The Coweta County School System should be extremely busy Jan. 3.

Since nearly 1,000 students missed Tuesday’s deadline of filing a residency affidavit, the first day of school promises to be extremely busy for front office workers at the county’s schools.

The affidavits are a requirement of a federal court settlement. This is the second year of the federal court requirement, which applies to all currently enrolled students.

Students who have not had affidavits completed will be disenrolled from their school. The parents or guardians of any disenrolled student must meet the residency requirements to reenroll for the second semester, which begins on January 3, 2008. Starting January 3, students cannot attend school until affidavit and proof of residency requirements have been met.

The affidavits are being required by the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, to meet the terms of a federal court Consent Decree entered into on November 9, 2006.

Every school provides Notary Public service free of charge to help parents fulfill the requirement.

Some parents, legal guardians, or other lawful custodians who do not reside in their own home due to unavoidable or emergency situations have already completed a two-party Affidavit of Residence and provided the school district with address verification at the Jackson Street Central Office earlier in the 2007-08 school year. No other documentation is needed at this time from these persons.

This is the second year that parents must submit the Affidavits of Residency. The Consent Decree reached last year in federal court mandates that schools collect the affidavits annually, as a part of a two-year review of the school system’s compliance with the terms of the 1973 federal desegregation order.

At the end of the two-year period, if the court finds that all areas of compliance have been met, then the school system may be awarded “unitary status,” which would remove Coweta County Schools from the review of the U.S. Justice Department. The school system must carefully document school system policies, school assignment, student transfers, hiring practices, educational opportunities and other matters (27 items in all) during this period.

School spokesperson Dean Jackson said the schools system has not yet been informed if this will be the last year for the affidavits.

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