Georgia school district accused of illegally delaying enrollment of foster children

A state agency is accusing the Muscogee County School District of violating state and federal law by delaying the enrollment of foster children.

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services says the disagreement centers on the interpretation of a bill signed into law this year intended to help get kids in foster care enrolled in new schools more quickly.

According to the letter, Muscogee is interpreting Senate Bill 431, which passed both chambers unanimously this year and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in May, to require a foster child’s case manager to directly enroll the child in school. According to the state agency, any department-approved custodian, like foster parents, or agency personnel, not just case managers, are allowed to enroll students.

The state agency says Muscogee is the only Georgia district to interpret the law this way, and the result is more than 30 students missing the first week of classes, including more than 20 with individualized education plans and special education designation. And the division says around 50 other students in foster care who had already enrolled could be at risk of being withdrawn from school if they are not enrolled by their case manager.

“After years of working through enrollment issues with Muscogee, this is the latest in a long line of efforts by Muscogee County School District to delay, defer, or refuse enrollment of children in foster care into their school system,” reads an Aug. 14 letter from DFCS attorney Dana Carroll to the Regional Education Service Agency overseeing the area and the Georgia Department of Education.

“This unlawful practice violates the rights of these students to be enrolled in school and delays their educational opportunities,” the letter continues.

The letter, which was obtained by the Georgia Recorder, was sent as the central Georgia school district is now three weeks into the new school year.

In an emailed statement, Muscogee County Schools communications director Kimberly Wright said the district is not violating the law and did not receive a copy of the letter from DFCS.

“The suggestion that MCSD failed to enroll students who are eligible for enrollment is incorrect,” she wrote. “The District is working cooperatively with the Department of Family and Children Services on this issue to ensure that all required information is obtained for enrollment.”

“If DHS, the RESA, or any collaborating agency has any questions about the way in which MCSD is undertaking to follow the law regarding enrollment, MCSD is happy to discuss those issues,” she added.

Foster parents sometimes have difficulty enrolling children into a new school when they change locations, sometimes having to take days off work to deal with paperwork and logistics. Lawmakers attempted to ease that struggle with SB 431, which requires districts to enroll foster students within three school business days of receiving a completed enrollment form.

The bill’s sponsor, Marietta Republican Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, expressed disappointment.

“We passed SB 431 to be sure foster kids would be immediately enrolled to prevent disruptions to their already challenging lives,” she said. “I am disappointed to hear that one of our school districts either has not gotten the message or is deliberately not complying. Hopefully this can be resolved quickly.”

John DeGarmo, founder of an advocacy group called the Foster Care Institute and a foster parent to more than 60 kids in Georgia, said around half of foster children do not finish school. He said he fears Muscogee’s policy will further discourage them from focusing on their schoolwork as well as force foster parents to take off work to watch the kids instead of sending them to school and risk piling on to vulnerable children’s list of problems.

“They might see it as ‘the school doesn’t want me because I’m a foster kid,’” he said. “So that might further traumatize or bring additional anxiety to that child, additional anxiety that the foster parents have to address because that child is living in their home, not going to school. The child might be feeling that anxiety because they think ‘the school doesn’t want me. Yet again, adults have betrayed me, failed me, don’t want me.’”