Okay, so more likely than not the proposal that could exclude homes straddling the Brookline town line from sending their children to Brookline schools is really more about keeping Boston residents out of Brookline schools than Newton.
Under current rules, anyone living on the town line in a home built before June 2005 can send their children to the town’s public schools.
But the concept –which reportedly sparked a pretty emotional debate last night — has me wondering: Does Newton have a similar policy? Can kids in homes abutting or sharing lots with us from, say, Boston, Waltham and, yes, Brookline, send their kids here?
What is the current policy? I live close to the Watertown line and assumed that properties straddling the town line have “dual citizenship” (and a slightly complicated property tax bill) and access to Newton schools. is that correct?
…and what if both Newton and Brookline enacted such policies? Would that create some stateless students in Chestnut Hill (and any other bordering communities)?
Didnt someone write on here a few months back its where the child’s bedroom lies? We got a bunch of houses out my way that are partly in Waltham, but I’m not sure the official policy. One guy on Tolman Street has a 4 foot tall stone border marker in his driveway.
Fiscally speaking, I can see that Brookline’s policy makes sense. Why should someone with 1% of their property encroaching into their town be given “resident” status? That being said, I’ll put Newton schools up against Brookline any day of the week, and again on Sunday.
Shouldn’t it be as simple as who they pay their taxes to?
I believe the issue is these people pay taxes to both Brookline/Newton or Brookline/Boston, but they want to boot out any kids whose parent’s aren’t paying at least 50% of the tax bill overall to Brookline.
Schools are also funded with state tax money. How dare we (MA citizens) be so petty about the few border straddlers. The nearest grade school might be in one town and the nearest high school in another.
@West Newtonite – from what I read in the Boston Globe, the rule is a bit weirder than that. If you pay taxes to Brookline and another town, Brookline would accept you in their schools if you spend the majority of the time in the house, in the Brookline part of the house (really). Its presumed that the bedroom is where you would spend most of your time.
I guess that means that you can have junior sleep on the couch in the Brookline living room, hire a lawyer and have a crack at the Brookline schools.
It all sounds a very misguided approach
Jerry – interesting stuff. This sounds similar to that post I saw on here about Cambridge/Somerville school border wars.
My question: How the heck do you enforce these “bedroom rules?” And who enforces it?
We lived in a house that had a Waltham Address but the Newton Line went through the house – since the taxes were paid in Waltham and the front steps were Waltham – we went to Waltham Schools. Even though our bedrooms were in Newton. I am not sure about houses that the taxes are paid to both communities – maybe you have an option?
As for the comment above regarding Tolman Street – to my knowledge you would need to be paying Taxes to Newton in order to go to Newton schools. So if the address is Newton than I would think you go to NPS.
I read the article and thought it was based on how much of the property was in Brookline…..if Over 50% then the kids can attend Brookline.
We looked at a house that straddled the Waltham newton line. The agent said we could attend either school. I didn’t want to argue with her, and we didn’t buy the house. I wanted to make sure 100% that my future kids could attend Newton schools. I didn’t want to be at the whim of an official who wanted my kids to attend the other school….I could see both towns saying no.
@Doug Haslam. Don’t worry. We’re not going to let you fall over the border.
Phew Bob, thanks. Some nights I come close.
In Newton, we have 583 kids who attend Newton Public Schools even though most of them live in communities that border Newton and even though none of their parents pay taxes directly to Newton (or indirectly via rent to their landlords).
That costs us ~$8.5 Million annually.
Nice try, but this thread isn’t about METCO
Uh, Doug, I wasn’t the one who mentioned that particular program. I was talking about how Newton has 583 students who attend Newton Public Schools even though most of them live in communities that border Newton and even though none of their parents pay taxes directly to Newton (or indirectly via rent to their landlords).
I’m not sure how many live on the Newton-Boston line, or the Newton-Brookline line, or the Newton-Watertown line, or the Newton-Waltham line, or the Newton-Weston line or the Newton-Wellesley line or the Newton-Needham line. Maybe I should have specifically asked about that in my previous post, that way people wouldn’t get confused and think I was asking about that program you brought up.
Hi Joanne, I think post office address is irrelevant. Take square footage of lot, pro-rate between both cities, and there’s your (dual) tax bills.
Josh makes a great point BTW – plenty of METCO kids in both Brookline and Newton. All funding sources should be examined, should we be shutting out borderline dwellers.
As far as both towns saying no, that’s where Martha Coakley’s office kicks in… Attorney General will figure it out.
I would trust a real estate broker’s opinion on this matter as much as I’d trust a snake oil vendor.