More About DCPS' "Emergency Request"

DCPS had more to say today about this week's emergency request to the State Board of Education.

School officials, eager to get a handle on fall enrollment, wanted to get an earlier start on verifying where families live--the basis for their eligibility to send children to D.C. schools. They asked the state board to move the date they could legally start the process from July 1 to June 5. The board approved the request at a meeting Wednesday.

But parents told D.C. Wire that they had received enrollment packets from DCPS prior to the request, which seemed a tad odd. Spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said today that while enrollment forms were, in fact, sent out, residency verification didn't begin until the 5th. She also said that the enrollment packets made no mention of residency verification.

"Therefore I don't believe the legality of this process should be questioned," Hobson said.

Bill Turque