School principal tries to enroll 6-year-old student into a different school because her parents bought a house that they're renovating in a different town: 'We are still living with our in-laws and it is well withing the school boundary'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Dec 12, 2024 8:00 PM EST

Some people will do whatever it takes to ensure their child gets a good education. When I was growing up in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, I knew so many kids who lied about their address to get into the legendary performing arts high school, Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing and Visual Arts. These were kids who lived in the suburbs and claimed to live at addresses in Dallas proper so they could get into the prestigious school that gave us Erykah Badu. I totally wanted to do this to go to this Victorious and Fame-esque high school, but I know my parents would never say I lived at our cousin's house (or even more nefariously, rent an apartment that stayed vacant for 4 years) to assure my admittance. In a world where parents will say anything to keep their child at a school, it's no wonder this principal became suspicious about these parents buying a house outside their district. 

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  • 01
    Toy's
    via Jonathan Borba

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    School Principle trying to enroll our 6 year old daughter at different school due to the new house we purchased and are renovating. What can I do?
    via u/Altruistic_Ackbar
  • 03
    My wife and I recently purchased a home that we are renovating and it is outside our daughter's current school boundaries. For whatever reason the principle at her current school has knowledge of the purchase of our home and went out of her way to enroll our daughter at a different school within the school boundary of the new house we bought.
    via u/Altruistic_Ackbar
  • 04
    We did not give her consent nor did we have any knowledge of this until we received an email this morning telling us this with the principle of the new school cc'd, while also stating our daughter's last day at her current school would be December 24th.
    via u/Altruistic_Ackbar
  • 05
    We are still living with our inlaws at the same address we used to enroll our daughter at her current school and it is well withing the school boundary. I am absolutely infuriated as my daughter has been at this school since JK and has lots of close friends and loves her current teacher. Can she do this? Who can I report her to/what can I do?
    via u/Altruistic_Ackbar
  • 06
    Star_Gazer_23 • 16h ago • NAL, teacher of 34 years here. This is an overreach, and could be motivated by a number of different reasons. There is a chain of command. Call the old school and explain that you haven't moved into the house yet, just purchased it. If necessary, schedule a meeting with the principal to explain that you don't live in the new house. You may find out why they rushed your child out the door at this meeting. If that doesn't work, go to the Superintendent's office. If that d
    via u/Star_Gazer_23
  • 07
    When you move to the new house they can transfer your child to the other school, but if you want her to stay at the old school there are exceptions made. But the school can insist. You would need a compelling reason to override this. But in general districts cooperate with parents if you are wiling to transport the child. Just remember that the parents are who the school answers to.
    via u/Star_Gazer_23
  • 08
    Altruistic Ackbar OP Thank you so much!
    via u/Altruistic_Ackbar
  • 09
    Casey JonesABC I'm also a teacher and agree something seems really weird here. Are there any potential racial issues at play? If so, you'd have a strong Title VI claim. Or is your child on some kind of IEP that they may not want to deal with? That would also be a potential discrimination issue to look into. Legal issues aside, I generally recommend
    via u/CaseyJonesABC
  • 10
    contacting the school board directly if you're not getting anywhere with school admin. Some principals are certainly great, but a lot just want to make problems go away with the least fuss possible. That's doubly true since your issue seems to be with the principal rather than anybody underneath them.
    via u/CaseyJonesABC
  • 11
    frenchdresses My school is severely over crowded and class sizes are huge. Many people lie about where they live in order to try to get to our school because it is well known as a good school.
    via u/frenchdresses
  • 12
    shootz-n-ladrz "We live in this district and not the other one" is compelling enough
    via u/shootz-n-ladrz
  • 13
    ReadySettyGoey Haven't seen this mentioned yet in the comments, so one other piece - be cautious about filing anything with the city/state attesting that the new house is your primary residence. Such forms are common for homestead tax exemptions and are usually signed under penalty of perjury - you don't want to be a position where you're telling your city the new house is your primary residence while insisting to the district that it isn't.
    via u/ReadySettyGoey
  • 14
    Catastrophe Wife This might be in the mortgage documents, when we got our mortgage we had to state we were purchasing the house with the intention of living. in it (not becoming landlords) but I'm not sure the mortgage documents would be public records like deeds are.
    via u/CatastropheWife
  • 15
    shamrock327 What the principal did was inappropriate and you need to advise the current school that the child resides in the district. You should CC the superintendent when advising the current school that your residence has not changed. People purchase homes that they do not intend to reside in all the time, such as a rental/investment property - the district should have contacted you first before attempting to enroll a student in another district.
    via u/shamrock327
  • 16
    Altruistic Ackbar OP We are definitely going to contact the schoolboard as well. Thank you!
    via u/Altruistic_Ackbar
  • 17
    SnuggleBear2 Reach out to the school district. Ask them why the principal did it when you still live within the district.
    via u/SnuggleBear2
  • 18
    bonitaappetita And just because you purchased the house does not mean that you will actually be living in it. You might be flipping it. They had no reason to change your district without confirming residence.
    via u/bonitaappetita
  • 19
    BirthdaySalt2112 Exactly!! What about people who own a lake house or other getaway spot? Do their kids have to go to school in the district where the second property is? I think not. I wonder what the principal would have done if the OP purchased a home in another state.
    via u/BirthdaySalt2112
  • 20
    kadinzaofelune Confront the principal on where he got the information he acted on. Sounds like something fishy there.
    via u/kadinzaofelune
  • 21
    Spoofy_the_hamster Most real estate transfers are public records. Ours are printed in the newspaper.
    via u/Spoofy_the_hamster
  • 22
    Is-this-rabbit Lots of people use family or friends addresses to enrol their children in better schools. Sounds like the school has problems with this in the past. The school should have approached you first to find out what was going on, making you aware that strict school boundaries are enforced.
    via u/Is-this-rabbit

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