I found my dream public school for Max!

[devotchka]

The school is pre-k thru 8 and really cool - the focus is on STEM and I really like the way it is structured. Someone somewhere referred to it as the "Google" of public schools here but that may be aspirational since it just opened. I know it's funded well by a few local tech companies so that's a plus.

...buuuuut it's funded by freaking mello Roos so even though it's in our district we can't request to transfer him there for k because we didn't pay into the mello roos (they used that $ to build the school.)

My mom lives in this area so I am thinking about registering Max as if he lived there. I know a few people who have done this. It seems somewhat shady but.. Is it? My mom would be basically taking care of him and Elliot for after school anyway (or my stepdad would) so it doesn't seem so weird. I don't know :/ do people do this outside of here?

(Fwiw we don't want to send him to the neighborhood school because of several reasons which I won't go into now... but it's not 100% off the table yet. I am also interested in a few charters around here.)

------
Eta:

Just found out they do a lottery admission so never mind!

[devonpow]

I hate to say it, but yeah that's not morally ok in my opinion. Sorry

[livinreality]

We used my address when I was babysitting her and my parents moved out of district to finish out the year. This was legally allowed here.

But we don't have charters or special schools though, everyone goes to their districted public school.

[TrudyCampbell]

Nobody knows what mello roos is lol.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's shady, and I feel like it's even more shady bc it's a special school.

That being said I briefly considered doing this with my ILs address so that we could move right near them but not to the good (expensive) district. But that was just the regular public school, not something special.

Is it hard to get a spot in this school? Would you be taking someone else's spot who did pay into it?

[teamhayes]

A Mello-Roos District is an area where a special tax is imposed on those real property owners within a Community Facilities District. This district has chosen to seek public financing through the sale of bonds for the purpose of financing certain public improvements and services.

[teamhayes]

I would consider it but never actually do it bc I wouldn't want to live in fear of people finding out and him being pulled after he formed a routine

[TrudyCampbell]

Would it also be awkward for play dates, bday parties at your house etc because people would think "isn't this house outside the district?"

[vthokie]

We have people who claim to live somewhere else to get a different public school around here. We usually find them out by December. I just picture M memorizing his address and having it all fall down. I think it would be better to look into a less sneaky option.

[Deleted]

If it's a high in demand school (which it sounds like it is) I wouldn't do that. The other people who live there are probably more likely to report an "offender" if everybody wants to go there and also if they paid more to fund the school.

[Deleted]

I would change my mind if you planned on moving there say in 1st grade and you were just trying to not have him have to change schools.

[shevacc]

I also feel like people who try this get found out eventually. You wouldn't want an unexpected mid-year transfer to whatever school has an available spot. Then you'd have zero say in where he goes and he'd be the new kid.

[ivegotthemunchkins]

I wouldn't do it. We have families that try to do that at my school and they always get found out. It's sad for the kids because they are the ones that get hurt when they have to abruptly leave a school and their friends. Also, I don't know what it's like in your area, but our local schools require families to prove residency each year.

[ruby412]

Bad news alert: your plan isn't going to work. Sorry! I work in a very high performing district, so we encounter this situation each year. We always end up finding out and are required, as teachers, to report it. The student is then investigated and ultimately disenrolled from the school. There is no way to "pull this off" for years and years. Little ones aren't good at keeping these secrets. Plus, other tax-paying families will find out and report it.

I would either plan to move or find a public or private school, that you are legally allowed to attend, and send M there. I'm sorry that your local public isn't a good option. Around here, private schools are way too much $$. Some people choose Catholic school, even when not Catholic, as an affordable option that offers a good education.

[Deleted]

She's in the school district just not in the zoned school.


I also wouldn't do it. Could you try school of choice for another school near your moms?

[teamhayes]

May 11, 2016 9:43:18 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

May 11, 2016 6:22:15 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

A Mello-Roos District is an area where a special tax is imposed on those real property owners within a Community Facilities District. This district has chosen to seek public financing through the sale of bonds for the purpose of financing certain public improvements and services.

I still don't know what it is. lol

I just googled it

[earlybird]

Our neighborhood school is opening this year. If it isn't up to snuff, then moving to my in-laws' school district is our half-hearted back-up plan. For all the reasons others have mentioned, this would require us to switch houses, or for the kids to stay at their home during the week, as required under the district's rules. Is either an option for you?

ETA: We pay a ton in Mello Roos to fund the schools that will open in our neighborhood. I think it would upset me if I learned that people were attending the school under false pretenses. A few kids wouldn't matter, but numbers will affect class size sooner or later.

[mcburglar]

May 11, 2016 9:46:23 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Is it flameful to be over the whole STEM thing? I mean not over science/technology/math education itself, but everyone's obsession with it as though it's the most important thing? I get that we are behind other countries, this stuff is important in today's world, it's important for girls to be involved in it too, blah blah blah.. I guess I get tired of hearing about anything if I hear about it too much. lol

This is a STEAM program, see, the arts are in there! That is supposed to make you feel better.  

That snark is not aimed at anyone here just at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.  

[PatBenatar]

I wouldn't do it. And I would be upset if I was a parent that paid into this and my kid couldn't get in.

Could you move in a few years?

[Deleted]

May 11, 2016 9:46:23 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Is it flameful to be over the whole STEM thing? I mean not over science/technology/math education itself, but everyone's obsession with it as though it's the most important thing? I get that we are behind other countries, this stuff is important in today's world, it's important for girls to be involved in it too, blah blah blah.. I guess I get tired of hearing about anything if I hear about it too much. lol

We have a local charter Classical School, and I kind of want to send my kids there lol.  It's like the complete opposite of STEM and because DH and I are both educated in STEM fields I think the variety could be good for them.

[mcburglar]

May 11, 2016 9:54:05 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

May 11, 2016 9:53:08 GMT -5 mcburglar said:

This is a STEAM program, see, the arts are in there! That is supposed to make you feel better.  

That snark is not aimed at anyone here just at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.  

It does make me feel better. lol

LOL! The jargon accomplished its goal--pandering to the white, middle class, mom set!

I'm grading.  I'm snarky.  I'm sorry. 

[The Foozzler]

Like others have said, we always find kids living out of district. They are reported by other parents or the kid tells us. They are always removed.

However, we do allow "babysitter" care within our own district. You can attend the other elementary school in district if your before or after school care is zoned for that school. Not sure if that is the same as where you are, but you can check into it.

Also, many times it is not pursued but if you are found living out of district you can be liable for the amount of money it took to educate your child during that time.

[devotchka]

Wow, didn't realize this was so flameful.

What I failed to mention is that my mom wants us to "trade" houses in the next few years... I don't see it happening bc my stepdad wouldn't go for it. We might move to the area, we'll see. Houses are so overpriced rt now.

I didn't really think we could get into the school anyway. It's in such high demand. And yes we are in the district and normally we could just request a transfer this is a "choice" district. If we didn't try this we would just ask for the school close to my mom. a lot of people register their kids as living at their grandparents houses here. I thought the "babysitter" care was part of that so to me it didn't seem morally wrong.

Anyway. Interesting to see your perspectives since this was just a musing of mine.....

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 10:11:17 GMT -5 The Foozzler said:

Like others have said, we always find kids living out of district. They are reported by other parents or the kid tells us. They are always removed.

However, we do allow "babysitter" care within our own district. You can attend the other elementary school in district if your before or after school care is zoned for that school. Not sure if that is the same as where you are, but you can check into it.

Also, many times it is not pursued but if you are found living out of district you can be liable for the amount of money it took to educate your child during that time.

Yeah it was bc of the babysitter thing that I even thought this would be possible. Since we have to transfer to a school closer to my parents bc of the aftercare anyway.

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 9:59:32 GMT -5 @destinationunknown said:

My mom did this when I was a kid and it was awkward for me for sure. I can see be appeal but I wouldn't do it. The lying was stressful for me.
We also lived in a place where no pets were allowed and all of the blinds were taped to the walls so the cats couldn't get into the Windows lol.

That makes sense.

We wouldn't be lying about it - I was just thinking we'd register him at my parents house and request it bc of the aftercare thing but I realize now it would have to be done in a different way if it's even allowed.

I'm realizing maybe I didn't communicate about the situation properly in my initial post. Sigh.

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 9:58:18 GMT -5 mcburglar said:

May 11, 2016 9:54:05 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

It does make me feel better. lol

LOL! The jargon accomplished its goal--pandering to the white, middle class, mom set!

I'm grading.  I'm snarky.  I'm sorry. 

Or the White, East and south Asian middle class mom set. That's who a good portion of the families who live in this area are

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 9:53:27 GMT -5 PatBenatar said:

I wouldn't do it. And I would be upset if I was a parent that paid into this and my kid couldn't get in.

Could you move in a few years?

Yes, that is the plan, possibly....

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 9:44:53 GMT -5 earlybird said:

Our neighborhood school is opening this year. If it isn't up to snuff, then moving to my in-laws' school district is our half-hearted back-up plan. For all the reasons others have mentioned, this would require us to switch houses, or for the kids to stay at their home during the week, as required under the district's rules. Is either an option for you?

ETA: We pay a ton in Mello Roos to fund the schools that will open in our neighborhood. I think it would upset me if I learned that people were attending the school under false pretenses. A few kids wouldn't matter, but numbers will affect class size sooner or later.

Switching houses is what my mom wanted to do. This is all her idea lol... so not sure if it's realistic :/ I should just call the district and ask what their rules are. Not sure why I didn't do that before I posted this.

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 9:43:49 GMT -5 @jayhawkali said:

She's in the school district just not in the zoned school.


I also wouldn't do it. Could you try school of choice for another school near your moms?

Yes, the one we thought of asking for in the first place is across the street but they have a mandarin immersion program which were not very interested in. She suggested this school but I only found out about the mello roos thing yesterday. Honestly if we had known about that school, we would have tried harder to find a house in her area to begin with.

[devotchka]

May 11, 2016 7:36:45 GMT -5 @lindy said:

I would change my mind if you planned on moving there say in 1st grade and you were just trying to not have him have to change schools.

That's the long term plan

[browneyedhunni85]

Do you guys not have school choice? That's what we are hoping to do.