Living in the Home Zone

On the face of it, the wording of Section 11D(1) is quite straightforward when it says that an applicant for enrolment is entitled to enrol “if he or she lives within the school’s home zone.”

Boards will know, however, that multiple shades of meaning may apply to the word “lives” and boards have become used to making decisions about boarding arrangements, families with more than one address and temporary living situations in a common sense way.  Even so, in recent years parents have developed ploys which make it difficult for schools to determine whether a given in-zone address is genuine or not.

Under Section 11P(2)(a) the Ministry has the authority to direct a board to enrol a student who the board has previously determined does not live within the school’s home zone.  Under Section 11G(3) which allows the Secretary for Education to issue Guidelines, there is a specific requirement for the Ministry to explain how it will determine whether a student lives within a home zone or outside it.

It is the Ministry’s view that any decision on whether or not a student lives within a home zone should be based on whether or not the student’s given address is his or her usual place of residence.

A student is considered to be living in the home zone when the student currently (at those times when the school is open for instruction) has his or her place of residence at an address within the home zone and intends to remain within the zone.

The intention of remaining within the home zone is shown by any of the following:

1. The student lives with his or her parent(s)/guardian(s) in a house in the home zone owned, leased or rented by the parent(s)/guardian(s).

2. The student lives with a family member or some other responsible adult who has been given a primary duty of care by the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) in a house in the home zone owned, leased or rented by that adult. Students accepted for a school hostel are also covered by this description. 

3. A student over 16 lives independently and owns, leases, rents or occupies a house in the home zone either with the agreement of the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) or in situations where the student has been granted an Independent Living Allowance.

The board will periodically have to make a decision on difficult situations, such as shared custody or temporary living arrangements when people are recent arrivals to an area.  In the case of shared custody it may be that the student’s usual place of residence can only be defined in terms of two addresses.  In the case of new arrivals to an area, the board should remember that “usual place of residence” is not the same as “permanent place of residence” and this may mean that somebody who is genuinely, but temporarily, living in the home zone has to be enrolled.

Issues associated with temporary residence are explored in more detail in a later section (pages 16-19).

Determining genuineness

The onus is on the parent to provide evidence which will enable the board to judge whether the given address will be the student’s usual place of residence when the school is open for instruction.  If, at the time of application, the parent is not able to provide the board with such evidence, the board may decide to decline the application.  In cases where an applicant then requests a directed enrolment under Section 11P(1), the Ministry will ask the board to explain the grounds for its decision to refuse the student’s enrolment

The difficulty for the board is the issue of determining “genuineness”

At the time of pre-enrolment, boards may seek proof of residence from applicants. Schools have found documents such as power bills, bank statements, rates demands, leases or tenancy agreements and statutory declarations to be useful in the past.  Experience has shown, however, that not even these documents will necessarily provide evidence of “genuineness”. 

The appendices to these Guidelines contain two documents which could assist schools at the time of pre-enrolment. 

On page 37 there is a statement which parents can be asked to sign at the time of application.  The purpose of this statement is two-fold.  It lets parents know the seriousness of attempting to subvert the intent of the legislation and it should help as a reference point if a board subsequently feels it has reasonable grounds for reviewing an enrolment.

The questionnaire on page 36 reinforces the message about genuineness and  assists a board to discover information which might point to an attempt by the parents to defeat the intent of the legislation.

Note that the term “primary duty of care”, which is used in both of these documents, indicates that the person with whom the student is boarding will take a high level of responsibility for the student’s welfare.  A board might doubt the genuineness of the boarding arrangement if the parents insist on being the first point of contact for all matters relating to the student’s progress and behaviour at school.

The following situations are likely to raise suspicions and point to a possible non-genuine in-zone living arrangement.

• A check with the student’s current intermediate or full-primary school reveals a different address from that given at the time of pre-enrolment for the secondary school.
• The in-zone family address given at the time of pre-enrolment is a recent acquisition and there is no suggestion that this is a new family home resulting from a recent move, or that it is admitted to be a rental address occupied by the family while it is attempting to find permanent accommodation.
• The student will be boarding at an in-zone address while the family home is out of zone but not too far away.
• After an unsuccessful application from an out of zone address, the parents make a new application based on an in-zone address – either as a new family home or as a boarding address for the student.

If a non-genuine in-zone living arrangement comes to light before enrolment takes place (ie before attendance begins) the board would be able to simply withdraw any offer of a place which it might have made on the basis of the information  provided at pre-enrolment.  If, however, the matter does not surface until attendance has begun, the board would have to follow the enrolment review procedures set out in Section 11OA of the Education Act 1989.  Information about this process is provided later in these Guidelines, in the Section headed “Temporary Residence” on pages 16-19.

It is not possible to designate certain situations as “genuine” and others as “non-genuine”, but boards should feel able to act responsibly on the basis of reasonable probability,

In the event of an appeal by the parents against the board’s judgement, the Ministry would expect to find that the board has made a reasonable attempt to ascertain the genuineness of the situation and has not simply declined the application (and effectively passed the matter on to the Ministry) because it initially appears suspicious.  The scenarios discussed in the examples below may give a helpful guide to boards about how the issue might be tackled.

Practical examples for determining genuineness

Ministry staff are frequently asked for hard and fast answers as to whether a particular situation is legitimate or not.  Unfortunately, it is rarely possible to give a ruling without examining the facts of the particular case.

The following are some common enrolment scenarios which schools have brought to the attention of the Ministry.  These are not intended to provide answers that will be applicable in all similar situations, but rather to provide a guide as to how genuineness might be determined.

Example one

A family has moved into the zone just prior to the application for enrolment.

This is a very common scenario in which genuineness can be very difficult to establish.  To assist with this, it may be helpful to ascertain the following:

• Assess the suitability of the dwelling, particularly as compared with their previous dwelling, if possible (e.g. if the family claims to have shifted from a five-bedroom house into a two-bedroom unit, the genuineness of the application is very suspect).
• If the parents own the in-zone dwelling, can they provide proof of ownership and proof of sale of their previous home?
• If the in-zone dwelling is rented, assess the length of the rental agreement.  It may even be appropriate to contact or request a letter from the landlord to help establish the genuineness of the arrangement.  Does the family own an out of zone home?
• Investigate whether the student had previously made an unsuccessful out-of-zone application.

Example two

A student is boarding at an in-zone address. His family lives just outside the school zone.

If the parents insist that they have retained the primary duty of care, then the genuineness of the in-zone living arrangement begins to look very suspect.  Even if the parents say that they have handed over the primary duty of care, the situation is still highly suspicious given that the parents live nearby.  However, the applicants should be given the opportunity to provide evidence to support the genuineness of their application.  Such evidence might include:

• that the boarding arrangement has been in place for a reasonable period prior to the application.;
• that special family circumstances have meant that the boarding arrangement is preferable for non-schooling-related reasons. 

Example three

A student lives with her grandmother inside the school zone.

Whilst it is more credible that parents might grant a primary duty of care to their daughter’s grandmother than to a non-family member, it is not clear whether this is actually the case.  To ascertain genuineness, it may be helpful to know:

• how far away the student’s parents live;
• how long the student has lived with her grandmother;
• the suitability of the grandmother’s residence;
• whether there are any special family circumstances making this arrangement necessary or preferable.

Example four

A student has recently moved in with his father who lives in the school zone, having previously lived with his mother, outside the school zone.

In the case of shared custody, it is entirely legitimate for a student to move in with either parent for the purposes of enrolling at a particular school.  The question, of course, is whether the student is genuinely living there.  Questions, which may assist in ascertaining the genuineness of such a situation, could include:

• the suitability of the father’s dwelling (e.g. if it is a one bedroom flat, this may be less credible as a genuine living arrangement than a larger dwelling);
• how long the father has lived at the in-zone address.;
• whether there are any other reasons for the student shifting to live with his father.

Example five

A family has recently arrived in New Zealand. They are living in a rented flat whilst they look for more permanent accommodation.

This is a common and very difficult situation to assess. It is, of course, entirely reasonable for a family to rent a flat after just arriving in the country.  Equally it is possible that the family has done this specifically in order to gain enrolment at a particular school.  Investigations which may assist in ascertaining the genuineness of such a situation could include focus on:

• the suitability of the dwelling;
• whether this is the family’s first address in New Zealand (This could be confirmed through cross-referencing rental agreements with entry stamps on passports);
• if it is not their first address, why they have shifted address so quickly.

Example six

A family is sharing a house with another family.

The following kind of information may be helpful to establish the genuineness of such situations:

• if the student’s family claim that they aren’t the family that pays the power/phone bills, it may be appropriate to ask for some other evidence that they actually live there (e.g. a bank statement or other mail addressed to them);
• the length of time the arrangement has been place (if the two families have been living together for years, it is more likely to be genuine);
• the suitability of the house for two families;
• evidence that the student’s family is paying rent in some form.

Example seven

A family gives a motel as their in-zone address.

Under normal circumstances, a motel would not be considered a usual place of residence.  However, the family might be able to show that they have recently relocated from another part of the country for work-related reasons.  In such a case the child has to go to school somewhere and it is sensible if the school is the one whose zone includes the motel.  If the parents were able to provide strong evidence (such as unconditional sale and purchase agreements) that they would be relocating to a permanent, in-zone address, the board might feel that it is appropriate to enrol the student.  If, however, the parents provide evidence of only a short-term rental agreement at an in-zone address, the situation begins to look suspicious and the school would be wise to warn the parents of the law relating to temporary residence.  If there is no evidence that the parents have recently shifted from another part of the country or are new arrivals from overseas, the in-zone motel address is even more suspicious as a genuine in-zone living arrangement.

Conclusion

In most cases, no individual piece of evidence will be conclusive on its own.  But, collectively different factors may give a good indication as to the likely genuineness of the situation.  Importantly, asking such questions of applicants will give the opportunity for genuine applicants to prove they are genuine, despite their unusual circumstances.

Although seeking additional information may be time-consuming for a board, it is far more efficient to be thorough at the point of  application, rather than having to effect an annulment at a later point.

In some situations, however, suspicions will remain despite there being no reasonable ground to decline an application.  The Ministry recommends that schools compile a list of such students for further investigation at a later date, after attendance has commenced.

The Ministry also recommends that schools should keep full and accurate records and notes on all applications that are declined and enrolments that are annulled.  These will be valuable to the Ministry if the parent later makes an application for directed enrolment under Section 11P.  In some cases, it may be difficult for the Ministry to uphold a board’s decision if proper records have not been kept.