18-091P
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
IN RE: RESIDENCY OF J. AND A. DOE
Decision
Held: Children and mother actually reside in Providence, not at rental property in North Providence as stated in school registration paperwork.
Date: December 20, 2018
Introduction
This matter concerns a request by the North Providence School Department for a residency determination under Rhode Island General Law 16-64-1.[1]
Background
In August 2018 siblings J. Doe and A. Doe were registered in the North Providence school system by their mother. In doing so she stated in an “affidavit of residence by parent” that the children lived with her in a home she had leased in North Providence. She provided a copy of the month-to-month lease which commenced on August 15, 2018. The landlord named on the lease is her father. The children have been attending North Providence public schools since the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.
The attendance officer for the North Providence School Department initiated a “residency inquiry” in mid-September 2018. [North Providence Exhibit 1]. He visited the single-family North Providence dwelling listed in the parent’s affidavit of residence and was informed by a current tenant that neither the Doe children nor their mother lived there. The attendance officer soon learned of a Providence address for the children and their mother.
Over the next two months, the North Providence attendance officer engaged in surveillance of the Providence multi-family dwelling early in the morning on school days. The car belonging to the mother of J. and A. Doe was seen at the Providence address. The children and their mother also were seen leaving the Providence dwelling and driving to their respective schools in North Providence. Photographs and video were taken at the Providence location and presented at the hearing.
Positions of the Parties
North Providence contends that the testimony and evidence presented by its attendance officer irrefutably establish that J. and A. Doe reside in Providence with their mother. It asks that it be relieved of the responsibility to educate the children no later than January 18, 2019, the close of the first semester.
Providence asserts that it will educate the children if they are found to be residents there.
Discussion
The uncontroverted evidence in this matter shows that J. and A. Doe reside with their mother in Providence. They do not live at the North Providence address listed on the registration paperwork that is the basis for their current school enrollment.
Conclusion
Because J. and A. Doe are residents of Providence, they must be enrolled in the Providence public school system unless educated otherwise in accordance with the compulsory attendance law.[2] This must occur by January 18, 2019, the last day the children may attend school in North Providence.
Footnotes
[1] A hearing in this case was held on December 11, 2018. Despite several hearing notices sent by regular and electronic mail, the mother of J. and A. Doe did not appear.
[2] R.I.G.L. 16-19-1.
Paul E. Pontarelli
Hearing Officer
Approved:
Ken Wagner, Ph.D.
Commissioner
Date: December 20, 2018