Montclair Explains Policy On Non-Residents Attending Local Schools

On Monday night, the Morra's position as assistant principal of Mount Hebron Middle School following an investigation into whether she enrolled her children in Montclair schools while paying taxes to Little Falls.

Morra had held the $115,000-a-year assistant principal position for two years. Now she'll return to her previous job as a technology teacher at Mount Hebron.

After Morra told the board that former Superintendent Dr. Frank Alvarez had given her verbal permission to send her children to Montclair schools three years ago—something Alvarez has denied—many Patch readers have emailed to express confusion over the district's policy.

According to James Patterson, the district's personnel administrator, the policy is as follows: 

Other non-domiciled pupils may be admitted to this district on payment of tuition and availability of space after inspection of the pupil’s records and acceptance by the superintendent.

Non-resident parents or guardians who wish their child to attend the Montclair Public Schools and are willing to pay tuition costs must file  an application for admission at the central  office. The superintendent shall develop procedures for the enrollment of non-domiciled children that: 

• ·         Allow admission of such children only on the proper application of parent/guardian;
• ·         Verify claims of domicile and submission of affidavits of guardianship;
• ·         Deny admission where the educational program maintained for the children of this district is inadequate to meet the needs of the applicant;
• ·         Provide for acceptance and school assignment on the basis of space availability and racial balance;
• ·         Do not exclude any child, otherwise eligible, on the basis of such child's race, color, creed, national origin, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait of any individual or ancestry; and
• ·         Make continued enrollment of any non-domiciled pupil contingent upon timely payment of tuition and the maintenance by the pupil of good standards of citizenship and discipline.