Giving Compass' Take:
- Marianna McMurdock discusses the devastating consequences for parents prosecuted for falsifying addresses to get their children into better schools.
- How do these prosecutions worsen the circumstances of families who are often already disadvantaged? What can you do to support these families?
- Learn more about key issues in education and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on education in your area.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Soon after she had gone to jail for trying to get her children a better education by falsifying her family's address, Kelley Williams-Bolar’s teenage daughter Jada confronted her mother with an accusation that will stick with her forever.
“You’re not there for me,” said Jada, now 26. Like the rest of her family, Jada still struggles with her mother’s 2011 felony conviction for sending Jada and her sister Kayla to a suburban school outside Akron, Ohio, using their grandfather’s address.
By the time Jada stood firmly in front of her, Williams-Bolar had spent nine days in jail, overwhelmed by how a felony could upend their lives, jeopardizing future housing and employment opportunities. She started to defend herself, then went silent. She knew Jada was right.
“But you know, it was my mind that wasn’t there. It wasn’t there for years,” conceded Williams-Bolar, a longtime educator and child care provider. “…Honestly, it destroyed me. It was a lot to deal with. I wasn’t the same mom for my daughters.”
Parents Who Falsify Addresses Experience Lasting Trauma
Years after their prosecutions and forced removal from districts, parents who falsified addresses across the country like Williams-Bolar are still paying the price, economically and emotionally, after being prosecuted for acting in the best interest of their children.
In Pennsylvania, one family ultimately owed over $10,000 for tuition and amassed legal fees into the six figures for keeping their child enrolled in a suburban school after moving out of the district three months before the end of the school year. In Connecticut, Tanya McDowell, whose family was experiencing homelessness, used her babysitter’s address to enroll her five year old in a Norwalk school. She was convicted on larceny and unrelated drug charges, serving three years in prison.
Outside of the legal ramifications, many parents who falsified addresses still struggle with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, their family relationships and work suffering as a result. Their children have felt at times like they had lost their parents and interest in school.
Read the full article about false address prosecutions by Marianna McMurdock at The 74.