{"id":10040,"date":"2013-12-10T16:45:03","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T21:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/?p=10040"},"modified":"2013-12-10T18:26:44","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T23:26:44","slug":"bloomfield-school-residency-criminal-case-1985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/2013\/12\/10\/bloomfield-school-residency-criminal-case-1985\/","title":{"rendered":"School District ‘Cracks Down’ on Student Residency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saundra Foster, mother of Trevor Foster, sent her son to Bloomfield High School because he was not getting the education he needed while he was enrolled in the Hartford school system. \u201c[Trevor] got into so much trouble with the Hartford school system or with Hartford High in general\u201d. According to Saundra, her son was a \u201cgood kid\u201d and he wanted to be in school while performing well, however the education system in Hartford did not allow his learning to develop and was ultimately frustrated. Because of such problems, Saundra added in an interview with the Hartford Courant, that she would fight any action that would remove her son from Bloomfield High School. In 1985, Bloomfield High School, home to roughly 2,<\/b>000 students, became the center of a legal controversy that drew national as well as local <\/b>attention to a violation of the law that had never been seen before (Drury A1).<\/p>\n

\"Jumping<\/a>
“Jumping the Line,” The Public File (Hartford, CT: Viacom Broadcasting, Inc., WVIT Channel 30, Aug. 31, 1985)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bloomfield, Connecticut is a suburb located in the Greater Hartford area that was considered an option where minority parents could send their children to school without having to worry about educational problems within the school district. Although its high school as well had a high African American population, it was still thought to be a better option of education than the high schools in the Hartford Public School District.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Bloomfield Cracking Down on Non-Residents in Schools.” The Hartford Courant 21 Mar. 1985<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four Hartford residents Saundra Foster, Claude Johnson, Elizabeth Brown and Norma Wright (Windsor) were charged with first degree larceny for illegally enrolling their children into Bloomfield High School. Pursuing criminal sanctions in a school residence case had been a first for the town of Bloomfield, therefore, not just the police, but educators and community leaders were much involved. Larceny, a felony that carried a maximum of five years jail time as well as a $5000 fine was placed in front of the parents who just wanted their children to receive a better education. Also, they wanted their children to have the opportunity for a fair chance at getting an equal education as those students who were of higher socioeconomic statuses. \u201cHow does one steal a free education\u201d (Mendoza, Saunders) \u00a0is the question Att.M. Donald Cardwell rose when trying to figure out why the Bloomfield police were warranting arrests for parents of non-resident students.<\/p>\n

Stealing an Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

In March of 1985, nearly 100 students from other towns attended Bloomfield High School, which at the time, was illegal because they weren\u2019t actual residents. By sending their children to live with relatives that were taxpayers of Bloomfield, complaints and concerns were made by mostly white parents and school board members, which urged the Board of Education to disenroll students essentially for not belonging. However, Dorothy H. Billington, the only African American on the Bloomfield Board of Education revealed that the [white] community of Bloomfield over exaggerated the estimates of so many \u201cillegal students\u201d in the school system, and \u201cthere were some [whites] who felt extremely uncomfortable being in the minority\u201d (Drury A12).<\/p>\n

Sen. Frank Barrows suggested that the Bloomfield Board of Education were not actually the ones who were in control, it was the police. In his interview with the WVIT Channel 30 news he states, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on it seems like the police department, whenever they want to make an arrest, they just go out and say, \u2018Well here\u2019s a person,\u2019 and they\u2019ll arrest them\u201d (Mendoza, Saunders). This violation of the law did not seem to be much of a big issue to the school, yet the police department intended to make clear that nonresidents would not be welcome to attend school in Bloomfield. Ultimately, was this a race related case? Out of the many students that were \u201cjumping the line\u201d how come only four families were singled out? Was it because they were the only ones from Hartford?<\/p>\n

Hartford School System Inferior<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saundra Foster\u2019s personal feelings were that Hartford Public schools were geared toward students with special needs; such institutions like Hartford Public and Weaver High School were difficult to receive the proper education by students who had the ability and actually wanted to learn (Mendoza, Saunders). \u201cIs Hartford providing its youth with a good education?\u201d \u00a0is a question that came up a lot during this case. Although Amanda Cruz, an HPHS student argued that within an urban setting you can achieve (Mendoza, Saunders), the Hartford parents who enrolled their children into Bloomfield High School agreed that their city was doing a poor job. \u201cThere is a school of thought that Hartford school system is inferior to a school system such as Bloomfield\u2019s\u201d (Mendoza, Saunders). Was it because the teachers did not want to put time and energy into students who were of a low socioeconomic status? Connecticut education commissioner Gerald Terozzi answered that question referring to the problem as an economic issue. As race actually being an outlying factor, he stated, \u201cthe children of poor need so many more resources, support service, so much more attention\u2026 and until the state recognizes, we will continue to have that problem\u201d (Mendoza, Saunders).<\/p>\n

\"video<\/a>
Trevor Foster with his mother Saundra Foster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The same day the arrest warrants were issued to the parents was the same day the students all withdrew from school. \u201cThe warrant applications charge the parents with third-degree larceny for accepting $4,001 worth of free education\u201d which was eighth highest price in the state for pupil expenditure (Drury A1). The Bloomfield Town Council\u2019s attempt to resolve the case resulted in all charges being dropped from the parents in less than 3 months after the students withdrew from school. The resolution of the case was \u201cDesigned to develop a system that would deter non-resident enrollments and head off problems before criminal prosecution because necessary\u201d (Drury A1). For the future the Board of Education was required to thoroughly check for non-resident enrollments. According to Mayor David A. Baram, \u201cWhat happened in Bloomfield will not happen again\u201d (Drury A16).<\/p>\n

Residency Verification<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"School<\/a>
School Residency problems still exist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each year students who live along the border of suburban towns are enrolled into schools that aren\u2019t in their district. Since 2002 Connecticut school systems have been \u201ccracking down\u201d because, although parents want the best for their children, \u201c[schools] have an obligation to [their] taxpayers to ensure that only resident children are attending\u201d (Weizel). Initially, the school boards feel bad by not admitting or expelling non-resident students, but they are only doing what is considered fair. Each year the cost to educate a student is increasing, ranging from $8000-$11000, which is covered by the city\u2019s taxpayers. All educators in the State of Connecticut agree that it is hard to turn a student away, but once a student is out of the district they have to find a new school.<\/p>\n

Just a year ago Tanya McDowell of Bridgeport was sentenced to 5 years in jail for enrolling her son into kindergarten at a better school in Norwalk. As she promised that she would fight for her son’s education, she stated, “Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament? I have no regrets seeking a better education for him” (Tepfer). Her lawyer Darnell Crosland then goes on to say, “You shouldn’t be arrested for stealing a free education. It’s just wrong” (Smith). It still unsure if the general public is mindful of the law but violations of residency requirements continue to usually represent students from areas with lower-rated schools crossing into communities with more highly rated school systems. <\/span>Overall, despite the risks to potential consequences, parents still send their children across school district lines in search of a better education.<\/p>\n

Work Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drury, Dave. \u201cBloomfield Council Takes Up Residence Issue.\u201d The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 23 Apr. 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.<\/p>\n

Drury, Dave. \u201cBloomfield Cracking Down on Non-Residents in Schools.\u201d The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 21 Mar. 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.<\/p>\n

Drury, Dave. \u201cThree Bloomfield High Students Withdraw as Residence Disputed.\u201d The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 27 Mar. 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.<\/p>\n

Drury, Dave, and Karl Schoenberger. \u201cCharges Against Parents in Bloomfield School Case Dropped: Reaction Mixed; Civil Suit Possible.\u201d The Hartford Courant (1923-1987) 6 June 1985. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.<\/p>\n

Graham Smith. \u201cHomeless Mother Who Sent Six-Year-Old Son to Better School in the Wrong Town Jailed for Five Years.\u201d Mail Online<\/i>. N. p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.<\/p>\n

Tepfer, Daniel. \u201cTanya McDowell Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison.\u201d Connecticut Post<\/i>. N. p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.<\/p>\n

William Mendoza and Anita Ford Saunders, \u201cJumping the Line,\u201d The Public File (Hartford, CT: Viacom Broadcasting, Inc., WVIT Channel 30, August 31, 1985) 7 Oct. 2013.<\/p>\n

Weizel, Richard. \u201cRESIDENCY CRACKDOWN DISTRICTS HIRE INVESTIGATORS TO VERIFY WHERE STUDENTS LIVE: [THIRD Edition].\u201d Boston Globe 3 Feb. 2002 : B.7. Print. 13 Oct. 2013.<\/p>\n

In my revisions to the CTHistory essay looked back at Clarissa’s comments and basically just followed what she said to make my essay better. I struggled a bit because I actually forgot what I had originally wrote the first time I posted so I went back to read my first draft along with the comments from the class, then the 2nd with comments from Clarissa. The main change that I made was trying to make a stronger conclusion. After reading comments from my first draft placed in GDocs I saw that Karen mentioned that a stronger conclusion to go along with stats or a story today on a school residency case would make my essay more compelling. With other minor grammar corrections I believe that the final outcome of this essay will be a lot better<\/p>\n

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Saundra Foster, mother of Trevor Foster, sent her son to Bloomfield High School because he was not getting the education he needed while he was enrolled in the Hartford school system. \u201c[Trevor] got into so much trouble with the Hartford school system or with Hartford High in general\u201d. According to Saundra, her son was a … Continue reading School District ‘Cracks Down’ on Student Residency<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":517,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[70],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/517"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10040"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10044,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10040\/revisions\/10044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/cssp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}