NYC principal faces scrutiny for allegedly utilizing dad or mum’s tackle to dodge $5,000 tuition charges in daughter’s faculty
A Brooklyn faculty principal has been accused of utilizing a fraudulent tackle to enroll her daughter in a higher-performing faculty close to her office, successfully avoiding hundreds of {dollars} in non-resident tuition charges.
Samantha McElhaney John, the principal of PS 327 Dr. Rose B. English in Brownsville since September 2023, allegedly listed a Brooklyn tackle as a substitute of her precise house in Roosevelt, Lengthy Island, to enroll her daughter in Brooklyn Landmark Elementary College in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the New York Submit reported.This faculty is positioned simply ten minutes from the place John works.
Through the use of a Brooklyn tackle, John bypassed the New York Metropolis Division of Schooling’s (DOE) requirement that non-resident college students pay tuition. For a normal schooling pupil, this price is $5,425 per yr, whereas particular schooling college students can incur prices as excessive as $48,392 yearly as per NY Submit’s report.
Questionable tackle listed
Data point out that John’s daughter’s house tackle is listed on Thomas S. Boyland Road in Brooklyn, a location the place Jessica Mott resides along with her two youngsters, who’re enrolled at PS 327. Nevertheless, when questioned in regards to the state of affairs, Mott refused to verify whether or not she had given John permission to make use of her tackle.
New York Metropolis DOE requires dad and mom to offer at the very least two types of proof of residency, equivalent to a lease settlement or utility invoice, to enroll a toddler in a faculty. Nevertheless, it stays unclear how John managed to confirm the Brooklyn tackle for her daughter’s enrollment in July 2023.
Authorized and moral violations
In response to authorized specialists, falsifying an tackle to achieve faculty admission will be thought of fraud and even larceny. Specialists argue that the act is especially regarding when dedicated by an schooling chief, as principals are liable for upholding faculty insurance policies and guaranteeing that each one households comply with enrollment procedures.
Tim DeRoche, co-author of When Good Dad and mom Go to Jail, a 2023 research on address-sharing, emphasised the battle of curiosity, chatting with NY Submit, “It’s actually a battle of curiosity for a public-school administrator to have interaction in that form of exercise on the identical time that they’re imposing the foundations in opposition to different dad and mom.”
Whereas DeRoche’s watchdog group, Accessible to All, advocates for equitable faculty entry and opposes prosecuting dad and mom for tackle fraud, he expressed no sympathy for schooling officers who exploit the system for private acquire.
It’s unclear whether or not John enrolled her daughter at Brooklyn Landmark for comfort or due to its larger educational efficiency. Brooklyn Landmark college students carry out considerably above the citywide common in state math and studying exams, whereas college students at PS 327, the college John oversees, rating effectively beneath common.
In the meantime, Roosevelt public faculties, the place John really resides, have lengthy struggled with poor efficiency. The New York State Schooling Commissioner took management of the district in 2002 as a result of security issues and low educational achievement, however little enchancment was revamped 11 years. In 2022, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli recognized the Roosevelt district as being below “fiscal stress.”
In response to the report, John arrives at PS 327 within the morning along with her daughter, who wears a vibrant orange Brooklyn Landmark shirt. The kid waits within the principal’s workplace till John takes her to Brooklyn Landmark earlier than returning to her personal faculty. This day by day routine reportedly raised suspicions in regards to the baby’s precise residence.
