Background check to be used to verify families’ residency in District 64

Parents soon will be required to submit to a background check to prove they are residents of Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 before they can register their children for school. The new process was endorsed Monday by the school board.

District 64 no longer will need to hire additional staff during the summer to review residency documents submitted annually by each family before approving the registration of each student, District 64 Chief School Business Official Luann Kolstad told the board.

Requiring families to submit those documents — which usually includes Cook County property tax bills or leases as well as utility bills — annually is “burdensome” for families and “labor intensive” for staff, Kolstad told the board in her report.

Instead, parents of all returning students will undergo a background check using the using the Clear Batch program, which is also used by the Maine Township High School District 207 to verify the residency of their students, Kolstad said.

Board President Anthony Borrelli said the new system would be “more efficient.”

Families new to District 64 will be required to submit documents that prove they live in the district when they register their children for the first time, Kolstad said. In addition, families that rent their homes will be required to provide district officials with copies of their leases annually if the agreement expires before the start of the new school year, Kolstad said.

Using the background check system rather than hiring additional staff during the summer will save the district $4,100, Kolstad said. If the background check uncovers a “red flag,” those families will be required to submit additional documents before their child is allowed to register for school, Kolstad said.

Since the 2015-16 school year, 24 students have been removed from District 64 for non-residency, Kolstad said. Another 10 students who attempted to register in District 64 were prevented from doing so, Kolstad said.

The annual cost for District 64 to educate a student is $15,613, according to a district study.

Heather Cherone is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.