STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
AND
PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS
COMMISSIONER OF
EDUCATION
0011-07
Residency of Student S.D.
DECISION
Held: On May 8, 2000 the Commissioner of Education found — on the basis of evidence submitted at a contested hearing — that this student, SD, was a resident of North Providence for school purposes. We find that our decision of May 20th, 2000 still controls this matter for the reasons set out at page 4 of that decision. Given the fact that this student has reached the age of majority, and given the fact that he is not living in Rhode Island with his mother, we have to find, as we did on May 20th, 2000 that this student’s last Rhode Island residence for school purposes was, and still is, North Providence. North Providence therefore remains responsible for paying a per pupil special education cost for this student’s placement at the Chrystal Springs School.
DATE: May 16, 2007
Travel of the Case
This matter is before the Commissioner under R.I.G.L. 16-39-1, R.I.G.L. 16-39-2, and R.I.G.L. 16-64-6. The City of North Providence alleges that it is no longer responsible for paying a per pupil special education cost to the Chrystal Springs School in Massachusetts for a placement arranged by the Department of Children and their Families (DCYF) for a student the Commissioner found to be a resident of North Providence in a decision dated May 8, 2000. North Providence now alleges that the student should be found to be a resident of Lincoln or Westerly for school purposes.
Positions of the Parties
Respondent School Districts
The school districts in this case are Lincoln, North Providence, and Westerly. Each one of these districts argues that it is not responsible for the education of the SD.
Position of the Department of Children and their Families (DCYF)
DCYF argues that at least one of these districts must be responsible for the education of SD.
Findings of Fact
- On May 8, 2000 the Commissioner of Education found — on the basis of evidence submitted at a contested hearing — that this student, SD, was a resident of North Providence for school purposes. This finding was based on evidence indicating that SD was living with his grandfather in North Providence for a substantial reason other than to attend the schools of North Providence. The substantial reason for SD to be living with his grandparents was the fact that SD’s mother was unable to care for him. We find, of course, that this ruling has res judicata effect concerning all legal and factual matters encompassed in the decision. We therefore incorporate our decision of May 8, 2000 into the present decision and attach it to this decision.
- The record before us indicates that SD, whose date of birth is September 20, 1984, was born with many medical difficulties. These difficulties have left him with very significant cognitive impairments.
- SD has not lived with his mother since he was six years old. At age six he went to live with his grandparents. His grandparents cared for SD until his grandmother became ill in June of 1997. At this point DCYF placed this student in the Crystal Springs School in Assonet Massachusetts, where he has resided ever since.
- At various times SD’s mother has lived in Georgia and in Massachusetts. She presently has a part-time home in Westerly. She still resides for part of the year in Georgia with her husband and her family. Because of business reasons, the family seems to reside in different places at different times, including overseas.
- Because SD’s residence for school purposes in 1997 was North Providence the Commissioner of Education had decided that North Providence was required to pay a per pupil special education cost to the Crystal Springs placement, which had been arranged by DCYF. After this decision, North Providence started to pay a per pupil special education cost to Chrystal Springs in accordance with the Commissioner’s decision.
- In anticipation of this student’s 18th birthday, SD’s mother went to probate court in Westerly to get a limited guardianship over her son. The purpose of this guardianship was to allow her to make decisions for her son, SD, whose cognitive limitations make it impossible for him to make his own decisions.
- This guardianship appears to have generated the present dispute. When Crystal Springs forwarded certain paperwork to North Providence, this paperwork contained a notation that this student’s “parent/guardian” was his mother, and that she was now living in Westerly. The same paperwork also recorded the student’s grandfather as now living in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Upon the receipt of this paper work North Providence made a unilateral decision to stop paying a per pupil special education cost to the Chrystal Springs School, on the theory that this student was no longer a resident of North Providence for school purposes.
- SD, who is now over 18 years old, has not lived with his mother since he was six years old. It is important to note, however, that there has never been a time when her parental rights have been terminated. Furthermore, SD, since his placement at Chrystal Springs, has not lived with his grandfather.
Conclusions of Law
We find that our decision of May 20th, 2000 still controls this matter for the reasons set out at page 4 of that decision. Given the fact that this student has reached the age of majority, and given the fact that he is not living in Rhode Island with his mother, we have to find, as we did on May 20th, 2000 that this student’s last Rhode Island residence for school purposes was, and still is, North Providence. The Commissioner of Education has never construed R.I.G.L. 16-64-1 to create an irrebuttable presumption that a parent’s residence is automatically a student’s residence, even if the student is not living with the parent.[1] North Providence therefore remains responsible for paying a per pupil special education cost for this student’s placement at the Chrystal Springs School.
Footnotes
[1] Laura Doe vs. Narragansett School Committee, Commissioner of Education April 17, 1984. Attachment B.
Forrest L. Avila, Hearing Officer
APPROVED:
Peter McWalters, Commissioner
May 16, 2007
Date