NYS EDUCATION LAW - CHILD DOES NOT LIVE IN SCHOOL DISTRICT

In many matrimonial and foreclosure cases, a common question is - "If we or I have to move, can I still keep my child in the same school?" Recently, in discussions with other counsel, I discovered that a school district may seek payment for a nonresident enrolled in its schools in a court of competent jurisdiction. Here is the leading case:

"Board of Education of the Lawrence Union Free School District, Appellant,
v. Jeremiah C. Gaffney III et al., Respondents

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Department.

650 N.Y.S.2d 588, 233 A.D.2d 357 (1996)

November 12, 1996

Mangano, P. J., Bracken, Thompson and McGinity, JJ., concur.

Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

A school district may seek payment for tuition from a non-resident student enrolled in its schools under false pretenses (see, Board of Educ. v Crill, 149 App Div 407), and such an action may be based on Education Law § 3202 or on a cause of action for fraud (see, Board of Educ. v Marsiglia, 182 AD2d 662). Since the plaintiff in the case at bar seeks to recover damages based only on fraudulent inducement, any recovery is limited to that cause of action. The Supreme Court properly denied the plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment to recover the costs of the tuition for the defendants' children for the period February 1, 1993, through June 30, 1994, since there is a question of fact as to whether the defendants made any false representation to the plaintiff during that period."