District receives $2,000 settlement in non-residency suit
Written by Ann Richardson Tuesday, 14 February 2012 11:10
Family feels persecuted, but official says paying for non-residents unfair
PETERSBURG – The school district recently settled a non-residency suit in an Atlantic City courthouse for $2,000.
In the past year, the district has pursued a total of eight families over non-residency issues. Seven were settled out of court; one was mediated.
The school district spent a total of $3,500 to prosecute the case, according to school business administrator Laurie Ryan. Though the $2,000 settlement did not cover the costs, it was important to pursue, she said.
“The taxpayers are not well served when a family living in another community expects them to pay to educate children who do not live here,” said Ryan. “People move to Upper Township for our education system. If that were the case, that you could live anywhere and go to school here, it wouldn’t be necessary to move here. You cannot expect your child to be educated here if you don’t live here.”
Ryan said the district takes non-residency issues serious for a reason.
“We are not trying to be unkind, we don’t want to be mean,” she said. “We have very limited funds, we have a very tight budget. We need everyone to be honest with us.”
The most recent non-residency case involved the Pustizzi family, which settled on a home in Upper Township on July 15, about two months after enrolling children in the school district.
Christopher Pustizzi, an Ocean City Realtor, said he, his wife and two sons moved from their home in Ocean City to San Diego two-and-a-half years ago. In mid-May, the family returned to the area and enrolled the boys in the Upper Township school district. The children attended school in Upper Township until the end of the school year, about six weeks.
During that time, they claimed to be living with Pustizzi’s mother Linda in her Osprey Point home.
Osprey Point, an over-55 active adult community on Rt. 9, consists of 149 two-bedroom units. The by-laws prohibit anyone under 18 from living in the community, though it does state that temporary residents may stay up to three months.
“When I registered them the school said it was okay,” said Pustizzi. “We were trying to buy a house, we had put a deposit down, we were waiting to settle.”
Ryan said it was brought to the district’s attention that the Pustizzi’s were not living in Ocean City. The district investigated, and “on several occasions,” Ryan said, found the family to be leaving from, and returning to, a residence in Ocean City, not the Upper Township residence where they claimed to be residing.
“They were living in Ocean City,” said Ryan.
Putizzi said that he and his wife were actively house-hunting and even submitted a copy of a contract of sale.
“The issue never went away,” he said. “The law gives the school board the latitude to do the right thing. We had to hire an attorney. We settled this case because we couldn’t afford to fight it anymore. It was never our intention to be anywhere but Upper Township. They had the absolute power to do anything they wanted to do and they did.
“I never felt so unwelcome into a community,” he added. “It was not a warm, fuzzy welcome and we feel persecuted. They didn’t have our children’s best interests at heart. We feel persecuted, and why? They didn’t have the taxpayers’ best interest at heart.”
Ryan said the district takes non-residency issues “very seriously” because of the taxpayers. Educating children who do not live in the Township is costly, she said.
While one extra child in a classroom here and there might not seem an expensive imposition, Ryan said the costs add up, especially if a child requires special services. “There could be very high costs associated with extra students,” she said.
Pustizzi argued that upon leaving San Diego and arriving in Upper Township, and living with his mother, his family should have been deemed “homeless” from the time they arrived until July 15 when they settled in their new home.
Being “homeless,” he said, provided legal protection.
“If the district of origin can’t be determined, you are homeless,” he said. “It just came down to this.”
Ryan said that they could not be deemed “homeless” if they were indeed living in Ocean City. She said the administrative law judge agreed with the school district and the two sides brokered a deal, settling for 20 days, a little less than half of what was owed.
Pustizzi is not happy.
“What sense does it make to fight a member of the community? I think it was very insensitive,” Pustizzi said. “It cost us $8,000 to defend this. The only ones who made any money were the attorneys. It was wrong, every which way, just wrong. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place in this and all it did was cost the taxpayers.”
Ryan said the school district performs “residency checks” from time to time. Parents must bring a driver’s license, and documents to prove residency, such as a lease, utility bills and other items. Those living with a family member are asked to provide a letter stating that.
“We do this as the students transition from one school to the next,” she said. “When they go from the primary to the elementary and then to the middle and high school, we ask them to bring the documentation to the office.”
Ryan said that the taxpayers of Upper Township should be “upset people are trying to claim residency when they are not residents.”
“You have to be a resident, that is the law and we are following the law,” she said. “It’s not fair, and that’s the bottom line. Believe it or not we are sending a message. We are pursuing these cases. People have tried to do this and it’s not right. We are not going to tolerate it. Unfortunately in this economy we are seeing more of this.”
Most cases, she said, are settled in the board or superintendent’s offices. Most families – facing proof that they are not living in the township – either legitimately move to Upper Township or take their children out of the district.
When they don’t, Ryan must prepare a case for court. Most are settled before they get into the court room, she said.
“The judge tries to settle the case,” she said. “You still have to prepare as if you are going to trial. I’m very well versed in this unfortunately.
The Pustizzi’s are now settled in Upper Township.
“We are happy to have them,” said Ryan.
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