Parents Claim Families Breaking Residency Rules To Enroll Kids In Popular Studio City School
STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Some parents claim families are breaking residency rules in order to enroll their children in a popular Studio City charter school.
KCAL9's Art Barron said Carpenter Community Charter Elementary School has become overcrowded because some students in attendance are coming from beyond the community's boundaries.
"Parents are not being honest and that's not a good example for their own children," said parent Lauri Caravella. "It's not fair to the people that purchased homes…because we do pay higher property taxes."
Parents are worried school officials will impose a lottery to lower enrollment and kids who actually live near the school will be moved somewhere else.
"Even though I live 47 seconds away from the school, my child could end up being bused to a different school district," said Mark Maudsley.
Carpenter, considered an educational gold mine because of its high test scores, became a charter in 2011.
Since then, kindergarten enrollment jumped 32 percent.
Georgianna Kelman, a special education attorney, has two children enrolled in Carpenter.
Kelman and others want Los Angeles Unified School District officials to use a computer program that cross-references names and addresses to verify residency.
"They need to be concerned about the hundreds of families in Studio City who will ban together and file a class-action lawsuit against the district," she said.
Last Thursday, top LAUSD officials met with the concerned parents about the school's overcrowding situation.
San Fernando Valley LAUSD Superintendent Linda Del Cueto said, "I will be here and I will communicate with (LAUSD Superintendent) Dr. John Deasy about every single thing that was said today."
