Richland 2 continues to verify residency of students

By JOY L. WOODSON - jwoodson@thestate.com

Richland 2 often finds itself at odds with parents who want their children to attend school in the district, and the end of the school year is hardly an exception.

With just a few weeks left until summer vacation, Richland 2 officials still do routine checks to verify district residency.

If officials learn that families don’t live in or own property in the district, their children could be asked to leave school — up until eight weeks before the end of the school year.

They say it’s an issue of fairness — ensuring that at all times, funds for education are spent on the right students, and not poachers.

“We get pressure from taxpayers that people who are in our district are legitimately in it,” said Roger Wiley, the district’s registrar.

“The biggest thing that they’re pressing is that they want to make sure their tax dollars are going to students in Richland 2.”

While other districts also routinely check addresses, they have different ways of dealing with violations found late in the school year.

Some, like Lexington-Richland 5, allow students to finish the year. Others, like Kershaw County, may offer the option up until March of paying a $2,520 tuition to stay in the district. After that time, and through the end of the year, district officials may ask non-complying students to leave.

In Richland 2, families must be able to prove residency, either by living in an apartment or owning a home.

Nonresident students may own property in the district but have a primary residence outside it and still be granted admission.

Richland 2 officials say there are easily 40 to 60 families discovered in violation each year, but admit they cannot catch everyone.

It’s not for lack of attention.

“Staff is trained to look for certain things on a daily basis,” said district spokeswoman Theresa Riley. “With the population that we have now, we have to do it every day.”

If parents want their nonresident students to attend Richland 2 schools, they may have the option of paying what it costs to educate the child — about $21 a day. In some cases, the fee may be waived if the residency change occurs after the first semester and the student’s zoned district approves.

Attorney Eric Mohn said his client Tangular Kelley recently found herself on the wrong side of Richland 2’s rules.

Kelley, who has two high-schoolers in Richland 2, was living outside the district. She was faced in April with having one of her children barred from the district if she didn’t comply with residency rules. The other child, a senior, already was exempt.

She relocated within the district, but she said it cost her anguish and money.

“You can’t walk around throwing kids out of school in April,” Mohn said. “That’s just stupid. You’re using an atom bomb to kill a mosquito.”

Richland 2’s Wiley said that the district is always open to hearing grievances and that it only gets tough when parents are willfully being deceptive — some 90 percent of the violators, he said.

It is those parents who have placed themselves in a bind close to the end of the school year, “instead of being upfront and letting us deal with this in a less controversial manner,” he said.

Reach Woodson at (8030 771-8692.