Decision: Girl must pay school tuition

The couple’s attorney says he’ll likely file objections to the magistrate’s decision.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — Tuition must be paid if a former Las Vegas girl living with her legal guardians in the Boardman school district wants to attend school here.

That’s according to Dennis J. Sarisky, a magistrate in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He issued that decision in denying a motion filed for a preliminary injunction filed by the girl’s aunt and uncle, her guardians. The decision also dissolves a temporary restraining order that had allowed the girl to attend Boardman tuition-free. However, the case is ongoing and a final decision on the matter is yet to come.

The girl’s aunt and uncle, Anthony and Katherine Grosso, who live within the school district and pay property taxes that go to the schools, had filed a motion in court to allow the girl, 16, to attend the school without paying tuition. Tuition is about $800 a month, according to the couple’s court motion.

In a hearing last week, the couple’s attorney, Matthew T. Fekete, argued that the girl lives with the Grossos, who have legal custody of her, and she should be able to attend school for free.

School administrators, represented by Attys. Christopher J. Newman and Scott C. Essad, said that because the girl’s parents live out of state, she couldn’t be admitted without tuition.

14 days to object

The Grossos have 14 days to object to the magistrate’s decision. A judge then would make a ruling.

Fekete said he likely will object.

The Grossos couldn’t be reached to comment and it was unclear whether the girl, a sophomore, would continue to attend Boardman schools in light of the decision.

Schools Superintendent Frank Lazzeri declined to comment because the case is ongoing.

Karla Carruthers, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education, also declined to comment about ODE’s interpretation of the law because the case is pending litigation.

The decision says, “When a child does not live in the school district in which his/her parents reside, tuition must be paid for the attendance of that child.”

Residency or nonresidency under Ohio’s school admission statutes is determined by the residence of the pupil’s parents, Sarisky wrote, adding that the girl is a nonresident pupil under Ohio law.

No exception exists in Ohio law from the requirement to pay tuition for a pupil who comes from out of state into the custody of a person other than the pupil’s parents.

Decision

Failure to collect tuition would render the girl’s attendance unauthorized and the school district would receive no state funds for her attendance, the magistrate said.

Admission of the girl “on a tuition free basis would be adverse to the interests of the taxpayers, parents and students of the Boardman Local School District,” Sarisky’s decision said.

Hollie Reedy, director of legal services for the Ohio School Boards Association, declined to comment on the specific case. But she said that “Ohio law extends a free public education to people who are residents of Ohio.”

It doesn’t extend a free public education to people who live all over the United States, she said.

Some other Mahoning Valley schools operate differently concerning pupils from out of state when an individual living in the district has legal custody.

“In order for them to attend Austintown without tuition, the person the student is staying with would have to have paperwork saying that they are the legal guardian,” said Douglas Heuer, Austintown schools superintendent.

Poland Superintendent Dr. Robert Zorn said his district follows state law. A pupil from out of state whose parents live out of state must pay tuition, with some exceptions. Those include cases of an Ohio resident having legal custody, shared parenting instances and cases of children living with grandparents, he said.

It’s similar in Niles.

“Our policy is that anyone that has custody of a particular student and lives in the Niles City School District we allow that student to participate tuition-free,” said Superintendent Rocco Adduci.