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    AG Letter To Oyster Bay

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    RiverheadLOCAL
    Feb. 28, 2020 letter from the Office of the N.Y. State Attorney General to the Oyster Bay-East Norwich school district regarding registration requirements for proof of residency

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    AG Letter To Oyster Bay

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    RiverheadLOCAL
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    Feb. 28, 2020 letter from the Office of the N.Y. State Attorney General to the Oyster Bay-East Norwich school district regarding registration requirements for proof of residency

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    AG Letter to Oyster Bay

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    Feb. 28, 2020 letter from the Office of the N.Y. State Attorney General to the Oyster Bay-East Norwich school district regarding registration requirements for proof of residency

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    158 views3 pages

    AG Letter To Oyster Bay

    Uploaded by

    RiverheadLOCAL
    Feb. 28, 2020 letter from the Office of the N.Y. State Attorney General to the Oyster Bay-East Norwich school district regarding registration requirements for proof of residency

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    STATE OF NEW YORK

    OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

    LETITIA JAMES DIVISION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE


    ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL RIGHTS BUREAU

    February 28, 2020

    VIA EMAIL & CERTIFIED MAIL


    Dr. Laura Seinfeld
    Superintendent of Schools
    Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District
    1 McCouns Lane
    Oyster Bay, NY 11771
    [email protected]

    Re: Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District Residency Verification

    Dear Superintendent Seinfeld:

    The New York State Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) has serious concerns that
    the Oyster Bay-East Central School District’s revised District Policy 7130 on Schools
    Admissions (the “Policy”) violates New York law, its implementing regulations, and guidance
    issued by the New York State Education Department (“NYSED”). The Policy, effective July 1,
    2020, requires all students to immediately provide verification of their residency in the District,
    and imposes onerous and troubling requirements on parents, guardians, and third-party owners
    and landlords, including but not limited to the fact that:

    1. All families are required to complete the verification process,


    regardless of reason to believe that an individual student does not
    meet residency requirements, or are subject to exclusion from the
    District’s schools;
    2. All families are required to submit originals of all documents
    required in person from Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM –
    3:00PM beginning on February 3, 2020, and in windows ranging
    from five to seven weeks depending on the last name of a student;
    3. All families and/or third-party owners and landlords must submit
    notarized affidavits, including as an attachment a deed, current
    Town of Oyster Bay tax bill, closing statement, and proprietary
    lease for co-operative apartments;
    4. Third-party owners and landlords must submit the first and last
    name and date of birth of all persons residing at a residence, not
    just the family registering a student;
    5. Such notarized affidavits include language that threatens
    punishment under the State Penal Law, and that threatens families
    that they will be legally responsible for and may be billed the
    District’s annual tuition rate in excess of $20,000 per year; and
    6. All families are required to submit a utility bill/ incoming service
    with an address, valid driver’s license or car registration,
    documents issued by government agencies with an address, and a
    current pay stub with an address, all of which (with the exception
    of the driver’s license or car registration) must be issued within
    thirty days prior to submission of the registration packet.
    New York law mandates that a “person over five and under twenty-one who has not
    received a high-school diploma is entitled to attend the public schools maintained in the district
    in which such person resides without the payment of tuition.” N.Y. Educ. Law § 3202(1).
    Residence is based upon an individual’s physical presence as an inhabitant within the district or
    intent to reside in the district. See Appeal of Vinueza, Decision No. 14,746; Appeal of Karmin,
    Decision No. 14,618; Appeal of Keyes, 40 Decision No. 14,589.

    New York State regulations establish requirements for districts to follow in verifying
    residency and age to “ensure that all eligible students are admitted to . . . schools without delay.”
    N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs., tit. 8 § 100.2(y)(1). The regulations contain information with
    respect to what school districts may consider, may not consider, and shall consider in making
    residency and age determinations. See id. § 100.2(y)(3). Furthermore, in July 2018, NYSED
    issued guidance making clear that “[w]hile the regulations recognize that school districts may
    make determinations throughout the school year that certain individual students are no longer
    district residents subsequent to initial enrollment or re-entry, the regulations do not contemplate
    the practice . . . of requiring all students to ‘re-register’ with the district regardless of whether a
    question exists as to the residency status of each individual student.” New York State Education
    Department Residency Guidance (July 19, 2018), at 1, available at
    http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/residencyguidance-memo.7-19-18.pdf (“NYSED
    Guidance”); see also NYSED Guidance, at 3 (reminding districts of various obligations under
    state and federal law).

    In contrast, the Policy requires all students, regardless of whether a question exists as to
    the residency status of an individual student, to re-register with the District. Furthermore, the
    Policy mandates the production of certain documents, and includes onerous requirements for
    those documents that are not compatible with the text and purpose of the regulations, and/or do
    not relate to determining whether an individual is an inhabitant within the district or intends to
    reside in the district.

    Accordingly, you are hereby requested to cease implementation of the Policy, and notify
    families in the District via mail and on the District’s website in both English and Spanish of the
    fact that the Policy is no longer in effect. Within the next five business days, please provide the
    STATE OF NEW YORK
    OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

    LETITIA JAMES DIVISION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE


    ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL RIGHTS BUREAU

    undersigned with copies of the notices to families, and ways in which the notices were
    distributed. Within the next fourteen business days, please provide the undersigned with a
    revised policy regarding the District’s residency and age verification requirements that complies
    with New York state law, regulations, and guidance. Your failure to comply with this request
    may result in further action by this office.

    Sincerely,

    s/ Jessica Clarke

    Jessica Clarke, Bureau Chief


    Elena Goldstein, Deputy Bureau Chief
    Amanda Meyer, Assistant Attorney General
    Joel Marrero, Assistant Attorney General
    Civil Rights Bureau
    State of New York
    Office of the Attorney General
    [email protected] | (212) 416-6225
    [email protected] | (212) 416-8097

    c: Shannon L. Tahoe
    Interim Commissioner of Education

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