District 59 Hires Private Investigators to Catch Illegal Students

Community Consolidated School District 59 Board of Education unanimously voted Tuesday, Oct. 12 to hire private investigators to ensure that students who go to school actually live within the district, a move that officials say will save taxpayers thousands of dollars.

"We'll have a better handle on ensuring that people that pay taxes are the people whose children attend in the district," said Board President Dr. Thomas Dowd after Tuesday's vote.

Board members discussed hiring the residency investigators at their last meeting to address an influx of non-resident cases that Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Nancy Wagner previously had to sift through on her own.

District Superintendent Dr. Daniel Schweers said it costs about $13,000 to educate each student, a fact that usually deters out-of-district residents from offering to pay tuition.

"That usually takes care of it," he added. "They can pay tuition, but once I tell them it's $13,000..." the interest usually fades fast.

With the exception of board Secretary Brian Gilligan, who wasn't present for Tuesday's meeting, the board members all agreed to hire National Investigations, Inc. investigators for a rate of $65 an hour.

Bill Beitler, president of National, spoke to the board for about 20 minutes during the meeting, where members peppered him with questions about various scenarios and how his team would address them.

Beitler explained how his tailors each formulate a plan to fit the needs and budgets of the communities he works in. He said he uses a comprehensive database that searches for the most up-to-date information on a family's residential background and that 90 percent of the cases his team investigates have non-residency violations. Of the cases that went on to a board hearing in their respective districts, Bitler has a 99 percent success rate, he told the board.

National works for 64 school districts throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin and nine of those districts are in this area, according to Beitler. National has a team of 20 investigators equipped with a badge and a vehicle with a laptop where they can process families' information, among other necessities.

"I'm really against school districts doing their own investigations," said Beitler, who has 11 years of experience in residency investigations. "I just can't see how they would have an unbiased view."

In other business, the board also voted to file the fiscal year 2010 annual financial report with the Illinois State Board of Education after an audit by auditing firm Crowe Horwath LLP.

John Weber, a partner with the firm, presented the audit findings, noting that the district received a four on the audit of its budget, the highest it can receive.

"As an auditor, I very much enjoy auditing a district that is financially sound," Weber told the board.

The board also approved the award of bids for construction projects: an estimated $3.5 million for a 10,500-square foot addition to Rupley Elementary School and a $1.82 million addition to Ridge Family Center. The district received 54 bids for 13 construction categories within the overall projects and the board agreed to take the "lowest responsible bid" for each trade contract.