School Board Considers New Policy for Non-Resident Students

Scarsdale School Board members wrestled with some sensitive issues at their April 18 meeting regarding the presence of non-resident children in the schools. Questions abound: Should children who are living out of the district while their home is renovated be permitted to attend schools tuition-free? What about children whose parents have signed a contract on a home but have not moved into it at the time school begins... and what if a family moves out of Scarsdale after their child completes junior year at Scarsdale High School? Should the student be permitted to finish senior year at the school?

In order to assess the opinions of Board members on these and other residency issues, Dr. Hagerman surveyed them in March, but said that their responses "were all over the map," and therefore the issue required further discussion. Hagerman indicated that the current policy was "handcrafted" and he was looking for direction from the Board to use when drafting revised policies with the district's attorneys.

The April 18 Board of Education Agenda included information from the New York State School Boards Association on residency which you can review here. It defines residency as "both one's physical presence as an inhabitant and the intention to reside within the district." Furthermore, a person can have only one legal residence and "therefore where someone owns or rents property both within and outside a school district, only one of the properties can be considered his or her legal residence for purposes of attending school within a particular district.

However, in practice, the district has been more flexible in permitting children to remain in school, even when circumstances require them to sleep out of the district.

According to the current policy, if a student becomes a non-resident during one semester, they can complete that semester tuition-free, but tuition would have to be prepaid for the following semester. In practice, some families do move out of the district for a home renovation that spans two semesters. It is not known whether or not these families pay tuition. In most cases, the family owns a home and is paying Scarsdale taxes while the home is under renovation, though they are not technically "residents."

This year only seven families are paying tuition, which is $20,961 for grades K-6 and $27,696 for grades 7 -12.

The discussion at the meeting was lengthy. Proposed revisions to the current policy can be read in pages 66-68 of the April 18 meeting agenda. The first issue involved the question of permitting fourth graders whose families have moved out of the district to pay tuition for fifth grade. The second involved allowing students who have completed eleventh grade and become non-residents to pay tuition to complete their senior year.

For fourth graders, if the family moves to another elementary school district in Scarsdale, the Board favored permitting the student to remain in their own school, provided it did not cause a section or class to break into an additional section. If the family moves out of the school district, the Board favored permitting the student to stay for fifth grade provided they pay tuition.

And for those whose parents move away after a student completes 11th grade, the board favored permitting the student to complete 12th grade as a tuition-paying student.

What about students who are living out of the district while their home is under renovation or uninhabitable?

Chris Morin said, "We could have a simplified policy but still be generous. To some it would seem unfair if they have a vacant house but are required to pay tuition."

Suzanne Seiden said, "If people are renovating and staying elsewhere I don't think we should charge tuition. And also, we should not have to hire investigators to find out where kids are sleeping. I don't think it makes sense to charge if someone is out of the house."

Pam Feuhrer agreed, saying, "We should not penalize those who are renovating."

Scott Silberfein said the state law says "Intend to reside there, that's the law. We should not charge tuition if a renovation goes on too long. I don't think we can legislate every situation. I don't have a problem with people who are paying taxes."

Bill Natbony pointed out that it would be hard for the district to investigate the whereabouts of residents. He said, "It would be difficult for the district to be the enforcer. Are we supposed to send investigators out to see where the family is staying?"

Seiden outlined her thoughts on the revised policy saying, "Make sure we are compassionate. We should not change a rule in response to a few bad actors. The rule should following common sense.

Art Rublin asked the Board to "Welcome input from people in the community," and Bill Natbony asked that "The new policy should not change expectations for current families in the district."

Dr. Hagerman responded to Rublin and Natbony saying, "If we open this up to the community, this will never get done. It is the Board's job to set policy. And if it is adopted it should be in effect immediately. I want to be clear about grandfathering this."

The Board did not reach consensus about a proposed policy change for those who have a home in contract, but have not moved into it at the beginning of the school year. Those families would need to prepay tuition until they move in, and if they move in by October 15, the tuition would be refunded.

Dr. Hagerman's next step will be to work with the district's attorneys to draft a new policy which will be reviewed by the Board of Education.