” at-large D.C. Councilman Sekou Biddle told De’Shawn Wright, deputy mayor for education, in a letter.
Wright agreed that the Student Residency Office was understaffed and that “challenges” include the collection of nonresident tuition. DCPS does not employ a collection agency.
Biddle requested information on residency in DCPS after family court hearings revealed that a student who brought cocaine into Thomson Elementary School last month was a Prince George’s County resident. Five students were hospitalized, and the student was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
“If a student is injured in school, DCPS and charter schools must be able to reach a responsible adult,” Biddle told Wright.
He also was concerned that phony addresses keep actual District residents out of a limited number of slots: “We must make certain that families who want their children to attend a neighborhood school during these critical early years are not pushed out by students who do not meet the residency requirements.”
Enrique Fernandez, who lives two blocks from downtown’s Thomson, said he was “pretty shocked” when his 3-year-old daughter landed on the preschool waiting list.
DCPS enrollment increased for the first time in 41 years this school year, rising 2 percent with the greatest growth occurring in early childhood education: 481 more preschool and prekindergarten students enrolled than in 2009-2010.
While the principal assured Fernandez that every spot was taken by a D.C. resident, Fernandez said he was frustrated to learn that the student who brought cocaine to school was from Prince George’s.
“I’m left with this lingering question in the back of my mind: Are all these students accepted into the preschool program actually D.C. residents? Do we know? Can these students confirm these addresses or not?” Fernandez said.
