mom's address/dad's address and public schools

[BelovedK]

I live in the city with a sketchy high school for my DS who is going to be 15 in March and starting high school next school year.

His dad is in an area with a better school, and DS really wants to go there, it will be a drive for me, but will be worth it. I am just concerned that X will move, the house is owned by his family, and he is living there as a favor from his parents in a tough time in his life (he is stable in job and other ways, but I wont get into his situation) DS is with X less than he is with me, and we never went through the courts, so only have a signed document of custody and living arrangements through the mediator. I have them 70%, he 30%, but it is listed on the doc. as 60/40.

Does anyone know whether he can use his dad's address to be able to go to that school? and I wonder if the school system will allow him to continue on there even if X moves to another county if we pay a fee or something.

I really need to get on this, the year is burning away. I want to have my ducks in a row before I call the schools though

tia.

(oh, the house is owned by Xs family, and I am not a dishonest person, but I wonder how that would factor in to things. I don't feel comfortable lying, but I also really don't want him to go to school in our area and we can't afford private school)

[HollyBearsMom]

Every state is different so your best bet is to call the DOE in in your husbands town or call the main branch of goverment. You don't ahve to give anyhting away- you could jsut say that your xhusband is moving to the town and you have joint custody and what paper work will the need to enroll your child.

Does your xhusband rent the house? Is it listed as his permanent address? Does he pay local town/city taxes, etc? I would assume that he would need to provide proof of residency for your child to attend the school.


In Mass there are laws in place that allow children to stay in the same schools if the parents divorce and the families move but IIRC it is only to finish out the school year. But there are a lot of laws to the protect the schools from kids attending from outside the district since there are so many neighborhoods and so many schools considered "sketchy" and other considered "good". People are always trying to find the loop holes to get there kids in the better districts.

[meandmine]

I can only speak for my school district ...

Here they do not look that closely.

As long as Dad can produce a lease (or maybe just a utility bill, I think), the school will enroll his son.

I don't think they ask (or can ask) the custody details. As long as a parent has legal residence they take the word of the parents that the child lives there.

As for staying once a parent has moved -- here we call that pupil placement -- and "it depends." One school at which I worked, they refused all pupil placements because the school was already crowded. At my daughter's school, the principal is much more liberal -- allowing students to be pupil placed based on where their day care provider lived, for example.

Check you district's website -- they usually have a section on proof of residency.

GL!

M

[BelovedK]

Thanks M aybe I'll do some web sleuthing tonight, I cant call until Monday. Xs family owns it so he doesn't pay rent, I need to find out if the utilities are in his name. If not, then I will suggest that he does that.

[Momily]

Here if parents have joint custody (and what you have would count) then the child can attend school within either boundary. You'd need a lease, utility bill, proof of tax witholding, mortgage or proof of ownership or letter from the mortgage holder/owner of the home, and a birth certificate or custody decree listing him as the father.

However, if he moves across county lines, at least in my area, you lose your spot. You can sometimes pay tuition, but it's up there with private school tuition. If you move within a school district they will often let you stay, but it's at the principal's discretion.