Couple wants education for niece but no tuition

The girl is originally from Las Vegas, but her aunt and uncle have custody.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — A Western Reserve Road couple believes their niece who lives with them is entitled to a free education in the Boardman school district.

But they say in a court action that the school district wants to charge tuition for the girl to attend.

Katherine and Anthony Grosso, who live in Canfield but within the school district, filed the action last week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court through Atty. Matthew T. Fekete.

They have custody of their niece, who is 16, originally from Las Vegas.

A magistrate granted a temporary restraining order last week allowing the girl to attend school while the court proceeding is pending, Fekete said. She started classes this week.

A hearing on a preliminary injunction in the case is set for Sept. 19.

Superintendent Frank Lazzeri declined to discuss the specifics of the Grossos’ case because it’s pending litigation.

But in general, it’s school board policy to educate all children whose parents live within the district.

However, when a child comes from out of state, someone pays tuition for that student — whether it be the local individuals with whom the student lives or a parent in the other state.

“That’s to protect the taxpayers,” Lazzeri said.

Here’s the problem

When a student comes to Boardman from another district, money from the state follows.

It’s more difficult for a district to get those funds when the student comes from another state, the superintendent said.

Lazzeri also pointed to an article that ran last month in the Ohio School Boards Association Journal.

The article, written by OSBA’s director of legal services, refers to the topic of tuition for public schools, saying that in most cases, the school district where the parents reside is responsible for paying tuition.

Different rules apply, however, when the child is the subject of a grandparent power of attorney or caretaker authorization affidavit, or when the child’s parents live outside Ohio, it says.

“In the former situation, the district educating the child would count the child as part of its own average daily membership with no other district responsible,” the article reads.

In the latter scenario, “the parent is responsible for paying tuition,” it says.

Court papers filed by the Grossos say that Mahoning County Juvenile Court awarded the couple custody of the girl in August. According to court documents, she’s been living with her aunt and uncle since April because of personal circumstances.

The school district prior to the granting of the temporary restraining order “unlawfully refused to admit [the girl] into their schools without imposing the condition that the Grossos first pay them a ‘monthly tuition’ of $800 per month,” the court papers say.

That deprived the girl of her lawful right to a free public education, they say.

The girl missed the first week of classes in Boardman, which may be a problem for the girl, Fekete said. The couple may ask through the courts that the school district provide her a tutor.