Valley Stream districts maintain residency standards

Years ago, there was a perception that as many as one-third of students in the Valley Stream Central High School District didn’t belong there, noted members of the interdistrict Residency Advisory Committee at its yearly meeting on Nov. 25.

Today, those members say, that perception is mostly, but not entirely gone as controls have been tightened up to keep out students who don’t live within the district’s boundaries. The same restrictions are applied in Valley Stream’s elementary districts.

The Residency Office is shared by the Central High School District, as well as Districts 13 and 24. It handles the enrollment of all new students, and conducts investigations when there is the belief that students do not belong in Valley Stream schools.

In order to enroll in the school system, several proofs of residency are required including either a deed, lease or rental agreement, as well as utility bills and, in some cases, proof of custody. With the cost of educating a single child averaging about $15,000, it’s a matter that school officials take seriously.

Residency Officer Nick Luciano presented enrollment data for the past year. From November 2012 through this October, 1,051 students applied for entry into one of the three districts. Thirteen applicants were put on hold because more information was needed, while only 10 were denied entry.

Luciano said the system isn’t completely foolproof because sometimes people forge paperwork. He cited a case where students were admitted to District 13, but actually lived in Queens. The parents, he said, had the bills for a house in Valley Stream where other family members lived switched over to their name, to give the impression they lived in the district. During an investigation, he observed the students coming out of the home in Queens and the state Education Commissioner upheld the district’s ruling to kick them out.

Tracey Nekulak, the high school district’s assistant superintendent for personnel, chairs the Residency Advisory Committee. She noted that about half of the students coming into the districts are living in houses owned by their family. “People are buying homes in our community,” she said, “which is a nice thing to see.”

She explained that for anyone legitimately living within the school district, the registration process is easy and straight forward, despite the hefty checklist. Nekulak also added that those who have lived in Valley Stream for a long time understand the rigor of the process, because they want to ensure that the schools are only for the students who call the community home.

Nekulak said that some of the negative perception that exists is based upon students using public transportation. She said people will see students from Central High boarding buses at Fletcher Avenue and Merrick Road to head west, and assume they are going to the city. Many students from Central live in the west end of the village, which, she explained, is not necessarily walking distance.

“A lot of people in the community don’t realize the community has changed,” Board of Education Trustee Tony Iadevaio added, “and they automatically tag them as non-residents.”

Attorney John Sheehan talked about the obligations to provide an education for homeless students. Legally, if a student becomes homeless, they may stay in the school district even if they find temporary housing elsewhere. There are currently three homeless students in the high school district.

After Hurricane Sandy last year, District 24 took in three students who lost their homes in other communities and moved in with family in Valley Stream.