Broward Schools to Crack Down on False Addresses
Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 06:00 CDT
By Nirvi Shah, The Miami Herald
May 21--At schools all over Broward County next school year, posters will proclaim the district's new, tougher stance on parents who lie about their addresses to get their kids into schools other than the ones in their home zones.
"False address can lead to arrest," the posters declare.
Broward School Board members endorsed the new policy at a meeting Tuesday, and they will vote on its final form next month. Among the major changes: School administrators would be empowered to ask parents for more proof of a student's home address if they suspect it is false.
In addition, parents will be explicitly warned that supplying a false address could cost them their homestead exemptions or land them in jail. Submitting false information about a residence is perjury, a third-degree felony.
Putting teeth into the district's enrollment policy has been the mission of board member Beverly Gallagher. In her Southwest Broward district, school crowding remains a problem even though districtwide enrollment has been on the decline.
"Over the years, there have been many students from Dade jumping into Miramar High School, Perry Elementary and Perry Middle School," also in Miramar, Gallagher said.
"There has also been quite a problem with the overcrowded schools in my district," she said. "I don't want to make boundary changes for an overcrowded school . . . because families lying about their addresses are overcrowding [it]."
The district would not make arrests or have the power to strip homeowners of their homestead exemptions. But if school officials find parents are using false addresses, they would turn that information over to the county property appraiser and state attorney's office, said Leah Kelly, director of student support services.
School Board members want parents to know that addresses will be watched throughout a child's school years. If they move while enrolled at one school, they must submit a change-of-address form within 10 days.
At Weston's Cypress Bay High, which is bursting at the seams with 5,400 students, rumors swirled about whether students who shouldn't be there were attending the school. When student addresses were checked for deception this year, 40 students were found to be using false addresses and returned to the schools in their residential zones, district spokesman Keith Bromery said.
"I think if we include the consequences we can help deter people," board member Eleanor Sobel said.
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Source: The Miami Herald
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