Grosse Pointe schools to fine parents of students not living in district

Parents will receive $13,000 fine if they can't prove students live in Grosse Pointe school district

GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – Parents who enroll children in Grosse Pointe Public Schools without being able to prove their child lives within the district will face a fine.

Bob Ingram, of Grosse Pointe, is a nervous parent since he and his wife have separated. He pays Grosse Pointe taxes and, he says, is sending his kids to Grosse Pointe schools. However, after the separation, Ingram's children only spend half of their time with him in the city.

He is worried he will get a knock on his door from a district official investigating if his kids really do live with him within the district.

"My kids are with me half the time and if they want to see my children's bedrooms and if they want to come in and make sure they live there and make sure I have children's drinks in the refrigerator, it's all there, but they could mess you I think," Ingram said.

To crack down on parents who are sending their kids to Grosse Pointe schools without living and paying taxes within the district the district is dishing out a $13,038 tuition fine. Ingram says the schools are so good that about 50 kids each year say they are living with a relative or renting in the district for a chance to go class.

"Forty or 50 extra kids in the whole Grosse Pointe schools system, I don't think that's a big deal and they are making way too much of it," Ingram said.

School officials say the only new rule is the fine. The district asks for heavy documentation to prove the student lives within the district.

Grosse Pointe schools are not schools of choice, which make the fine legal.

There is a hotline and whistleblower section on the district's website for parents to question the residency of a student.


About the Author:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.