A petition that urges Princeton Public Schools officials to enforce residency requirements has gained more than 50 signatures since it began circulating online Oct. 16.
The change.org petition, which was started by Jeffrey Zhao, claims that lax enforcement has led to an increasing number of out-of-district students attending the Princeton Public Schools.
The district has established residency requirements, but the lack of consistent enforcement has made those rules ineffective, the petition stated. Individuals have exploited loopholes and enrolled their children illegally.
The result is overcrowded classrooms, over-extended teachers and strained facilities that negatively impact the quality of education for all students, according to the petition.
To cope with the unnecessary surge in student population, the district has had to raise property taxes, incur debt and issue bonds, the petition stated. It places an unfair financial strain on all Princeton taxpayers.
“We respectfully urge the board and administration to take immediate action by focusing on enforcement rather than merely documentation. Specifically, we request the following measures,” it stated.
Those measures include regular residency checks throughout the school year to confirm residency, and establishing an anonymous tip line to report suspected residency fraud.
The petition also called for working closely with local and state law enforcement agencies, and using existing databases to verify residency claims.
Clear penalties should be enforced for violators, including immediate disenrollment and potential legal action, the petition stated.
“Our collective goal is to ensure that Princeton Public Schools remain exceptional while being fair and financially responsible,” it stated.
School district officials said the district takes residency issues seriously. At its Oct. 29 meeting, the school board approved two resolutions that resulted in the removal – or disenrollment – of four students from the Princeton Public Schools because they do not live in town.
The school board resolutions stated that on Sept. 30, Superintendent of Schools Kathie Foster notified the parents that their children are not eligible to attend the Princeton Public Schools for lack of residency.
The parents appealed to the school board’s Personnel Committee, which held residency hearings on Oct. 10 and Oct. 23. The committee granted Foster’s request to have the students removed from the schools.
The resolutions directed Foster to seek tuition reimbursement at her discretion for the period of time that the students attended the Princeton Public Schools.
While the four students were disenrolled from the Princeton Public Schools, officials do not consider matters of residency to be an issue – based on the number of investigations conducted over the past years. Very few students from other towns have been caught attending the Princeton Public Schools, they said.
School district officials encourage anyone who has a concern regarding a non-resident family to reach out and report their concerns.
To prove residency, parents or guardians must show a deed, tax bill or closing documents if they own a home in Princeton, or a lease with signatures and an expiration date if they are leasing a house or apartment.
If they are renting and there is no lease, they need to provide a notarized affidavit of residency. Similarly, if the student is living with family, friends or is homeless, a notarized affidavit of residence is required from the owner of the home.
If they are associated with Princeton University or the Princeton Theological Seminary and are provided housing, they need to show a housing letter from the university or the seminary.
In all instances, parents or guardians need to show three secondary documents. Those documents include any three utility bills, such as gas, water, electric or a phone bill. A pay stub, car registration or insurance documents also are acceptable.
While the petition takes issue with students who do not live in Princeton, the school district allows its teachers who do not live in town to enroll their children in the Princeton Public Schools. They pay tuition for each child.
The Princeton Public Schools also has an arrangement for Cranbury to send its students to Princeton High School through a formal sending/receiving agreement. The Cranbury School District pays tuition for each student who attends Princeton High School.
