District boots 500, saves millions

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District saved about $3.5 million by, for the first time, verifying students’ addresses and sending non-residents back to their respective districts, officials said.

Of the more than 22,000 students who attend local schools, about 500 were sent back, said Jane Garland, director of the district’s child welfare and attendance. Each student cost about $7,000 to educate for one academic year, the state estimated.

Students who lived in other districts’ jurisdictions, such as in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana and Tustin, are not enrolled with the district this year, officials said.

Enrollment stayed about the same though because people moved into the district or are trying public school to save money compared with private-school costs, said district spokeswoman Laura Boss.

In all, about 22,200 students, counting preschool, are enrolled in Newport-Mesa this year, Boss said.

The district sought to verify students addresses to save money, she said.

Like school districts across the state facing cuts because of the recession, Newport-Mesa has seen significant losses.

In the last two years, $11 million has been cut from Newport-Mesa’s budget, and more cuts are on the way, Boss said.

“We knew these [costly] issues were out there,” Boss said. “This was not to penalize or punish any child.”

From March to June, the district offered 30 days in which parents could go to a specific location and verify their addresses with administrators.

Twenty-two were hosted in Costa Mesa, and eight were in Newport Beach.

However, the children’s lives vary widely. Some may rent rooms, maybe even live in a car, or their parents live month-to-month in an apartment, officials said.

So on about 500 occasions, the district sent out workers to the children’s listed addresses to verify they lived there, Garland said. They did not go into the homes and look around, she added.

Parents could verify their children’s address in several ways: a driver’s license, ID card or passport along with a vehicle registration with updated address, bank statement, tax documents or MediCal Letter of Approval with an updated address were required.

Newport-Mesa staff also needed a 2008-09 property tax bill, yearly rental or lease agreement or a month to month lease agreement.

Nearly every child’s address was verified by the first day of school Tuesday and it made for a smooth transition, Boss said.

Since Tuesday only about 150 parents have stopped by the district office in Costa Mesa to verify where they live, Garland said.

The move is part of the district’s effort to streamline record-keeping. From now on, whenever a family moves, they should notify the district office and not their respective school, Garland said.

“All the one-stop shopping is getting a little closer to becoming a reality,” Boss said.