I spoke with Ms. Law early this morning. I called her extension yesterday afternoon and left a message. She did kindly return my phone call (Thank you Ms. Law, if you happen to read this) I expressed my concern about out of county Students, as well as others that have been blogging with complaints. Ms. Law was kind to me, answered my questions etc...

I asked what her procedures were for verification of residency.

Response was: When new Students are registerd, Adults are required to provide proof of residency, such as documentation of power or electric bills, lease information and so on. From that time on if the Students remain in FC school district, let's say they entered FC district in 4th grade, they would have to provide proof again in 6th grade & in 9th grade. Proof does not have to be done on a yearly basis anymore. I was stunned. This is a problem!

I asked if she utilized any Law Enforcement in verification.

Ms. Law stated when she needs to, she has "A Deputy and a Marshall's Officer" that she goes to.

I asked if she was aware of the Parent who lives in Rivers Edge in Clayton County who's Kids are going to Whitewater High & Middle Schools?

Ms. Law was familiar with the female and stated at the time of verification, this female did provide proof of living in Fayette Co. I indicated to Ms. Law I had pulled the tax records for this family in Clayton Co, even went as far to say she could find it in the previous blogs. I stated to her citizens had driven past the house, located vehicle's and so on. Ms. Law indicated she would investigate this matter further.

Ms. Law stated approx. 2000 students enrolled just this school year from Clayton Co (WOW), and approx 500 had been verified. A few had been told "You can not come back to FC schools". Great, 500 done, only 1500 more to go. We are 1/2 through the school year already. I asked if she had anyone helping with this, offered to come to work for her to get this accomplished. She kind of giggled (was not being mean), and stated "she wore a lot of hats in her job". Well, don't we all. I again asked for a job...Come on FCBOE, you have to have proper staff on hand to do a job correctly, to cut down on problems in the schools. Look at it this way, if were not blogging on FCBOE troubles, we would be talking about somebody else right??????
Who's up to going to the Board meeting next week about this problem?
I'll be there.

I would have to say, Ms. Law is correct in stating this...
Just because you turn a "out of county" tag number into her, she can not find out who this is, without a Students name. This is impossible.
If a person moved to FC, let's say from Clayton Co, by law they have 30 day's to register the vehicle. Do most of them do this? NOPE.
They will wait until their birthday to get proper decal & county sticker. We see a "out of county plate", and for the most part assume they are illegal students. I'm sure some of them are, and yes this angers me, and I want to correct this.
I'll be seeing you at the meeting, unless anyone wants to meet for coffee to discuss a game plan sooner!

The only proof of FCBOE's efforts to root out parents stealing our education tax dollars will be found in the truth of the documents FCBOE has obtained. Why not file a request under the Georgia Open Records Act for copies of the proof of residency documents provided in a school where you see lots of out of county tags? If the proof of residency was a utility bill, call the utility and ask if that account is still active (they may have to block out the name but the account number should be viewable). If FCBOE needs citizen volunteers then there are many who are willing to step up to the plate but if citizens investigate and identify out-of-county students and FCBOE does nothing then, heads had better roll.

Frankly, I would wonder what types of proof of residency been accepted -- not what types are acceptable but what types have actually been accepted. The reason I'm curious is that it does not make sense to me that all of the out-of-county tags we're seeing at Fayette County schools are connected to parents who provided valid, acceptable proof of Fayette county residency, nor should FCBOE assume that the proof that was valid a year ago is valid now.

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If you and I are always in agreement, one of us is likely armed and dangerous.

You people sound like the WW2 Nazis: "papers", "papers."

The state pays most of the school bills, why does it matter where they go as long as the school isn't full?
I don't need some official telling me where I can take my kid to public school.
I wouldn't go to some of those schools either!!!

And, it is none of anyones business where I live!

By the way I am Anglo-Hawaiian-AfroAsian. All are humans!

I does matter where they live. Our COUNTY pays for our schools with very little help if any from the state or feds.

If they don't like the unaccredited clayton schools they shouldn't live there.

Do you like paying higher taxes?? I don't unless it is for something I think is important. Paying higher taxes for out of county kids isn't something I'm willing to do. They aren't worth it.

The out of county students cause many problems in our schools. They take up extra time from the rest of the students because they are usually behind. They also have been discipline problems, which we don't need we have enough problems with our own brats.

_
It's a beautiful day, huh. I am working at a convention, and the good parent that I am, friends are at my house watching my son and 5 friends- he would love for me to- I said in your dreams. I never leave him when we go out of town by himself, I don't understand what parent would- that's a temptation to do things they shouldn't. I just hope they can hear when we return. They are all playing their guitars,etc. their band.

______________________________
"Hope Changes Everything"

You are wrong. You were guessing. The state pays most of the school expenses just for that reason---some counties act awfully, otherwise!!

Even the lottery pays more than any county does.

I don't think you would want to pay ALL of what it takes to run the public schools in Fayette!

there is an article on the Op-ed page of the AJC this morning from the superintendent of schools in Oglethorpe County and it has a thumbnail breakdown of funding for county schools. You will find that teachers' salaries, the biggest ticket item for local school budgets, are funded primarily by the state, while school construction is also subsidized by the state and feds. While this does not address the problem of out of county students, local funding can be deflected as a valid argument. Keep the faith.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

What is your solution?
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

The only proof of residency both of my children's schools would accept was a current utility bill. They said water and gas bills were not considered proof since they could be billed without anyone living at the specified address.

If it was a renter of an apartment who had not lived there long enough to receive their first utility bill, their Lease/Purchase contract was accepted.

Before the Welcome Center was established, each school's Guidance Dept. was responsible for having proof of res. for each student enrolled in their school. Now, with proof only having to be provided for the first year a student attends or advances to a new school - ie. starting elem. (K or Pre-K), elementary to middle (6th grade), or middle to high school (9th grade) - that leaves several years' gap for unscrupulous parents to take advantage of our school system.

I didn't mind having to provide proof at the beginning of each school year, because I don't have anything to hide - I live and pay taxes in Fayette County. I wish we still had to provide proof each year.

You certainly confuse me!
If water and gas aren't utilities, what is? Do you mean electric only?
Do you know how easy it is to reproduce any kind of bill nowadays?
Forget about it!
Would you care if Bush's coming grandkid wanted to go to your school? And live in New York? No you wouldn't say a word!

Law has refused to do anything with the out-of-county tag numbers and vehicle descriptions I've emailed her, too. She replied that she needed the students' names before she could "check into it."

It's like the BoE really doesn't want to make the effort to actually kick ANY student out with help from us FC parents. It's no wonder so few out-of-county students are removed from our schools, and unfortunately, they know the odds are overwhelming in their favor to not get caught, too.

I HOPE you plan on attending and speaking about this at the public hearing scheduled next week, if they would leave SpringHill kids at that school and move East Fayette to Inman then Minter kids would not need to be moved, but it seems that the board can't see the light, for all the fog Sam Sweat has showed them. The more people that voice these concerns to the board the better for the whole county.

Great posting job... Gosh, I love the internet.
Pulled this up myself.....
Anyone with Kids that go to WHS, has anyone heard if
Administration has checked into this? I'm sure they have
either read about this, or heard about this...
Just wondering. My thought is, just like we live our
lives, and teach our kids.... DO THE RIGHT THING!!

What does the law say about residence verification? How much trouble are some of these people in for sending their kids to Fayette County Schools? Also do we report suspects to the Sheriff's dept. or school board first?

The school board won't answer the phone. Someone always answers the phone at the Sheriff's office. Any help would be appreciated.

I thought about this tonight as well.
Would like to have your thoughts and feedback on this problem.
This is a major issue for some of us who really do live in the county and pay taxes.
How would you handle this problem? What are your views?
What can do done by FCBOE, Law Enforcement, etc..
Gladly reply.

The very last thing I can imagine is running for public office. I don't have any intention of letting anyone think they have any control over me merely because they supported me in an election, and thats exactly what happens.

I resigned from the Republican Party's executive Board and from the Board of Elections because I couldn't in all honesty, associate myself with people who had finally allowed their personal desires to be of more importance than the ideals for which I believed the Republican party was supposed to stand.

So, don't accuse me of running for any office. Supreme Dictator of all that I survey, okay, but don't pile me in with those that run for office. I have neither the stomach to tolerate the abuses they must withstand, nor the desire to be in exclusive control. Two important qualities that are necessary nowadays.

As to the Clayton County students, well, I have to assume that they are making some effort at keeping them out, but it is still happening. Its pretty obvious that it is. But if we can't send a real illegal back home to Mexico after being arrested for the umptenth time, how do you expect our own Board of Education to do anything about American citizens driving their kids an extra 20 miles to attend our local schools?

I do support a more aggressive means by which these students are caught. I think a "bounty" on every student's head could be given. A reward for information leading to the discovery of any out of county students attending our schools might work. Sure, the political correctness types would call this barbaric, but, once the word got out, I suspect, our schools would begin seeing a voluntary decrease in students. The cost savings would certainly make up for the bounty paid out for these illegal students.*

*Comments like these will forever follow me and prevent me from ever being elected. I'm too politically incorrect to be elected to any office.

I have a few friends at the SO, they are busy, but this is "theft of service" and it is a crime to the tune of 8,000 dollars per student.

I'll see what they recomend. I know my friends who are taxpayers here as well, by the way, are teeed off about this too.

Until the School Board ASKS the Sheriff to arrest or investigate someone at the school for their tags---it ain't gonna happen!

Same category as the PTC cart paths, the illegal immigrants in Fayette County, and the local bars after 12 PM on Friday and Saturday nights!
Out of bounds.

Great. If you can contact them, see what they say.
Will do research to see if I can get further as well, as far if true legal term would be "Theft of Services". I know that applies to services in the business world. Not sure if that applies here.
I listed my email in previous post on reporting tags. Feel free to pass along to them if they want to contact me as well.

Depending upon what is written on the form for registering a child in Fayette County Schools, it could be False Swearing because the parents are making a written representation and signing as to its truth that the children live in Fayette County.

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If you and I are always in agreement, one of us is likely armed and dangerous.

be careful of spammers and crazies getting ahold of your personal email on here...

GROUNDHOG DAY - ORIGINALLY PAGAN CELEBRATION

Yes, I know. I use gmail for misc stuff. It does catch a lot of spam.
Didn't want to give out my "real email"!

I have a list from Sandy Creek about 20 cars - thing is three or four students will get into some of the cars - Also, go after the Fayette County people that sign that these
students live with them when they do not -
One more thing, a group of students hang around after school waiting for someone to pick them up (large groups) if they live in Fayette wouldn't they ride the bus home? I will have to sit in the parking lot a little longer and get more tags.
Let me know who to send this growing list to and I will email today.

At SCHS lots of kids hang around and wait until Flat Rock lets out so that they can then go pick up their siblings or wait for their parents to pick up their siblings.

Plus, many SCHS students do not ride the bus. I don't know why, but they just don't.

Having said that, some of them may be out of county, but you have to remember that part of the 30213 zipcode (part of Westbridge Rd.) is slated to go to SCHS since it is technically inside Fayette County, but some of these people have Fulton tags.
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"Triangle Park"? Give me a break.
They should have fixed Shamrock first.

SCHS '07. Drumline.

PERIOD. You might have a Wildlife tag or etc, but you most certainly would not have a Fulton tag and be legal. You have 30 days from the time you move to change the registration of your vehicles.

I'm aware of this, but people that live off of westbridge have a Fairburn address, not a Fayetteville one. I'm not sure if this is in the county or not, but they're slated to go to Sandy Creek.
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"Triangle Park"? Give me a break.
They should have fixed Shamrock first.

SCHS '07. Drumline.

have nothing to do with what county one lives in. Postal addresses are/were determined by the US Postal Service. It is possible to live in Fairburn (postal address) and in Fayette County (actual residence). To get a car tag (county government) you have to reside in a particular county. You CAN, most certainly, break the law and register a car in some other county. I knew someone whose parents registered her car in Bryan County (I think) because the insurance rates were so much lower in rural GA. Additionally, many teachers live outside the county (really, can they actually afford to live here?) and can enroll their children in any county school (up to now). Check out the map of Fayette County and you can pretty much tell where the lines are. Keep the faith.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Feel free to send me a post.

Thanks!!

kids now that she 'outed' them by complaining about the police stopping them all the time? Maybe the clayton plates on their cars at the school should get someone's attention.

It is so close to where I live I decided to go see for myself. Guess what?

Mr. Chevy boy and the White Sable (It was actually a white Sable I think and not a Taurus ... they are the same basically) and a Van all in the same drive in River's Edge in Clayton County right where the bloggers said they would be - but they had Fayette County Tags and Whitewater High School Stickers on the cars. Go figure .... ??

I went to the clayton county tax records on line and looked her up....under Scales Johnson. It is a joke to live here and pay these taxes to educate everyone else's kids.

This racebaiting knucklehead needs to pay us back!!! Kick her kids out now!

I saw a Clayton Co. tag all the way down at Starrs Mill dropping one off. I noticed it because I had to sit and wait behind them while the kid took forever getting out. I tried to memorize the tag, but forgot it by the time I got to work.

Make sure you have pen and paper handy. Write down all of the tags from clayton that you see and turn them in. This is our county and our money and we need to take it back.

Shouldn't the County Sheriff's department do this?
Or has the school told them NOT to?

Great, I'm SO serious.
I hear there are bloggers meetings at coffee shops, we can have "Let's Git Em Outta Here" meetings. I'm not scared.
We can start a posse'!

If the school board is behind on paper work and seeking warrants I would be happy to help with the backlog of paperwork.

I'm calling tomorrow!!!

Stick with your plan! Flood the Board Of Education with out of county tag numbers!
Sometimes I pick my grandchildren up at FCHS.
I will have a pen and paper.

I have been waiting for people to FINALLY get fed up with all of the out of county kids. It's going to have to be up to the citizens! Why do we work hard? Why do we try to live in Fayette? Why do we pay extra taxes on our homes and vehicles? When out of county people ruin what we pay for? Our schools are turning violent! Our stores are down right scary - even in the day time! And NO ONE is doing a thing to stop it!
Fayette,it's time for you to stand up! Be careful, they don't fight fair!!! You say it too loudly, and the next gang activity may be on your door step!