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I know that some houses which are literally (or very close to) the school district border have interchangeable school districts.
I've seen some houses for sale on the border of Syosset/Oyster Bay school districts which give you the option of one school district or another.. interestingly enough, the big difference (not surprising though) is that if you opt for Syosset instead of Oyster Bay, your property taxes go way up.
There's no such thing as a good school district: only a school district with good students from good families.
I would consider a good school district to be one that has the capabilities to be intellectually stimulating to its students.
Assume you have three kids with 140 IQs with similar family backgrounds..
Kid A is in the Jericho school district. [at the top in terms of reputation]
Kid B is in the Hicksville school district. [average in reputation]
Kid C is in the Westbury school district. [at the bottom in terms of reputation]
They each use their respective public school system and all have identical motivations to learn.
Would each of these school districts be able to provide a high-quality education to these academically gifted students?
Or would Hicksville provide more academic opportunities than Westbury? Would Jericho provide more academic opportunities than Hicksville?
Irregardless of the social environment...my question is related to what the school district itself can provide. I would argue that if a Westbury or a Hicksville can't provide a "good education" like a Jericho because it doesn't have enough "good students", that makes those districts not as "good" by comparison.
I know that some houses which are literally (or very close to) the school district border have interchangeable school districts.
I've seen some houses for sale on the border of Syosset/Oyster Bay school districts which give you the option of one school district or another.. interestingly enough, the big difference (not surprising though) is that if you opt for Syosset instead of Oyster Bay, your property taxes go way up.
What you've seen and been told are probably partially true.
The late Walter Greenspan had written about this. People who were the first owners of houses which were on the boundary between two school districts, had the option of picking their district. At that point, the house became a part of whichever district they had picked.
Once again reading all of this is mind boggleing. It would be far easier if there where more consolodated districts than the current hodge podge...
And yes I realise that it would be a street by street battle if any changes were attempted...
The whole POINT of the segregated school districts is to keep kids within their zones- and in many regards kids with their own socio-economical group. (I.E., At this point keep kids racially segregated)
The real issue, as often pointed out on here- is that TOO MANY PEOPLE in Long Island assume they live in some kind of "city" that doesn't exist, because of the post office that brings them their mail.
It just happens to be convenient that many schools are named after the hamlets they primarily reside in, but it isn't always the case.
I'm under the impression that if you bring your kid to the school and tell them you're homeless, they have to allow him in and give him an education.
Of course, you're gonna get screwed when the district sends investigators out and finds out your child is residing/sleeping in your home.
That only works if (a) the kid was previously a student of the school district and you've moved out of the district due to homelessness - then the district has to transport your kid to/from wherever you're living to preserve continuity of education; or (b) if you've relocated into the district by reason of homelessness, in which case you'd likely need some proof that you're staying with family/friends/in a shelter in the target district. You can't just stroll in and say "hey, I'm homeless, teach my kid stuff for the next ten years, thanks."
I would consider a good school district to be one that has the capabilities to be intellectually stimulating to its students.
Assume you have three kids with 140 IQs with similar family backgrounds..
Kid A is in the Jericho school district. [at the top in terms of reputation]
Kid B is in the Hicksville school district. [average in reputation]
Kid C is in the Westbury school district. [at the bottom in terms of reputation]
They each use their respective public school system and all have identical motivations to learn.
Would each of these school districts be able to provide a high-quality education to these academically gifted students?
Or would Hicksville provide more academic opportunities than Westbury? Would Jericho provide more academic opportunities than Hicksville?
Irregardless of the social environment...my question is related to what the school district itself can provide. I would argue that if a Westbury or a Hicksville can't provide a "good education" like a Jericho because it doesn't have enough "good students", that makes those districts not as "good" by comparison.
I think it's more about what the districts offer than the number of "good" students. At the HS level, that'd mean asking about the number of AP (or IB) courses offered, whether the courses are "guaranteed" (meaning the class runs whether six kids or 26 kids register in a given year), the availability of other "soft" electives (music, art, etc.). A so-called "bad" district that offers lots of APs and "extras" would probably be fine for a high-performing kid, but even an "average" district that doesn't have those options could hurt that same kid going into the college admissions process.
And admittedly this is a personal pet peeve, but "irregardless" is like nails on a chalkboard to me. It's not a word.
I would consider a good school district to be one that has the capabilities to be intellectually stimulating to its students.
Assume you have three kids with 140 IQs with similar family backgrounds..
Kid A is in the Jericho school district. [at the top in terms of reputation]
Kid B is in the Hicksville school district. [average in reputation]
Kid C is in the Westbury school district. [at the bottom in terms of reputation]
They each use their respective public school system and all have identical motivations to learn.
Would each of these school districts be able to provide a high-quality education to these academically gifted students?
From my experience, what makes these bottom of the reputation schools as bad as they are, can be the populace of the worst students who attend them. Your child with the 140iq and decent family, may be off put by school in Westbury, frightened that intelligence is seen as an awful thing by his/her peers.
His teachers may be stellar, but burned out at the end of the day to stay and stimulate the mind, because they've spent the whole day getting yelled at by loud students and have to go home to make dozens of unreturned calls. Even a good student can fall into a crowd that values skipping school.
Even a top IQ student in a place like Jericho may become quiet because of the high aspirations some other students parents bring to the table, kids in Jericho have the reputation of having very overbearing parents. Though students are likely to have friends who are interested in academic clubs, and become learner-centric. The teachers are likely good, and have few discipline issues so can focus on giving enriching lessons.
Hicksville would likely have a simlar atmosphere as Jericho, but with slightly lower aspirations from parents, and likely a more relaxed school atmosphere because of that.
Tax dollars are probably spent highest in Westbury.
Jericho will likely have extra money funneled into district via PTAs and organizations, less can be budgeted for supplies too as it can be expected for parents to provide for their students.
Not sure there's a way to trick them anyway. We just got our documents to fill out for the upcoming school year and we have to prove address with 3 different methods (deed/tax/lipa/mortgage/etc). You can say your kids live with grandma in that better district, then you have to provide caretaker/custodial information at that point, and I'm sure they'll ask a lot of other questions why they're not with you.
My ex, my son and myself lived w/ his family at one time (His great aunt and cousin). They didn't own the house, their granddaughter/GSIL did and they live in California. We only contributed to the bills we did not pay rent. (electric, cable, water, etc). There was no mortgage, the house was paid for. The granddaughter even paid the taxes. What a friggin nightmare to register my son for school because we didn't rent, we just lived there and paid bills just like my ex's aunt and cousin. That made it MORE confusing, since we needed a "landlord" letter OR copy of the deed or tax map. We had NONE of that because the house was owned by someone else. We had to get a notarized letter from owner stating they weren't "landlords" because they received no money from us but they did own the house and we did live there. They also gave us a copy of the tax bill to use.
Insane what they want to register for school. I told them "If I were going to lie, it CERTAINLY wouldn't be to put my kid in THIS district!" LOL
If I were homeless I'd just have to tell them I was homeless. LOL
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