BONDUEL, WI – The Bonduel School District is strengthening its residency verification process after district officials say repeated cases of false residency claims have created an unfair situation for local taxpayers and students.
Superintendent Joe Dawidziak said families who fraudulently claim residency to enroll their children are taking advantage of a system intended for students who legally live within district boundaries.
“It’s not fair to taxpayers to be paying to educate a kid that doesn’t live here because they’re fraudulently using a false address,” Dawidziak said.
In response, the Bonduel School Board recently approved a formal residency statement designed to reinforce the district’s enrollment verification process and make expectations clear for families seeking to enroll students.
That statement can be viewed here.
Dawidziak said district staff have become more experienced at identifying inconsistencies during enrollment, with utility bills often providing some of the biggest warning signs.
“They’ll provide a utility bill and it’s somebody else’s name on the utility bill, or they’ll provide us a utility bill that’s from a different district, or it’s three years old,” he said.
According to Dawidziak, those repeated issues have become more common over the past two years, prompting the district to formalize its residency requirements.
District officials say the policy is not intended to affect families who legitimately live within the Bonduel School District or students who are already attending through Wisconsin’s Open Enrollment program. Instead, the goal is to ensure enrollment rules are applied fairly and consistently for everyone.
Dawidziak said the district will continue verifying residency information during the enrollment process and emphasize
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