DO BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ RESIDENCY RULES HINDER LEGIT ENROLLMENT?
Three advocacy organizations on behalf of a larger coalition have taken the Boston Public Schools to task for not providing adequate information to parents about the new proof of residency requirements. Massachusetts Advocates for Children, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and MIRA (Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition) released the text of a letter sent to the school superintendent, noting that he had failed to respond in any way to suggestions made at the beginning of November by the Student Residency Working Group. This ad hoc coalition stated concerns that new, more stringent document requirements to prove Boston residency are delaying or denying poor and immigrant children from registering for school in Boston, even though they actually reside in the City.
Samuel Hurtado, head of the Latino Education Action Network said “…Parents had to spend hours waiting at the Centers, only to learn they didn’t have documents needed to get their kids into school. For many of them, taking time off from work is very difficult.”
Even though school officials admit that as many as 40% of parents coming to register their children do not know about the new requirements and are turned away, BPS has still not taken the necessary steps to inform them. In addition, the groups urged, staff needed to be trained to provide clear and consistent information about the definition of “homeless” students who are exempt from the residency proof requirements.
Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts, noted that the document requirements were especially difficult for low-income parents who often double up in housing with friends or relatives. “The more stringent rules were adopted in response to a problem with non-residents attending the Boston Latin School and a few other programs and they are having the effect of interfering with the education of many poor and immigrant kids.”
-From press release from the ACLU, MIRA and Mass. Advocates for Children, 12/20/04