Non-resident
students targeted
Saturday, May 14, 2005 • By KAT
MAIN • The Express-Times
HARDWICK TWP. -- Officials recently
adopted an ordinance allowing the township to crack down on
individuals enrolling non-resident students in the North
Warren Regional School District or Blairstown Elementary
School.
"Essentially, we'll have two cops on the
beat," Committeeman Joseph Dunn said.
Previously the responsibility of
investigating non-resident students was that of the school
district, officials said. If illegal enrollment was proven,
the school district could only target the student's parents
and ask for back tuition.
With the ordinance, the township can now
fine offenders up to $1,000 and charge the person housing
the non-resident student and the student's parents. The
school district can also file a charge in the township's
municipal court, North Warren Regional School District
Superintendent John Toleno said.
Toleno said he's chased down at least
five cases this year of people "playing games with
residency."
He said it is not an overwhelming problem
within the school district, but any time someone tries to
enroll a non-resident student in the school district
taxpayers suffer.
"There is no reason why local taxpayers
should have to foot that bill," Toleno said.
The problem comes from residents who move
out of the school district but continue to drop their
children off at the schools. Often times parents will submit
a relative or friend's address to the school district and
say it is their own, Mayor Richard Barrow said.
Issues of overcrowding and school
rankings of other schools may come into play when a parent
decides to enroll their child in a school district where
they don't reside, Toleno said.
"If you've got a district with 14,000
kids in it and have an opportunity to send your child to
district with 1,100 kids in it, the answer is pretty simple,
that's usually the reason why residency issues come up. It's
a very real situation for us," Toleno said.
Toleno said there's been cases where
parents change the address on their driver's licenses to
reflect a relative's address to enroll a student within the
school district.
"You'd be surprised how far people will
go to have their child attend certain schools," Toleno
said.
Response from residents was favorable at
a the May 4 meeting when the ordinance was adopted but some
expressed concern over costs the township may incur
investigating non-resident enrollments.
Dunn said the cost of the township's
involvement in the investigations will be determined as
issues arise. He said costs will be nominal compared to the
cost of educating non-resident students.
The ordinance does not outline the
mechanics of investigations, Barrow said. But once illegal
enrollment has been proven, the ordinance outlines
punishments. When calculating restitution, the court is
allowed to include tuition costs, investigation expenses and
attorney's fees.
Reporter Kat Main can be reached at 908-475-2174 or by
e-mail at kmain@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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