Six Maryland Families Sued for Faking Residency to Avoid Tuition in DC Schools

Six Maryland families have been sued by the attorney general of Washington, D.C. for deceiving the D.C. government, after they allegedly lied about their residency to get their children admitted into prestigious D.C. public schools without having to pay tuition. According to the office of Attorney General Karl Racine, six lawsuits involving ten students and seven schools were filed on Wednesday against six families from Prince George’s County. Racine is seeking a tuition and damages of $700,000, as well as $450,000 in penalties from the accused families. The parents in all cases were found to have submitted fake addresses on official forms, as per the Attorney General’s Office. They “lied repeatedly in documents” about their D.C. residency, the A.G.’s office added. Among the accused parents are two employees of the D.C. Department of Corrections. “It’s really important that D.C. residents and D.C. kids get the first shot to attend D.C. schools,” Racine said, adding that his office is investigating parents who lied about residency proof to avoid payment of tuition fee. “We need to send a message that nonresident tuition fraud needs to stop,” he said. “It’s just not fair to D.C. residents that nonresidents are able to place their kids in schools and D.C. residents have to provide for alternatives,” according to Racine.

D.C. attorney general’s office is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Maryland parents who it claims faked District residency to send their children to prestigious D.C. schools without paying tuition. https://t.co/KMag1mQWfO

— WTOP (@WTOP) December 12, 2018

District residents are eligible to enroll their children in D.C. public schools and public charter schools. Families from districts outside D.C. can also register their kids with the District schools, but they are required to pay a tuition fee ranging from $10,000 to $14,000 per year. In May, two D.C. police officers and a D.C. teacher were sued by the A.G.’s office in a similar case, where it was found that they had faked residency proof to get their wards into D.C. schools without paying tuition fee.