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Jones College Prep Student Used Uncle's Address to Enroll Fraudulently

By David Matthews | December 15, 2016 3:12pm
 Jones College Prep, 700 S. State St.
Jones College Prep, 700 S. State St.
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DNAinfo/David Matthews

DOWNTOWN — A handful of families are banned from some of Chicago's most prestigious schools after lying about where they lived to get in, according to a new report. 

A west suburban Berwyn family who used a brother-in-law's city address to get into Jones College Prep and a Garfield Ridge family who used a West Side address to get into Payton College Prep are among the instances of admissions fraud reported Thursday by Chicago Public Schools' Office of the Inspector General.

The discoveries at Jones and Payton are featured in the Inspector's wide-ranging annual report that also finds CPS boosted its attendance rate by erroneously counting home-schooled children. 

RELATED: CPS Schools Dubbed Dropouts 'Homeschooled' To Keep Numbers Low: Watchdog

The inspector's office has recommended the Berwyn family pay back nearly $13,000 for one year's worth of nonresident tuition at Jones, a selective-enrollment CPS high school at 700 S. State St. 

Such schools use grades, test scores and socioeconomic data from applicants' addresses to admit students. Payton and Jones are two of the city's most selective schools. 

The Inspector's office also found: 

•A North Center family used a more favorable Rogers Park address to get a student into Jones.

•A Bridgeport family used an address in a more disadvantaged part of the neighborhood to get into Jones.

•A Douglas family used a Grand Boulevard address to get into Jones.

•A Bridgeview family used a Pilsen address to get into Jones. 

•A family from Garfield Ridge used a Heart of Chicago address to get into Payton College Prep. 

•A Morgan Park family used a false address to get into Payton.

•Two students from Tri-Taylor used a false address to apply to South Loop Elementary's gifted regional center, but didn't get in. 

The students have since been expelled, and their families are permanently banned from applying to any more CPS selective-enrollment schools or programs. 

The inspector's office recommended in its report that CPS “evaluat[e] the child’s overall historic socio-economic situation" instead of just mailing addresses to ensure applicants' eligibility. 

Emily Bittner, a CPS spokeswoman, said that such a move would bring an "extraordinary paperwork burden" on families, but that CPS "looks forward to closely reviewing" the inspector's findings.

"CPS has taken action and will continue to increase controls and improve accountability throughout the district, both in conjunction with these recommendations and proactively in numerous areas," Bittner said.

The principals of Jones and Payton schools did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

RELATED:

Suburban Kids Yanked From Top CPS Schools, Parents Ordered To Pay Thousands

Payton College Prep Still Toughest Selective-Enrollment School To Get Into