SOUTH BRUNSWICK – A parent owes the South Brunswick School District $35,462 for sending his three children to South Brunswick schools while the family lived in a neighboring town, officials said.
According to a decision by the commissioner of the N.J. Department of Education, the parent claimed that he lived in the Monmouth Junction section of the township; however, the South Brunswick Board of Education contended that a residency investigation revealed that the parent and his children actually resided in neighboring Franklin Township in Somerset County.
“[The] petitioner was not domiciled in the school district and therefore his children were not entitled to a free public education in South Brunswick schools,” according to the statement released on June 19.
The board’s investigator conducted surveillance from Sept. 1-Oct. 24, 2016: 27 times at the South Brunswick rental property and 31 times at a home in Franklin, according to legal documents. The investigator “never saw petitioner or any activity at the home” in South Brunswick, according to the documents, but “saw [the] petitioner’s cars parked outside and in the garage on 28 occasions” in Franklin, and “the same cars were also seen dropping off the minor children at the bus stop near the South Brunswick property several times.”
Neither the man nor his children were identified in the documents.
Although former Interim Superintendent of Schools Gary McCartney was named in the documents, Scott Feder assumed the role of superintendent as of July 1.
Feder declined to comment on the matter.
