By Nicole Falco
Hired as the district's residency inspector in July, Luciano's first official day on the job was Aug. 1. In the few short months he has been employed, his investigations have kept more than 100 students from being enrolled illegally. Since the district estimates a student's education in one of its schools costs $12,000 per year, Luciano's investigations have already saved the district more than $1 million.
Maybe Valley Stream schools are doing too good of a job educating students. Or, it could be that as a border community, Valley Stream will never be able to keep Queens and even Brooklyn residents out of its schools. Or, it could be a case of parents enrolling their children in Valley Stream schools because it's convenient for them; they work nearby.
Whatever the reason for the problem, the district in conjunction with Elementary School District 13, hired Luciano, a full-time residency investigator to replace its part-time one. Luciano not only screens all new registrants, but also follows up on tips about students who may have already been illegally enrolled.
"I've went on a home visit where the person who answered the door said, 'I have no idea who you're talking about," Luciano said. He added that one man tried to register his child using his driver's license, which said he lived in an "airport hangar."
Tips are provided by the community, teachers and elementary districts through an anonymous hotline. While Luciano does not work for Districts 24 and 30, Valley Stream's four school districts do work with each other by sharing information to eradicate this problem.
This year the district faced a five percent enrollment increase, which means there are 200 more students to educate this year than last. According to Western Suffolk BOCES, the 4,481 students currently enrolled in Valley Stream's four high schools are not even the district's peak enrollment for the decade. Peak enrollment is projected to occur during the 2007-2008 when there could be as many as 4,838 students.
"We understand [illegal enrollment] has been an issue for a lot of years. I think it is a growing problem and it has gotten to the point where the population is being impacted overall. Schools are bursting at the seams and people are getting frustrated," said Dr. Lois Colletta, assistant superintendent for Administration & Support Services.
Last year, the part-time residency investigator discovered and "put out" approximately 40 illegally enrolled students. During summer registration, for students new to Valley Stream schools, one in three registrants were "stopped at the gate," by Luciano, according to the high school district. Of the 349 who attempted to register, 234 were successful, 71 failed to return with the proper paperwork, and 44 were denied admissions. Of those admitted, Luciano followed up on them through more paperwork checks, home visits and hearings. Anyone suspicious was flagged for additional surveillance.
Since September, nine additional students have been "put out" of the high school district. Parents may appeal the district's decision, but, so far, less than a handful have. If a parent does appeal, they will be asked to attend a hearing, which will be tape recorded, with Colletta. If after the hearing, the district still denies a student admission, the parent can appeal to the state.
In order to successfully enroll a child, parents must produce at least three of the following proofs of residency: the deed to their home or a renter's contract if they rent; a utility bill; a current driver's license; a mortgage statement; bank account; or their most recent tax bill.
The district's next steps include more surveillance and surveillance assistance, review of the summer registration process, enlisting the community's help including civic and PTA associations and it will also begin stamping its mail, "Do No Forward." The hotline is (516) 872-5677. According to School Board President Valerie Clerico, a monthly report will be added to the high school district's Website.
With 4,481 students in four schools, not to mention District 13's four schools, a parent speaking at the high school district's October board meeting said Luciano must be "superman."
Luciano may not be superman, but he does have extensive experience as an investigator. Besides walking the beat and patrolling New York City streets in a squad car, Luciano spent five years of his 20-years as a city cop working for the police department's applicant investigations unit. Similar to his role in Valley Stream, Luciano's job was to verify the information supplied by applicants including their residence, which had to be within a specific jurisdiction. Luciano also spent five years as a homicide detective including one year during which he was assigned more than 200 cases. Since retiring in 1994, Luciano worked as a private investigator.
Hiring a residency investigator is not a new idea. Valley Stream's neighboring district, the Sewanakha High School District, began contracting with a private security firm, made up of former law enforcement agents, 18 years ago in order to keep students from being illegally enrolled.
According to Dr. George Goldstein, Sewanakha's superintendent of schools, "We vigorously go after these people." In the past, Goldstein made a presentation before the Central High School District's Board of Education on the progress of the residency investigators in his district. Five years ago, The New York Times ran a picture of a Sewanakha residency inspector conducting surveillance from a tree, according Goldstein.
Also, all incoming seventh graders must go through a re-registration process before entering one of Sewanakha's five high schools even if they attended elementary school in the district.
Having residency inspectors saves Sewanakha several million dollars each year by keeping approximately 200 students from illegally enrolling in its schools, Goldstein said.
Goldstein said Sewanakha actively seeks to recover tuition costs from parents who were found to have enrolled their children illegally. Such parents are immediately issued a bill. With the help of a full-time lawyer on its payroll, Sewanakha has had success in 80 percent of the cases, Goldstein said. He added that his district has went so far as to put liens on two homes in order to recover lost tuition.
The few parents at the October board meeting expressed the opinion that the district needs to send the message that "education is not free," by actively seeking to recoup tuition.
Greg Guercio, attorney for the high school district, explained at the October board meeting, "The district has to weigh the potential for collection against the cost of litigation. You do get judgments, but the judgments are often uncollectable."
