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A the beginning of this year, the district hired Alberto Acevedo, a former police officer and security consultant, to investigate questions of student residency. He will be verifying residency information of approximately 10 percent of the student population on a random basis. He also will be investigating reports from residents, which can be submitted anonymously by emailing nonresidencytips@portchesterschools.org.
"He's very skilled," said Superintendent Edward Kliszus. He said that people have been submitting leads, which he is following up on. "He's got a collection of those and he's very proactive. We're already looking at exiting two or three students, just in the short amount of time that he's been involved."
As part of the random investigations, parents and guardians may be asked to resubmit their students' registration documents. Non-residents are required to pay tuition to attend Port Chester schools, and restitution may be sought through criminal proceedings if the district finds that a parent owes tuition. There also may be legal penalties if a parent is found to have filed false documents to register a non-resident in a Port Chester school.
Several residents have come before recent Post Chester Board of Education meetings with lists of cars with out-of-state license plates. Klizsus said residents should be careful about standing out in front of the schools and writing down plate numbers.
"That's a form of vigilantism, we're very careful with that," he said. "If you hear information, use our tip line, extend it to our investigator and we will follow up. We follow up on everything and we are looking for leads."
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