The Christian Science Monitor has this story today on children who cross the border from Mexico to attend schools in San Diego.
The article is authored by Randy Dotinga, who recently wrote an affecting series on suicides off the Coronado Bridge for voiceofsandiego.org.
His Christian Science Monitor story includes some details about Sweetwater Union High School District, where Mexican students can pay to attend:
The Sweetwater Union High School District, which serves 42,000 students in several San Diego-area border cities, requires parents to show proof of residency each year in person.
The proof can come in the form of documents such as water bills or mortgage papers. In addition, the district now requires documentation if a relative who lives in the district claims to be a child’s guardian and a new computer system will allow school officials to immediately identify addresses that don’t exist.
“We’ve really tried to close a lot of the loopholes,” says spokeswoman Lillian Leopold. “We think we’re pretty strict, but we’re not a police agency.”
The district does allow Mexican students to attend its schools if they pay annual tuition of $7,435, Ms. Leopold says. No one does that at the moment, however.