Residency
A student may attend school free of charge when his/her/their parent or legal guardian is domiciled within the school district. The domicile of the student controls once that student turns age 18 or is emancipated from his/her/their parent or legal guardian.
A wide variety of disputes can arise regarding the determination of a student’s domicile which may necessitate hiring an attorney. As the per pupil cost of education continues to rise and available financial resources continue to decrease, the issue of student domicile has become a source of concern for local boards of education leading to students being disenrolled from school and parents being faced with tuition reimbursement requests.
This is particularly problematic for parents of students with disabilities since the cost of tuition is higher as a result of more services being provided, and there may be services unique to the current school district. There are many nuances in the domicile laws particularly as they relate to divorced parents or students living within two towns, students who are homeless, and/or students who are living with someone other than his/her/their parent or legal guardian.
We have successfully helped many families navigate this complex area of the law through settlements and court proceedings.
