The Fayette Citizen-News Page

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Dozens expelled for nonresidency

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Reacting to dozens of reports that Clayton County parents had falsified addresses to get their children enrolled in Fayette schools last August, Fayette administrators and the county marshals’ office teamed during the fall to investigate 162 individual cases of suspected non-resident students, the Citizen has learned.

By the end of fall semester, Fayette school officials had identified and expelled 47 students enrolled in Fayette schools though their families were in fact living in neighboring counties, confirmed Wayne Robinson, assistant superintendent for operations, in response to a series of question posed by The Citizen.

But those nearly four dozen dismissals — a “higher than usual” number, said Robinson — may represent just a fraction of the total number of students from out of county attending Fayette schools, with local taxpayers footing much of the bill.

Admitted Robinson, “We do not know specifically how many non-residents showed up at the beginning of the school year.”

That uncertainty has prompted Robinson’s office to recommend residency checks on every one of the district’s 21,000-plus students when classes resume for the 2004-05 term in August. The last attempt to do so, about two years ago, proved a paperwork nightmare for school personnel. But Robinson said his staff’s growing expertise in identifying non-residents has streamlined the process.

“Our employees are much more aware of what to look for if they suspect a student does not live in their attendance area,” said Robinson. “Also, the more experience we get in checking residency issues, the better we get in resolving them.

Robinson wouldn’t say which county had the most students crossing over into Fayette, but it is believed the majority lived in Clayton County, with the balance from just three others: Fulton, Coweta and Henry.

“When a student withdraws, we don’t keep track of what system they go back to,” said Robinson. And though the violators were found enrolled in schools throughout the district, including the Alternative High School, the largest numbers of non-residents were identified at Fayette County and Sandy Creek high schools.

Faculty and staff at Fayette County High expressed concern last fall over a perceived increase in the number of students being dropped off daily from cars bearing Clayton County tags, but it was never confirmed. And the Sandy Creek district includes several neighborhoods that straddle the Fulton County line, including the sprawling Landmark Mobile Home Park on Milam Road in northwestern Fayette which has presented residency concerns for years.

The number of cases investigated as well as the number eventually expelled per school was not provided by Robinson. Flat Rock Middle, East Fayette Elementary, North Fayette Elementary and Oak Grove Elementary in Peachtree City were also high on the list, he said.

According to Robinson, “The 162 residence checks with 47 withdrawals would have a minor impact on school enrollment,” which totaled 21,239 in October, about 200 more than were projected last spring.

Fewer than 50 out-of-county students taking up space in otherwise empty desks seems minor, Robinson agreed, but the greater concern for Fayette schools is financial. Last year, the county’s average cost of instruction per student was $6,754.61. The local share of that was $3,067.79, meaning the 47 expelled students would cost Fayette taxpayers an extra $144,186.

Last year, Henry County’s school board had a number of parents arrested after they were discovered falsifying affidavits on residency, which is a felony. Henry County, which adds about 2,000 students each year, started requiring sworn statements to prove residency in 2002. The charges were eventually dropped but more than $11,000 in tuition was charged to the parents in magistrate court, and about a dozen students were expelled and not allowed to return to Henry classrooms.

Robinson said Fayette County has not sought criminal charges against parents found in violation, and generally does not try to recoup back-tuition. The system has a policy against considering any tuition requests otherwise, though it does allow the children of school district employees who live out of the county to enroll.

Pam Riddle, assistant superintendent for instruction, spent last summer in her office at the LaFayette Educational Center answering phone calls from Clayton parents wanting to know what they needed to do to get their children transfered into Fayette County. “We welcome all students to Fayette County and would love to teach your child,” Riddle recalls telling the parents time and again, always before adding one little caveat: “But you’ve got to buy a house [in Fayette].”