Chenowith hired to write reciprocal agreement appeal for Corbin Schools

A reciprocal agreement dispute between Corbin Independent and Knox County schools is headed to Commissioner Terry Holliday for some referreeing, and KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross says any decision made will likely be firm and decisive.

A reciprocal agreement allows "non-resident students" who live in one district to attend school in another district free of charge. SEEK funds follow the child.

But a recent decision by the Knox County School Board to disallow its students from attending school in Corbin set off sparks in the community and 500 showed up at the next meeting to let the board hear about it. Early last week, the board in Corbin voted unanimously to appeal the issue to the Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. Frankfort attorney Bob Chenowith...is getting ready to file that appeal.

In the meantime, the education guardianship tango has begun.

This from the News Journal:

District recounting number of students affected,

say it is likely to be more than 169

...Knox Schools superintendent Walter T. Hulett said that mounting financial woes, including dwindling state SEEK funds, and higher operational costs, made the decision not to renew the reciprocal agreement with Corbin a necessary one.

...After a somewhat heated discussion with Hulett following last Tuesday's Knox board meeting, Corbin parent Jim Lacefield said he would favor taking the issue to court via a class action suit if necessary. While a possibility, in the interim, some parents are seeking educational guardianships so that their children may attend Corbin schools next year. Officials with Knox District Court say the number of parents making such a move has not been overwhelming.

Although the exact number is not known, court officials say only about 10 or so have been granted.

An educational guardianship allows parents to specify a guardian to oversee their children's education decisions. If the guardian is within the Corbin school district, the child can attend school in Corbin. In order to obtain an educational guardianship, both parents or legal guardians must appear in district court, along with the prospective guardian.

Once a judge signs the paperwork, the document is filed in the Circuit Clerk's office.

Another possible option for parents is an educational power of attorney, a simpler procedure that requires only the filing of a form designating someone besides parents to make educational or medical decisions for a child. The Corbin School System currently accepts students who have either guardianships or powers of attorney.

Gross said that while guardianships and similar concepts are legal, and would allow a student to attend school in a certain district, SEEK funds would only technically follow students who actually live in the district where they attend school. In many cases, while guardians may live within the district, the student does not...

Parents' text rage against school

This from The Press (New Zealand):

Parents can be a student's worst enemy when it comes to making excuses about why their child is not at school.

Waimea College and Nayland College have an automated computer system which sends text messages to parents asking them to explain why their child is not at school.

Parents can reply to the messages to confirm if their children are
legitimately away from class, or if they are just skiving off.

Waimea College principal Larry Ching introduced the text response system last year and said it had made a difference in student attendance. Beforehand, the college had 85 per cent attendance and now it was 90 per cent.

However, Mr Ching said there were a small number of parents causing concern with the messages they sent back to the school....

170 Los Angeles students to pay a price for absence

Tougher attendance rules will force more than one-quarter of eligible Carson High graduates to sit out commencement ceremonies.

More than one-fourth of Carson High's graduates will miss commencement ceremonies because they missed too much school.

About 170 of 665 eligible graduates won't don a cap and gown because they failed to show up for more than 60 hours of instruction this year or were late to class more than 15 times.

This from the Los Angeles Times.

Mom acquitted of lying to get kids in school

Jeanine Echols says she wanted the best schools for her three kids.

The city of Marietta says it wanted Echols to live in the city or pay the school system that educates her children.

The clash led prosecutors to file 16 felony charges against Echols, alleging that she lied about where she lived so her children could attend Marietta

Echols faced up to 80 years in prison, but jurors in Cobb County found her not guilty of all charges Friday.

"It's been a long journey," Echols said. "I'm just glad it's over."

Rick Malone, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, said that in 30 years, he had never heard of a similar case in which someone was charged with swearing to false documents, a felony that could trigger time in prison.

District Attorney Pat Head of Cobb County said his office wanted Echols to pay $6,400 restitution not go to prison. Echols' attorney, Vic Reynolds, said Echols didn't intend to dupe anyone or avoid paying tuition.

While the Echols case is unusual because of the severity of the charges, more school administrators and prosecutors around metro Atlanta are cracking down on parents who lie about their address so their children can attend a certain school.

This from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Photo by Andy Sharp/AJC