Oswego Community Unit School District 308 issued the following announcement on March 23.
Educating students is our top priority at Oswego Community Unit School District 308. When enforcing any policy, we aim to protect the wellbeing of the children involved. Because our district only permits students who reside in-district to attend here tuition free, we have policies and requirements to register students. Unfortunately, there are adults who fraudulently claim residency here, as occurs at many school districts.
A question of residency can come from a school, the district, or a community member. Utilizing software that assists in locating individuals, we try to validate where a family is living. When a document is found to be falsified, or when software is not able to verify the residence, the district requests additional proof and conducts a meeting with the parent/guardian.
If there is questionable, but not positive proof that residency is inaccurate, the district allows the student to continue through the current school year. However, the district does not allow the student to register for the following year, unless the parent is able to provide accurate proof of residency. This list acts as the district’s residency watch-list; the list contained 93 students at the close of the 2016/17 year. At the close of of the 2018/19 school year there were only 23 students on this list, evidence that the enhanced residency check process is working. A student may be included on the list while actually residing in the district, when proper proof of residency wasn’t provided within the allotted time. Students on the list are marked inactive for the following year, meaning that they are not allowed to complete online registration, and must present in-person with all the proper documentation and proof of residency.
According to the Illinois School Code, students who become a “non-resident” in the course of the school year are allowed to remain in the same school to finish the school year without having to pay tuition. Students who change residency due to a military service obligation may remain enrolled in the district at the guardian’s request. There are also intergovernmental agreements, state or federal laws, and court-ordered mandates that may place non-resident students in the district.
A student may begin school in the district if a parent or guardian has a contract to purchase a home and to become a resident within 60 days, and provides adequate proof of such. In such cases, a deposit is held for the cost of tuition, should the timeframe not be met. There is no set number of days, weeks, or months that a child must be living in the school district to establish residency. Additionally, children are protected under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, for homelessness. Under the act, the definition of homeless includes families who are sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason; this applies whether the child or youth lives with the homeless parents or has been temporarily placed elsewhere. Illinois law also permits foster children to remain in their previous school tuition-free, even if they move out of the district, as long as it's in the best interest of the student.
When residency is the issue, and a child is already enrolled, a very specific procedural process must be employed by the school district to attempt to unenroll a student. The district must follow this process to lawfully exclude a child, unless the parent agrees to leave. The process can take several weeks, and offers parents/guardians a board hearing, and if challenging the decision, they may file action in the circuit court.
District 308 continues to investigate residency concerns, requests annual reverification of families on a residency affidavit, and maintains a restricted enrollment list. However, we know that there may be individuals who falsify information and register students in the district without proper residency. This is unlawful, and unacceptable, and unfortunately the child is often the victim. Residents may provide information to the district if residency falsification is suspected, however please understand that information is kept private, and there may be legitimate reasons why a student is permitted to stay in this district.
Original source can be found here.
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