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I live in hartsdale with twin boys and a 6 year old so paying tuition in a good school would be more expensive than renting a small 1 bedroom in say scarsdale or Bronxville just so I can qualify to put my kids in a good school district. I would use the scarsdale or Bronxville address as my primary residence for my income tax so I can show the school plus I'd bring in the lease and utility bills as addition proof. Just need to know if the school district goes around knocking on people's door to confirm they live there and if you get caught, what kind of fine, penalty do you get if any? Please don't hate me for wanting the best for my kids.
I live in hartsdale with twin boys and a 6 year old so paying tuition in a good school would be more expensive than renting a small 1 bedroom in say scarsdale or Bronxville just so I can qualify to put my kids in a good school district. I would use the scarsdale or Bronxville address as my primary residence for my income tax so I can show the school plus I'd bring in the lease and utility bills as addition proof. Just need to know if the school district goes around knocking on people's door to confirm they live there and if you get caught, what kind of fine, penalty do you get if any? Please don't hate me for wanting the best for my kids.
Trust me, in Scarsdale everyone would be talking behind your kids' back about the fact that they're squatters in a nanosecond.
Trust me, in Scarsdale everyone would be talking behind your kids' back about the fact that they're squatters in a nanosecond.
And no offense, but you're (not you, but the OP) are complaining about HARTSDALE? The way you were talking I thought maybe you lived in Yonkers or Mt. Vernon. Yes, I know despite the "suburban-y" image, the middle and high schools in Hartsdale are somewhat "rough", but elementary schools there are fine, you're honestly wasting your money in my view. Just save up and move in a few years.
Truth be told even in Mt. Vernon if you live up near Bronxville the elementary schools are decent (it's the rest of the city that's crap, also from middle school on up). I can't stand the degree that people in this part of the US nitpick about schools, it's sick!
Don't apartments have zoning limitations, though? In CA at least, you could have no more than 4 ppl in a 2BR, so for your 3 kids to be listed on a lease, you'd need a minimum of a 2 or 3BR. Nobody is going to rent a studio to a family of 4 or 5.
And as for the taxes going up, studios and 1BRs are housing for single people or a couple, not families, and I would guess that the taxes the landlord pays on that unit are no more than $7K max. Every kid that attends schools here costs $17K+ to the taxpayers. I know everyone wants the best for their kids, but if everyone from a lesser district did the same, the schools would get a huge influx of kids, which someone would have to pay for (the taxpayers in the district.)
People talk around here, and we aren't even in a district nearly as competitive as Scarsdale. My bet is that it will get discovered rather quickly, since you also need a notarized affadavit from the landlord that it is your primary residence. At worst, you'll be found out and removed from the district. At best, your kids will be treated like social pariahs, because they can't keep up with the material possesions, and they will never be able to have playdates or sleepovers for fear of getting caught.
Don't apartments have zoning limitations, though? In CA at least, you could have no more than 4 ppl in a 2BR, so for your 3 kids to be listed on a lease, you'd need a minimum of a 2 or 3BR. Nobody is going to rent a studio to a family of 4 or 5.
And as for the taxes going up, studios and 1BRs are housing for single people or a couple, not families, and I would guess that the taxes the landlord pays on that unit are no more than $7K max. Every kid that attends schools here costs $17K+ to the taxpayers. I know everyone wants the best for their kids, but if everyone from a lesser district did the same, the schools would get a huge influx of kids, which someone would have to pay for (the taxpayers in the district.)
Yes, I believe there are zoning limitations. But that should also deal with the problem of the taxes vs. the number of kids going to school.
There has to be a better way regarding the schools, I'm sure some of it is what fuels all the "Occupy Wall St." stuff (and for that matter all the Tea Party stuff and the advocation of home schooling, etc.).
"Yes, I believe there are zoning limitations. But that should also deal with the problem of the taxes vs. the number of kids going to school."
Which is why the idea of having everyone that can't afford to, or chooses not to pay to live in an elite district renting a studio to send 2-3 kids to the local shools is not fair to the taxpayers in the district.
As for the idea of whether it is 'fair' or not is up for debate. Having come from a state that funds schools very differently (and does a very lousy job of it, I would add), I can say that really, a good vs. bad school is really 90% what kind of kids (and from what kind of families) attend. You could take all of the kids from one school in the Bronx tomorrow, send them all to Scarsdale High, and I can near guarantee you that their test scores aren't going to change that much. And when you force integration, anyone with any means just goes private instead, essentially resegregating the schools.
So if you want to rent a 3BR in one of those districts, you would sort of be playing by the rules (albeit expensively, as private can be found for $7K per kid). But you can't rent a studio or 1BR and list 3 kids on the lease. Nobody will let you do that.
Trust me, in Scarsdale everyone would be talking behind your kids' back about the fact that they're squatters in a nanosecond.
Yup, this is true... I can tell you form growing up there that everyone knew who "those kids" were. Although they wouldn't be outright ostracized, "those kids" had a serious chip on their shoulder.
Now why would that be "illegal"? To me, that wouldn't be any different than the case of a childhood friend of mine whose parents were both teachers, both had summers off, and owned two homes, one in a resort area about 150 miles from their main residence in another state. They lived at the "resort house" during the summer as a family. Does that mean the kids should go to school there?
No the children would not go to school at a secondary house, because they would only have one primary address, which is the district in which they would register children. You cannot claim two primary residences, though you can register cars and such at secondary addresses, but you have one primary residence to which a driver's license, voter registration, etc. are tied.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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