We believe that residents students should have a seat in their home school and if someone says they're living in our area, we should make every effort to find out if that's true. We believe that at least 10% of the current students at Westwood Charter do not live in the boundaries of the school and we need to fight this fraud to keep our class sizes small, manage the enrollment in the future and eliminate the risk of over-enrollment consequences.

To reduce the enrollment numbers, we are proposing to implement an address verification plan ASAP. WWC is stuck with a policy that is outdated and needs to be addressed promptly.

Our Proposal:

1) Implement an address verification plan ASAP, including an allocation of a an address verification coordinator, address verification using public records with a help with enrollment committee (parents and staff)

2) Update the outdated enrollment policies (including address verification on a yearly basis for as long as students attend the school).

The model for the address verification could be Carpenter Elementary, an affiliated LAUSD charter school in Studio City. They had a population problem a few years ago and their area is growing, so they came up with a massive plan to verify students addresses by a dedicated LAUSD PSA coordinator with the principle lead. This is what Carpenter requires from new enrollments as well as current students in order to enroll to school:

1) PSA coordinator (this person is full time LAUSD employee) to verify address and cross verification on Lexis Nexus database

2) Their Principal goes door to door to verify addresses year long. Home visits are performed each year on all K-5th grade students.

3) They require two utility bills on a yearly basis (Family must resides in boundary yearly)

Carpenter and WWC had the same problem at the same time - the board at LAUSD knew it and did nothing. Carpenter received a PSA, LEXISNEXIS AND SUPPORT and reduced their enrollment by 20%!!!!!

WWC received no support and has only grown. We deserve the same equal rights, strategies, and opportunities that other LAUSD schools receive to control enrollment.

More information about Carpenter policy can be found here:

http://patch.com/california/studiocity/carpenter-hammers-out-plan-to-combat-enrollment-fraud

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20130304/parents-allege-massive-enrollment-fraud-at-carpenter-community-charter-in-studio-city

http://ccc-k12-pt.schoolloop.com/file/1410848236630/1405064411615/1565885698253512068.pdf

http://patch.com/california/studiocity/bp--carpenter-community-charter-announces-resident-ap6c9c0223bc

This is an issue that affects the ENTIRE community - whether folks have kids in school or not. One of the reasons that homes in our area are in high demand has to do with the school. An address verification will have a positive impact on property values and perhaps this will help to motivate those whose children have grown or who do not track LAUSD issues.