Parents say cheaters cause overcrowding

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Hundreds of parents upset about overcrowding at their children's elementary school packed a meeting with APS leaders Monday night.

A lot of them suspect that the overcrowding is caused by parents who cheat. The school in question is North Star Elementary, located near La Cueva High School. Many people at Monday night's meeting told district leaders the reason it's overcrowded is that other parents who don't live in district are using phony addresses to get their kids in.

North Star currently has more than 80 children than it is supposed to handle. District leaders held a listening session with parents to try and come up with a solution.

The decision made pertaining to North Star Elementary will have to be implemented throughout all Albuquerque Public Schools .

Some possible options would be changing school boundaries, adding more portable buildings if they fit, going to a year round schedule or auditing parents -- making sure they actually live in the district.

"All we're asking is for is an accurate count of legally enrolled students at North Star, to make sure we have accurate numbers before any boundary changes are made," said parent Scott Haubrich.

APS leaders say auditing parents is a possibility, but it also presents many challenges, for instance in the case of divorced parents.

" What if the child is under full legal custody of the mother who doesn't live in the North Star district but is using dad's address who is a legal resident, does that count?" said Superintendent Winston Brooks.

APS says they will look at all possibilities and take final suggestions to the school board. They say no changes would be made at North Star until the next school year.