Finally a win after series of obstacles

Last week, a woman contacted the Ombudsman with a problem with her children’s school enrollment. The woman recently separated from her husband.

She and her three children are living with her sister and her niece, and all the children are enrolled in the school district. Unfortunately, the woman’s niece was exposed to COVID at her high school, was sent home and quarantined for two weeks. The high school student tested positive for COVID. The mother and her three children left the household of her sister and niece because of COVID and temporarily went to live with her father in another municipality.

The truancy officer of the school visited the mother at the home of her father. He concluded that they should not be enrolled in their current school, but should be enrolled in the school district of the home of the father. No matter how much the mother tried to explain her separation, the temporary living arrangement with her sister and the presence of COVID in the household, the officer stood firm in his decision.

The Ombudsman assisted the mother to provide proof of residency in the school district, including her driver’s license providing her address at the home of her sister. The children are back in school, and the problem is now resolved.

The Ombudsman column, a production of the Joint Office of Citizens’ Complaints, summarizes selected problems that citizens have had with government and social services, utilities, schools and nursing homes in the Dayton area. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to 11 W. Monument Ave., Suite 606, Dayton, OH 45402, or by calling 937-223-4613, or by emailing ombudsman@ dayton-ombudsman.org or go online to www.daytonombudsman.org.