Dist. 229 Hires Private Investigators to Crack Down on Residency Scofflaws at OLCHS

OAK LAWN, IL — Dist. 229 has hired a private investigation firm to go after parents and guardians who live out of district and unlawfully enroll their children at Oak Lawn Community High School. The recently approved board action allows private investigators to validate the residency of families enrolled at the high school, including home visitations for any family suspected of illegally attending OLCHS.

Further, residents are being encouraged to help the district enforce residency policies by reporting any possible violations to the district superintendent confidentially and anonymously via phone or email.

Like many schools, OLCHS requires proof of residency for all students registering for a new school year. State laws also allow students from families determined to be homeless to continue attending the district school.

Parents or guardians are required to present a valid driver’s license or state ID showing their current address. The registering student’s parents must also present a mortgage statement, a signed lease (including the landlord’s phone number), homeowner’s insurance or current real estate property tax.

Families must also present two of the following: gas bill, electric bill, water/sewer bill, telephone bill (cell phone bills are not accepted), garbage bill or cable TV/internet bill, according to OLCHS’s proof of residency requirements.

“In past years, we have been flexible with families who may be missing required documents,” D229 Superintendent Michael Riordan said in an email. “We have also allowed families to use a written affidavit to verify residency when they indicate that they are living with a family or have little or no documentation in their name.”

This year, for families who met specific criteria, Riordan said OLCHS carried out additional follow-up investigative residency actions, including:

• Missing residency documents.
• Family indicating that they are residing with another D229 family (via affidavit).
• Family giving “temporary guardianship” to another adult who resides in D229 (via affidavit).
• Returned U.S. mail.
• Contradictory address information provided by the Illinois State Board of Education.
• Other information provided to the district questioning residency (anonymous emails/phone calls; students observed riding bus to/from school outside D229 boundaries.

Another trigger was no family present during summer Welcome Wagon visits, a new program where teams of OLCHS administrators and teachers visited incoming freshmen and transferring students’ homes, designed to make them feel part of their new school.

Follow-up residency investigations have included:

• Database checks by our private investigative firm.
• Door knocks by our private investigators.
• Morning and afternoon surveillance by our private investigative firm to see where students are coming from/going to before and after school.
• Validation with the Village of Oak Lawn rental properties database.
• Personal visits by school administrators

“I personally visited over 40 homes over the past couple months,” Riordan said.

Those found who are found in violation of the Illinois School Code’s residency laws and District 229 board policy will be subject to:

• Mandatory tuition payments to Dist. 229 ($15,424 per year);
• Misdemeanor criminal charges filed with the Cook County State's Attorney Office;
• Forced student withdrawal from Oak Lawn Community High School.

So far, 167 families met one or more of the district’s proof-of-residency criteria that triggered further investigation. Of those 167, the outcomes resulted in:

• 73 had their residency confirmed by our private investigation firm (either via database check and/or door knock);
• 62 had their residency confirmed by a personal visit by a school administrator;
• 11 families had relocated to a new address within D229 boundaries;
• 2 families were determined to be homeless, thus they are allowed to continue at OLCHS;
• 18 families withdrew their students from OLCHS.

One family was forcibly withdrawn. The district is currently pursuing tuition back payments as well as legal action, as Riordan said there is strong evidence that the family falsified documents at the start of the 2015-16 school year.

“In recent years, we have typically determined two or three families per year to not be legal D229 residents,” the district superintendent said. “Due to the legal costs to the district incurred, in the past we have not pursued legal action and/or tuition back-payment, but this is our plan moving forward. “

Riordan said the district did not maintain detailed records of where the families were actually residing, but most of those whose residency was questioned gave an “alternate” address of Chicago.

“There is a cost associated with the education of every student at OLCHS. Increased student enrollment results in more classes needed, which drives up staffing and material costs, and may lead to increased class sizes,” Riordan said. “By reducing our enrollment via more aggressive residency enforcement, we are ensuring that our limited resources are utilized to support those students who are legitimately enrolled.”

Riordan said anyone with information about a violation can contact him anonymously and the district will promptly look into the issue, via email at mriordan@olchs.org or phone at 708-741-5601.