School residency arrests raise fairness questions

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A homeless single mother’s arrest on charges she intentionally enrolled her son in the wrong Connecticut school district is raising questions about uneven enforcement of residency rules.

Tanya McDowell’s arrest in Norwalk last month came a few months after an Ohio woman was convicted of falsifying records in a similar case. Prosecutors say Kelley Williams-Bolar of Akron used her father’s address to send her children to a suburban school district.

Yet in Connecticut, Ohio and elsewhere, officials acknowledge that parents are routinely caught doing the same thing but rarely face criminal charges. Often, they’re ordered to reimburse the districts for tuition but don’t end up in court.

McDowell and Williams-Bolar are low-income black single mothers, a fact that disturbs civil rights activists who question if they’re being singled out unfairly.

McDowell returns to court Wednesday.