School District

[Financegal]

I used to work in a pretty large school system and many parents had this problem. Most used addresses of others but I hate to say it, eventually many get caught. Either from kids that don't understand what's happening, a neighbor turns you in, etc. I used to update the database to post the waivers for tuition for those attending school in our areas and the honest guidelines were very tight. Every one I saw that was approved usually involved children living with neighbors or relatives until the court system could catch up - they were emergency removals of unfit parents (drugs, in jail, etc).

I know even with foster parents outside the child's home on record, there were agreements between counties about reimbursement. They took that stuff pretty seriously - the tax collection thing and receiving services for a school system you'd not be paying into.

 

[MossRoad]

Just saw this report, Ohio Mom Kelley Williams-Bolar Jailed for Sending Kids to Better School District - ABC News

The lady was sent to jail for sending her children to school in a district where she did not live. She was billed $30,000 which she refused to pay. Off to jail for a few days and probation.

Later,
Dan

Add to that she was only 12 credit hours away from getting her teaching degree and now she is a convicted felon. No chance of getting hired as a teacher with a felony conviction. All from one bad choice made for what she thought was a good reason. Sad story.

 

[KB9UDE]

I saw that story also...We have no intentions of going that route. We want to do this legal and me real intended question for this was how can we do it legal but not pay outrageous fees for tuition. I really dont see any way around moving closer. All I have to do is find something a few miles east and we are good to go!! :thumbsup:

Sad thing is as I stated earlier they wanted 7K per kid per year -- I can pay a mortgage payment for less money each year!

 

[MossRoad]

I saw that story also...We have no intentions of going that route. We want to do this legal and me real intended question for this was how can we do it legal but not pay outrageous fees for tuition. I really dont see any way around moving closer. All I have to do is find something a few miles east and we are good to go!! :thumbsup:

Sad thing is as I stated earlier they wanted 7K per kid per year -- I can pay a mortgage payment for less money each year!

I hear ya. We sent our kids to daycare. When two were in there at the same time it was $220 per week. One more and it would have been break even for wife to quit job and stay home. However, she kept her seniority and continued to get benefits and raises, which, after the kids started all-day preschool or kindergarten was a big deal. We sent them to Catholic school. People asked us often how we could afford Catholic school and our reply was "its cheaper than day care!" :laughing: It was less than half the price. It is worth looking into. My wife is Catholic and so are our children (I'm kind of a heathen, but they forgive me and I help out around the school :thumbsup. Anyhow, our school has many non-catholic students and families. There are few, if any, discipline problems because the parents are involved with their children and school. We also have really good financial aid for families that cannot afford the tuition. It is a good environment for the kids and my be worth looking into for you.

 

[clemsonfor]

The school districts not only get some local property taxes for the kids enrolled, they also get federal and state dollars for each kid. If the kid comes from another district, they don't get those dollars, so they charge you. Here is a link that shows how much money is spent on each child by state. I think it is a 2008 chart. The national average was over 9K per child.

Per Pupil Expenditure 2008 | FEBP

I will look at this, but this is what my pooint in what i said about a mom quiting. Regardless of where the child goes there is tax money involved from the local and fed level. Well if mom quits work she no longer pays taxes and the whole familys tax burden goes down to almost nothing, unless parents are super wealthy, and if that was the case we would not even be talking about this. Once the tax burden is down those parents at that point in time are not carrying the water, if they would transfer funds the feds would actually benefit cause they would be receiving more taxes as it would allow mom to still work. I guess they look at it as it evens out cause all those years the parents work without having school age children they still pay taxes?

 

[MossRoad]

I will look at this, but this is what my pooint in what i said about a mom quiting. Regardless of where the child goes there is tax money involved from the local and fed level. Well if mom quits work she no longer pays taxes and the whole familys tax burden goes down to almost nothing, unless parents are super wealthy, and if that was the case we would not even be talking about this. Once the tax burden is down those parents at that point in time are not carrying the water, if they would transfer funds the feds would actually benefit cause they would be receiving more taxes as it would allow mom to still work. I guess they look at it as it evens out cause all those years the parents work without having school age children they still pay taxes?

Could be. Indiana is looking at allowing more of your tax dollars to follow you to other schools other than public so you can have a choice as to where you want your kids to go. As it is now, my kids attend Catholic school but my tax dollars attend public school! :laughing:

 

[dave1949]

I have the impression some view school taxes as 'tuition' paid for 'your' child to attend a public school. I think we should remember the original purpose of public schools was to educate the future of our community. Something most everyone voluntarily chipped into for the common good. That is a system that produced reasonable to excellent results for many years in the past, proving that public schools can work. Our communities are much different now, especially those where schools are failing. Fix the communities and the schools will fix themselves.

This rant won't help solve the OP's problems, but if we pay attention to root causes, it will prevent more such problems in the future. My wife and I have used daycare, after school care, shuttled our kids many miles and even parochial schools like Moss, to get through the years of child education as best we could and provide them the best education we could. It shouldn't be that difficult. It didn't used to be. Does that make me sound like an aging, cranky guy?
Dave.