Temporary stay

Students whose families have fooled the Middlesex school district into educating them, even though they are not legally borough residents, will be able to start the 2025-26 academic year here, but they might not stay long.

There will be a “process” to address non-resident students, officials said at the Wednesday, Aug. 20 Board of Education meeting. That process won’t be immediate. And it could require a determination by the state Department of Education to formally remove any pupils whose residency has not been supported with documentation.

The board was told by its attorney that the “default” position is to “enroll” and “educate students.”

Any family told their child does not meet the residency requirement will receive a 21-day period after a board vote to answer the allegation, according to state statute.

The reregistration was begun this spring under pressure from some community members who suspect there are more than a few non-resident children attending borough schools. A reregistration conducted roughly 15 years ago turned up nearly 70 non-resident students, according to people who were involved with that effort.

How many non-resident pupils the district actually had on its rolls during the last school year remains unclear, more than two months after a reregistration was begun. Students’ families were asked to submit residency-proving documents by late June.

Officials acknowledged at the meeting that many families have still not responded.

Board President Danielle Parenti said 322 students from last year had not completed the reregistration process as of the meeting. But that number was already down sharply from the 671 unregistered pupils as of Monday, Aug. 18, she noted.

When unregistered families cannot access back to school classroom assignments via the district’s online portal, Parenti predicted, unregistered kids will pressure their parents to get the paperwork completed.

“Those kids are going to be on their parents’ backs,” Parenti said, appearing to imply that district officials expect the unregistered total to drop further.

At another point in the meeting, School Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman was asked about reports that some parents had reregistered their children, but then received notification that they had not done so.

Freeman said the district had worked two weeks to fix a “glitch” in the Genesis parent communications portal that created the confusion. 

State law regarding the removal of students due to non-residency requires several steps before the pupil in question would leave the district, according to an online explanation of the statute.

If a district believes a student is ineligible, officials must notify the parent, guardian or caregiver in writing, explaining the reasons for the challenge. The pupil’s parent, guardian or caregiver can request a hearing before the entire school board at which they can present evidence and witnesses to demonstrate the pupil’s eligibility.

The entire board must vote at a public meeting whether to remove the student. If the pupil is deemed ineligible, the family can appeal to the Commissioner of Education within 21 days of the date the district’s decision. The commissioner would then review the case and rule on the matter.

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