To catch out-of-town students, some school districts resort to detectives and legal action

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Posted 7:41AM on Tuesday, February 19, 2002

LINWOOD, N.J. - When Schools Superintendent Edwin Coyle wanted to find out where some of his students were sleeping, he did what a suspicious spouse might -- he hired a private investigator to tail them. But it wasn't philandering he feared. Coyle's school district wanted to crack down on students who don't live in the three towns that make up the district. Envious of the wealthy suburban district's strong academics, extracurricular offerings and good reputation, out-of-towners are falsifying proof-of-residence documents so their children can attend Mainland Regional High School and the district's other schools. The phenomenon, while on the rise in the Mainland Regional district, is not new in New Jersey -- or the nation. "It goes on everywhere," said David Griffith, director of governmental affairs for the National Association of State Boards of Education, in Alexandria, Va. "It's not just a school quality issue, or a class and economics issue. Sometimes, it's as simple as a student's interests, or curriculum. I've heard about kids trying to get into the specialty arts school, where they didn't belong, because that was their interest," Griffith said. Some parents submit bogus apartment leases. Some list a grandparent who lives in the district as the child's legal guardian, when in fact the student lives with his parents. "The most astonishing thing is the fake leases," said Michelle Fama, a Mainland Regional High School guidance department secretary who deals with residency validation. "It's unbelievable the lies people will tell and the lengths they'll go to cover themselves." At an annual per-pupil cost of $10,000, the tab for such cheating adds up quickly for the district. To date this school year, 15 students have withdrawn from Mainland Regional High School after their residency was challenged by school officials. More forced withdrawals may be on the way. Last month, the Board of Education hired Maryanne Schluckeblier, a $200-per-hour private investigator, to gather evidence against students who are suspected to be living outside the district, including following them to see where they spend the night, if necessary. "It's where you sleep" that determines residency, Coyle said. Other northern New Jersey districts, on guard against New York City residents crossing the river to attend school, have posted private investigators at bus stops to trail students they believe are attending schools illegally. Contacted for this story, Schluckeblier wouldn't discuss her methods, saying public disclosure of them would compromise her effectiveness. "I have to keep a low profile," she said. Critics say some school districts go overboard in trying to keep students out. "In the old days, a truant officer would go around trying to keep kids in school. Now, school boards hire police officers or detectives to kick kids out of school. It doesn't make sense," said Penny Venitis, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark. The law school's Constitutional Litigation Clinic has taken up the cases of at least 10 students targeted by school officials who wrongly believed they were living outside the district. All 10 won their cases and got to return to schools, she said. One was a 13-year-old who lived with her older sister because their mother had a heart condition. When parents or guardians challenge a New Jersey school district's determination that a student is attending illegally, the district refers the case to the state Board of Education, which can hold a hearing and force the parents or guardians to pay tuition costs for the time the student was improperly enrolled. Typically, the state holds dozens of such hearings annually, Department of Education spokesman Richard Vespucci said. Last November, the state amended regulations that spell out what documents could be accepted by schools as proof of residency. Among the changes: Students whose residency is under question must be allowed to remain in the school until the case is resolved with a finding by the state Commissioner of Education. For Coyle, the whole process leaves mixed emotions. "You feel badly," he said. "They want to be here but we just don't have the room for them."