It’s no secret: people from outside of District 233 try to enroll their kids for Homewood-Flossmoor High School. A new residency system is helping reduce the chances of that happening.
H-F continues to be a destination spot for families who want their students to get an excellent education coupled with outstanding amenities. The district welcomes all who reside within its boundaries of Homewood and Flossmoor, as well as sections of Glenwood, Hazel Crest, Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights. H-F currently enrolls more than 2,700 students at the Flossmoor campus.
“Last year we built a more requirement-laden process,” said Assistant Principal Jim Schmidt who is responsible for District 233 residency enforcement. “All incoming freshmen must prove identification in person. They must present documentation in person.” He calls it a proactive system, rather than a reactive system that would be used to remove a student already at H-F.
The checklist required documentation includes:
- A driver’s license or state ID showing a District 233 address.
- Original student birth certificate.
- Signed renter’s lease must be valid the entire school year and include the landlord’s name and phone number.
- If the student lives at two addresses (for example, if parents are divorced and live separately), the homeowner/leaseholder must be present at the student’s appointment at H-F to finalize enrollment. That person must provide residency documentation and the person sharing the property must also provide a total of three documents showing utilities for that address.
To register a student, the parent or guardian must submit documents from three categories:
- Category 1 — current mortgage statement or closing documents from home purchased within the past two months; signed renter’s lease must be valid for the school year.
- Category 2 — Current electric or gas bill.
- Category 3 (2 documents required) — Current utility; cable/internet; water/sewer; homeowner/renter insurance; auto insurance policy and proof of premium payment; in-district current vehicle registration; current bank statement; current credit card statement; current paycheck stub.
Schmidt said: “If you reside here, you’ll find our office is very welcoming and supportive and accommodating and we will get you in. If you don’t reside in our district, you’re going to meet with points of questioning, need for verification, and that may delay your processing but that’s just us trying to do the job I believe our school is asking for and that I believe our community is demanding as well.”
“We’ve had families that come in (for a verification meeting) and don’t come back. That’s the fruit of our efforts. We don’t know how many families are never able to make it in because they don’t come back. We want to try and track that,” he said.
Schmidt has plenty of stories of how people try to beat the system.
“Some show up and think ‘because I live across the street I can come to H-F,’” he said, when they should attend neighboring Bloom or Hill Crest high schools.
Another example is the student who got stopped by Homewood police, told the officer he attended H-F and presented a driver’s license outside the H-F district. Schmidt learned of that case because the district has good working relationships with law enforcement in the surrounding area.
Others think their fake documentation won’t be detected. Schmidt credits his assistant, Andrea Davis, for being the eagle-eye who can spot forged papers. She is now sharing her knowledge with secretaries and those in the registrar’s office so they too can recognize a fake.
Schmidt also has two dedicated social workers, Jocelyn Cowan and Lauren White, who work with students who can attend H-F under the McKinney-Vento Act protecting homeless students.
Schmidt said the district’s residency officers work diligently to go through every lead. By the end of the fall 2024 semester, they had removed three families. The district “adheres to the letter of the law,” he stressed.
Families are entitled to a hearing, but Schmidt said generally “when we pull the family in, show them the evidence (that’s been collected) and say we can move forward to a hearing or you can withdraw the child, they leave.”
“Our school board is committed (to residency enforcement). Our administration is behind it,” he said. “Our staff takes residency to heart and will notify us. Our community takes this seriously.”
Anyone can share information or concerns about a student or family not legally living within H-F boundaries by calling 708-335-5594.
