The Bayonne School District has received seven tips about students who may be attending local schools illegally, said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Robert C. Craig. The students often live in a different town, but come to Bayonne schools because they are safer or because their parents work near Bayonne.
The tips came after the Bayonne Board of Education agreed to double the reward for information leading to the removal of a student from $100 to $200.
Over the last decade, the district has routed hundreds of students who have no legal right to attend Bayonne schools, saving local taxpayers nearly $60 per day or nearly $10,000 that it costs to educate each student.
“We’ve received seven tips we are currently investigating.” – Assistant Superintendent Robert Craig
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“Other school districts have undertaken a bounty system by offering a financial incentive for information leading to the successful removal of students illegally in a district,” said Schools Superintendent Dr. Patricia McGeehan in 2009.
The district has doubled the reward this year, offering $200 to any person who is not an employee or relative of an employee of the Bayonne Board of Education who provides “credible, factual information that leads to the removal of a student illegally in the Bayonne School District.”
Assistant Superintendent Craig said the reward will be given once the student is removed from the schools.
“We’ve had a lot of interest,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of phone calls, and we’ve received seven tips we are currently investigating.”
What’s the attraction?
Part of the attraction of Bayonne schools, officials say, has to do with the quality and safety of the schools here, as well as Bayonne’s vicinity to local jobs.
Although in the past, school districts like Bayonne tended to serve as safe havens for students whose own schools might prove violent or provide a poor education, the latest trend in illegal students seems more geared toward providing a convenient school close to where the parents work.
Parents often drive to Bayonne from other parts of the state, drop off the kids, and then go to work.
In some districts, out-of-town students can pay to attend, but not in Bayonne.
Finding these students is among the duties assigned to the district’s Attendance Department, which checks the residency of each student enrolled in the district.
“This takes time,” Craig said.
This is partly due to the changing social situations many students face in regards to divorce and custody. Sometimes parents will use a relative’s address – an aunt, uncle or grandparent – just to get their kids enrolled.
Typically, investigators follow tips on who may or may not be an illegal student. These can come from a teacher or another student or a concerned resident.
This is the crux of the reward program, which seeks to get reports from people who might give investigators a clue to who might not belong in the school district.
Even from Brooklyn
One of the key means of determining out-of-district students is to follow the buses. While most of the out-of-district students he’s discovered come from Jersey City, some have come from places like Perth Amboy, Sayreville, and even Brooklyn.
Parents are given a month after registering their children to prove their residency. This can be something as simple as showing a utility bill. People whose landlords pay their rents can get a notarized affidavit from their landlords stating their address of residence. If the landlord lies and gives the letter to someone not living at that address, the landlord can be taken to court.
While the school district tries to work out the details with the families of the illegal students they catch, sometimes the school has to go to court to collect. Bayonne has won hefty court judgments in the past.
People can report tips by contacting Robert C. Craig, assistant superintendent, at (201) 858-5843, or e-mail rcraig@bboed.org.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.