Jump to content

Conn. woman arrested over son's school enrollment


Auburn85

Recommended Posts

http://www.courant.com/community/norwalk/hc-ap-ct-schoolresidency-aapr20,0,3964809.story

AP

NORWALK, Conn.— Police say a homeless 33-year-old woman has been arrested after allegedly enrolling her son in Norwalk schools by using her babysitter's address.

Tonya McDowell, whose last known address was in Bridgeport, is scheduled to be arraigned April 27. She is charged with larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools.

Prosecutors say that is the value of her 6-year-old son's education at Norwalk's Brookside Elementary School between the time he was illegally enrolled in January and McDowell's arrest on April 14.

The Advocate of Stamford reports McDowell told police she had no permanent address, but occasionally stayed at a friend's apartment in Bridgeport or a Norwalk shelter.

She could not immediately be reached Wednesday for comment, and it was unclear whether she had an attorney.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Homeless-woman-s-arrest-for-sending-son-to-1346603.php

NORWALK -- When Tanya McDowell enrolled her son in kindergarten at Brookside Elementary School last year, she didn't expect she'd be facing a possible 20-year jail sentence and having to repay more than $15,000 to the city.

"I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," said McDowell, 33, after she was arrested by Norwalk police last week on a first-degree larceny charge for allegedly stealing her son's education.

McDowell's case has prompted an educational advocacy group to lead a fundraiser on her behalf and sparked a debate among some current and former Norwalk officials over whether criminal prosecution is appropriate.

The homeless, single mother and unemployed former food services worker was arrested after police determined she was a Bridgeport resident. McDowell said she divides her time between an apartment on Priscilla Circle in Bridgeport, where she is not allowed to stay when the lease holder is away, the Norwalk Emergency Shelter and her minivan.

McDowell enrolled her son, Andres Justin "A.J." Paches, now 5, using the address of a friend who baby-sat for A.J. at the Roodner Court public housing complex. As a result of the investigation into McDowell's residency, the babysitter was evicted from her apartment.

"I know so many people who enroll in other school districts where the kids go home on the weekend to visit their parents so they can have a better education," McDowell said during an interview Monday behind Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now in South Norwalk where she was seeing a case manager.

A.J. attended Brookside from September to mid-January when it was determined he did not live in the district, according to court records.

"He loved that school," McDowell said as tears welled up. "And they pulled him out like he was nothing."

A.J. is now living with family in Bridgeport and is attending school there, McDowell said. As of this week, McDowell was staying at the Norwalk homeless shelter.

In her four-page arrest warrant, police say McDowell stole up to $15,686 in educational services from the city of Norwalk -- the documented average cost for educating a child in 2010.

To help pay for any possible restitution, Gwen Samuel, the founder of the Meriden-based education lobbying group Connecticut Parents Union, has launched a bottle and can drive.

"We already have the worst achievement gaps in the country, and now you want to arrest someone for sending a child to a good school?" Samuel said. "You would figure that a school district such as Norwalk would put the child first. Saying we had the child this long with no fixed address and you would think they would do anything to ensure that this baby is safe and stable. Instead they arrest the baby's mother, knowing she has no fixed address. The system has failed this child because of what they did to his mother."

McDowell's residency became an issue during an eviction hearing for her friend and babysitter, Ana Marques. During her testimony in the housing court case on Jan. 11, Norwalk Housing Authority attorney Donna Lattarulo said McDowell claimed to live on Priscilla Circle -- not in Marques apartment -- and never mentioned she was homeless.

The judge, however, believed that McDowell was staying at the apartment violating housing authority lease rules and allowed the eviction of Marques to proceed.

After hearing McDowell's testimony, Lattarulo said she decided to make Norwalk Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Suzanne Vieux aware of what might have been a fraud perpetrated by McDowell.

"Someone was lying. I thought I should pass it on to the authorities," Lattarulo said.

Vieux, who along with Judge Bruce Hudock signed the arrest warrant authorizing McDowell's arrest, said she referred the case to the police department.

Vieux said her office prosecutes theft of service cases regularly and she does not know why cases like these have not been brought to the police department in the past.

"It is a theft," she said.

McDowell's case is the first time anyone can remember a parent being criminally prosecuted for sending a child to a school out of district. Larry Cafero, the state House Minority Leader and former Norwalk Board of Education chairman, has served as hearing officer on residency cases for the past 19 years and said he commends Vieux for prosecuting McDowell.

Cafero said parents accused of sending their children out of district are usually given a chance to defend themselves in a school hearing. He said in most cases parents pull their children out of school when confronted

Even though the preponderance of the evidence was against the parents during the hearings he held, he "never ever" heard of any of the cases being turned over to police, Cafero said.

But Cafero sees these situations as someone stealing services from the city of Norwalk and gives kudos to Vieux for turning the case over to police.

Neither schools Superintendent Susan Marks nor Chief Operating Officer Craig Drezek could be reached for comment.

Assistant Superintendent Tony Daddona said he did not wish to comment on McDowell's case, but he too has never heard of such a case turned over to police.

But, he said, they probably should be.

"In a case where a parent has lied about their child's residence or has moved without notifying the school, there should be legal action taken because it is depriving students of an educational process that Norwalk residents are paying for," Daddona said.

Former Chief Operating Officer Stuart Opdahl said he could not figure out why McDowell was not being offered her due process rights by Norwalk Public Schools.

Opdahl, who was chief operating officer from 2001 to 2009, said little if any thought was given to turning over to police the 20 or so cases of out-of-district kids that he ran into every year when he worked for Norwalk schools.

Given what has occurred with out-of-district parents in the past, he called McDowell's arrest "absurd."

Opdahl said bringing parents to the police department was not the point of the exercise.

"If these youngsters were taking up space and time from the teaching staff then removing them is probably the most critical thing," Opdahl said. "I can't recall ever having that kind of thought of turning them over to police. In general it was not my primary goal to have people arrested."

Staff Writer John Nickerson can be reached at john.nickerson@scni.com or (203) 964-2320.

Link to comment
Share on other sites





Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...