Educating The Grandchildren
Q. My daughter divorced early this year and has custody of her 2 boys....Currently, since she commutes to her job, my 6-year-old grandson spends most of the weekdays with me. However, she comes almost every day to my home to see him after work, and takes him with her 1 or 2 evenings a week and brings him back at 6:00 AM the next day. (We have one of those old-fashioned arragenments in which the grandparents are involved in helping raising the kids along with both parents.)
We had to make this arrangement since the school the child is supposed to attend is far away from my area of residency and before/after school care is more expensive than a private school. Unfortunately, we can't afford the tuition of the private school he is currently enrolled near my home; and the public school in my area will not enroll him since I don't have legal custody of my grandson.
Is there a way that I could obtain documents to allow my grandchild to enroll in my area's school without affecting the custody/visitation/child support arragenments currently in place? We don't know what to do... My daughter and former son-in-law are great parents.
Thank you for your forthcoming response.
A. Well, first of all, it sounds like you, your daughter, and ex-son-in-law are handling things in a very mature way, which is surprisingly rare in matrimonial matters, so let me congratulate you.
Now, as to your issue, this doesn't really seem to be a legal question, exactly. It's a bit difficult to formulate an answer because I'm not entirely clear about the ages of both grandchildren, or on the current living situation, or even the custodial arrangements (it sounds as if your daughter has custody, but that at least one of the grandchildren is living with you at least part of the time). But let's give this a shot.
In my experience, some school boards are willing to make exceptions for out-of-town students, for a variety of reasons. The place to start is usually with the Superintendent's office. You and your daughter should set up an appointment to see the Superintendent and explain the situation. In some cases, the Superintendent may have the power and authority to give you permission to enroll your grandchild even though the child technically resides out of district. In other cases, you may have to petition the school board itself for permission. (Each district has its own rules, as you might expect. Start with the school board office; they should point you in the right direction.)
If you take the time to get your facts in order and go into your meeting prepared, you should be able to prevail upon the school board, or the Superintendent. But, just in case, you should also check out what the appeals process is, in case you don't prevail. Ordinarily, there is a process in place so that you can file an appeal from an adverse decision. Be aware, though, that this can be a time-consuming process and, if it gets to the point where you would need a lawyer to handle an appeal, it might be less expensive in the long run to enroll in that private school.
Good luck.
We had to make this arrangement since the school the child is supposed to attend is far away from my area of residency and before/after school care is more expensive than a private school. Unfortunately, we can't afford the tuition of the private school he is currently enrolled near my home; and the public school in my area will not enroll him since I don't have legal custody of my grandson.
Is there a way that I could obtain documents to allow my grandchild to enroll in my area's school without affecting the custody/visitation/child support arragenments currently in place? We don't know what to do... My daughter and former son-in-law are great parents.
Thank you for your forthcoming response.
A. Well, first of all, it sounds like you, your daughter, and ex-son-in-law are handling things in a very mature way, which is surprisingly rare in matrimonial matters, so let me congratulate you.
Now, as to your issue, this doesn't really seem to be a legal question, exactly. It's a bit difficult to formulate an answer because I'm not entirely clear about the ages of both grandchildren, or on the current living situation, or even the custodial arrangements (it sounds as if your daughter has custody, but that at least one of the grandchildren is living with you at least part of the time). But let's give this a shot.
In my experience, some school boards are willing to make exceptions for out-of-town students, for a variety of reasons. The place to start is usually with the Superintendent's office. You and your daughter should set up an appointment to see the Superintendent and explain the situation. In some cases, the Superintendent may have the power and authority to give you permission to enroll your grandchild even though the child technically resides out of district. In other cases, you may have to petition the school board itself for permission. (Each district has its own rules, as you might expect. Start with the school board office; they should point you in the right direction.)
If you take the time to get your facts in order and go into your meeting prepared, you should be able to prevail upon the school board, or the Superintendent. But, just in case, you should also check out what the appeals process is, in case you don't prevail. Ordinarily, there is a process in place so that you can file an appeal from an adverse decision. Be aware, though, that this can be a time-consuming process and, if it gets to the point where you would need a lawyer to handle an appeal, it might be less expensive in the long run to enroll in that private school.
Good luck.
posted by David Kendall at
10:20 PM
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