Thread: Father could face charges for lying about address to enroll

by Mike Colombo
WHAS11.com
Posted on August 28, 2011 at 12:14 AM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11)- A Louisville father accused of lying about his address for years so his son could go to school in Oldham Co. is now facing charges.

Any parent will tell you, they want the best for their kids and that's what Charles Lauron told WHAS11’s Mike Colombo. While he refused to talk on camera he said there are more details to this case that can not be discussed.

District officials say Lauron is the first of many other parents that might be charged for the same crime.

Lauron was told that Friday would be his sons last day at North Oldham Middle School. The Oldham County School District says Lauron has been fraudulently enrolling his son in Oldham County schools since 2003, using a Goshen address.

At face value this may not seem like a big deal deserving of criminal charges and fines. Lisa Gross with the KY Dept. of Education described why it is.

"If parents send their child to a school out of district inappropriately without being covered by the non-resident contract those parents are paying taxes in the area which they live that go to their school system, the one that serves that area. The school system is getting some tax revenues but the parents aren't benefitting from those tax revenues," said Gross.

Gross says it really hurts the districts who aren't benefitting from the tax revenues.

"Schools that enroll students that aren't part of a non-resident contract can't count them in average daily attendance figures. That may have an impact on their state funding as well," added Gross.

Oldham County assistant superintendent of student services Dan Orman says state law requires public school's to only enroll students who live within the district's county unless a student is covered under a nonresident agreement. In Oldham County, the only written exception is for students of full-time employees and they must pay $18.63 a day, the amount the district would get from the state if they student lived in the county.

Orman says illegal enrollments hurt Oldam County tax payers, Jefferson County Public School funding because students are leaving the district, and the children who are taught to lie by their parents about their living arrangements.

Kentucky is not alone. Ohio, Illinois, and Connecticut have also cracked down on illegal enrollment. If you want to weigh in on the issue, head to our WHAS11 Facebook page.

http://www.whas11.com/news/education/128543123.html

How can the gov do this? Oldham county is full of horse farms loaded with illegal alien workers that send kids to their schools. A guy from an adjourning county is a criminal?

I'm guessing illegal Mexican students are waaaayyyy out of district.

Once again an American nailed to the wall.

While illegal aliens actually cross our southern border to enroll in our schools on the American side and the authorities do nothing.

W

Louisville man charged with theft in school attendance case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Oldham County School officials say they're cracking down on parents who use fake addresses so their children can attend schools in the district.

Charles Lauron of Louisville is charged with theft by deception, after his son attended Oldham County schools for eight years, using a friend's Goshen address. That friend is also charged with theft.

Oldham County Schools says it's already received a few calls from people "coming clean" because they don't want to face charges.

Anne Coorsen a spokeswoman for the district says, "we do spend a lot of time tracking down people who are bringing their kids in from another county."

Oldham County Public Schools investigates about 100 cases each year of people so called "hopping the county line" with fake addresses so their child can attend one of its schools known for high test scores.

Most are from Jefferson County. But last school year, families in Fairdale and Bullitt County were caught doing the same thing.

Coorsen says, "there were comments made by the student about things that happened in his neighborhood and we checked the address in Oldham County and that is not, in fact, where they were living."

Now, parent Charles Lauron of Lyndon is charged with theft by deception for allegedly falsifying his address for the past eight years. Friday was the last day for his eighth grader to attend North Oldham Middle.

The district says Lauron claimed he lived in Goshen on Whirlaway Circle. But after an investigation, the district found out Donna Claggett lives there, Lauron's friend.

Claggett is also charged with theft by deception. If convicted of the felony, both could face five to 10 years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine. The district says both Lauron and Claggett signed an affidavit stating Lauron and his son live there.

Coorsen says, "there were a variety of addresses given by parent on enrollment card. We looked into his family before and didn't have enough evidence that they weren't living at residence stated on their enrollment card."

The district says Lauron and his son really live on New LaGrange Road in Lyndon. Lauron could not be reached for comment, but said over the weekend, he doesn't know what the big deal is.

The district says taxpayers and the district lose when people use fake addresses.

Coorsen says the district calculates what it gets from county taxes for children to be educated and that comes to $3,300 a year. She says, "so if you look at that over seven to eight-year period, it's in excess of $20,000 in this one case."

The district says it already has other families on its radar and is encouraging the public to give tips on people who are illegally enrolled in its schools.

Gee, he's otherwise legal. Are they going to break up a family with a prison term for dad?

Several Oldham Co. non-residents withdraw students from schools there

Posted: Sep 01, 2011 12:53 PM EDT
Updated: Sep 01, 2011 12:53 PM EDT

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- Oldham County Public School officials say several families are admitting they don't live in that county, but send their kids to school there.

The district has already charged one father, Charles Lauron, of Lyndon, with theft by deception. The district says he used Donna Claggett's Goshen address as his own. She is also charged with theft by deception.

Now the district says at least six families are in the process of withdrawing their kids from Oldham County Schools so they won't face similar charges.

It has also received 11 calls with tips to turn other people in. The district investigates about 100 cases of fake addresses every year.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/15376960/seve ... ms-schools

Local talk radio covered this story. Lot's of people were amazed at the hypocrisy of just looking the other way for illegal aliens while jailing Americans wanting a better life for their kids. I hope this goes to a jury trial.