Advice to Municipal School Districts (Memphis, Jackson: apartments, lease, transfer)

[SippiStateBulldogs]

For all of those lucky enough to live in the five shelby county suburban cities with the exception of Mid-Town, parts of East Memphis, and Downtown/Mud Island (the only neighborhoods that are fully sustainable) here is a piece of advice on your new municipal school districts: When I lived in the Jackson, Mississippi metro area I lived in Byram. Jackson is in Hinds county as is Byram. Jackson was ran by Jackson public schools and Byram was under Hinds county schools as with all of unincorporated Hinds and the incorporated cities/towns of Clinton, Edwards, Bolton, Raymond, and Terry. Anytime new children enrolled in Hinds county school district a country sheriff or that cities police will check the listed residence within a few months to verify the children actually live there. Millington, Arlington, Lakeland, Germantown, and Collierville police as well as Shelby county sheriff need to do the same thing. Trust me there will me Memphians who will use they grandparents, aunts or uncles, and siblings who became middle class and left for the burbs address. Momma in Hollywood will claim her children live in Arlington with her brother who is a garbage man or 12 hour shift warehouse worker at William Sonoma and his wife who is an accountant at FedEx. Suburban residents should look into this.

[Cyclone77]

I'm currently trying to break my lease and get into another place inside Bartlett City Limits.

[mrarctic]

Honestly, I think there are bigger problems to worry about than people claiming their kids are living with relatives to get into different schools. Those parents, while scamming, are at least taking an initiative and interest in the education of their children which is a lot more than many parents are doing.

[85rx-7gsl-se]

I personally think the municipal districts should calculate how many extra spots they have after placing all their residents' children and then sell off the extra spots at a rate below the costs of private school tuition. Another revenue stream for the municipal school district and gives parents the option to send their kids to a better public school without relocating their home.

[DubbleT]

A bunch of MSCS schools already had such a system in place for various students transferring in for sports, magnet programs, etc. People have been required to bring in lease agreements, property tax forms, etc as proof of residence. I don't think this idea is going to be a revelation to the municipal districts.

[Longtimelistener]

Southwind was built because the southeast portion of Memphis' annexation reserve is overrun with apartments and Gtown high was over capacity.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

A bunch of MSCS schools already had such a system in place for various students transferring in for sports, magnet programs, etc. People have been required to bring in lease agreements, property tax forms, etc as proof of residence. I don't think this idea is going to be a revelation to the municipal districts.

There are people who will pay their relative's utility bill or another bill to have their name on it. Then they use it as proof of residency. Trust me, people think up some creative ways of getting what they want when they don't have morals.

What the OP mentioned has been going on long before municipal school districts were considered. There have always been Memphians using a relative's address to get their kids in nicer, suburban schools. It is investigated, but it can be hard for a school to verify an address.
I like the idea of a police department investigating residency instead of the school's attendance person. Law enforcement would figure it out pretty quick.

[DubbleT]

I think they quit taking bills and other forms of mail as proof quite some time ago, just for that reason. A little harder to fake documents like property tax records and signed lease agreements (which I was required to show), although someone who is determined will find a way I'm sure. I think that I'd rather have the police focused on other things though...

[Longtimelistener]

I know somebody who is going to rent a houset in Gtown so their 4 kids can continue going to Riverdale. They'll probably live there 3 or 4 nights a week and it end up much cheaper than private school.
When private school costs $10k and up per kid people will do a lot of things to guarantee a good education for their kids.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

I think they quit taking bills and other forms of mail as proof quite some time ago, just for that reason. A little harder to fake documents like property tax records and signed lease agreements (which I was required to show), although someone who is determined will find a way I'm sure. I think that I'd rather have the police focused on other things though...

School Resource Officers could do the job. It would take participation between the school and the police department.