Chicago Public Schools is on a mission to claw back tens of thousands of dollars from families accused of gaming the system by lying about where they live. In one of the latest cases, CPS is seeking over $56,000 from a family for bending the residency rules, as FOX 32 Chicago reported. A student from a northern suburb reportedly attended Northside College Preparatory, but investigation revealed that she and her father falsely claimed Chicago residency.
The Inspector General's report highlighted that the student, instead of living in a Chicago basement with her father, was residing with her mother in suburban Lincolnwood. CPS Inspector General Will Fletcher was quoted as saying, "We have to look at these cases because every seat that is taken by a student who doesn’t reside in the district means that a student who does reside in the city of Chicago is deprived of the opportunity to go to one of these schools." The in-depth surveillance operation by the CPS watchdog caught the student leaving the Lincolnwood home, going against their claims.
Meanwhile, a separate incident sussed out by the CPS Inspector General's office involved a north suburban family which had allegedly lied for years to get their kids into selective CPS schools, as detailed in a report by the Chicago Sun-Times. The family from Lincolnwood was found to have skirted CPS' student residency requirements, attributing numerous city addresses to themselves to falsify residency status to provide their children with better schooling options. The parents, owners of a real estate company, reportedly maneuvered around the system, claiming lower-income neighborhood residency to secure admissions into prestigious schools despite being from a higher income bracket.
CPS has recommended reclaiming a substantial sum of $138,962 in nonresident tuition and enforcing a permanent ban from CPS selective enrollment schools for the children involved. The family, despite interviews with the investigators, continued to lie on their selective enrollment applications. As a result, one child was unenrolled, and an agreement was reached with the parents regarding the tuition owed, the CPS told the Sun-Times.
The court blocked the family's emergency motion to keep the girl in school, confirming the IG's findings, and thus the battle over these scandalous admissions continues to unfold in court.
