DeKALB – During a meeting of residents opposed to residency checks of DeKalb School District 428 students, one Spanish-speaking resident brought in a letter in Spanish saying it’s from the district.
The letter, which was in a handwritten envelope, said a parent or guardian must submit a birth certificate for their child within two weeks or the matter will be taken to the state police.
Residents were advised to refer these kinds of actions to legal services such as Prairie State Legal Services, a nonprofit firm for low-income individuals, throughout the process of the residency checks.
“This is not an issue that’s not important,” said Kathryn Bettcher, managing attorney of the Fox Valley office of Prairie State Legal Services.
Speakers at the first meeting at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church on Monday claimed a false narrative was being spread both about the number of students who should not be enrolled in District 428 schools and the financial effect of removing those students from the district.
This issue was brought to light in part by a lawsuit against the DeKalb School District 428 Board, claiming about 1,000 students enrolled in the district don’t live in it, which costs taxpayers about $7.5 million a year. The suit prompted the board to hire an investigation firm to perform residency checks on about 20 percent of its students.
DeKalb resident Scott Campbell was on hand to tell residents that fixed expenses to the district – such as utilities, teacher salaries and bus services – would start to be affected only if a large percentage of students left the district.
“Rhetoric in the community is that there are massive quantities of tax dollars that are being wasted on students who should not be [in the district],” Campbell said. “The entire basis for that argument is that the district can save money by kicking out students, but as a chief school business officer, that’s not how it is.”
A list of talking points handed out during the meeting said that losses in funding from departing students may amount to about $4,700 a student in addition to the cost of hiring an investigative firm.
Campbell said that when it comes to the residency investigation, there are three groups: those who support it, those who find it reprehensible and an overwhelmingly larger group on the fence that may believe tactics such as door-knocking and watching students is wrong but believe people should not be taking advantage of district services without paying taxes to the district. And one way to take people off the fences is by thoroughly breaking down the numbers.
Wednesday’s meeting, which was held at the Conexion Comunidad center, 637 N. 11th St., was not as well-attended as the New Hope meeting but adopted a format that facilitated public input.
Joe Gastiger, a commissioner with the DeKalb Human Relations Commission, voiced concerns about why District 428 has to pay to verify the accusations of the suit. As a means of comparison, he said that the person filing a lawsuit for theft would be the one responsible for proving something they owned was stolen.
“What is the logic of the school board to spend taxpayer money to substantiate the opponent’s claim in the lawsuit?” Gastiger asked.
Opponents also have argued that the action to hire an investigative firm to verify student residency is fiscally irresponsible, undermines local law enforcement, harms communication between the district board and the community, undermines the district’s own values and is not an evidence-based decision.
District 428 board President Victoria Newport said in March that the residency investigation was in its third phase and would conclude in
60 to 90 days, and she asked for the continued patience of residents during this time.
District 428 board member Howard Solomon was present at both meetings and urged residents to share any experiences related to the residency checks with him.