The answers may determine the outcome of the charges against the 33-year-old woman accused of stealing education services from Norwalk after she enrolled her 5-year old son at Brookside. Mayor Moccia claims in an article in Norwalk Patch that McDowell wasn't homeless because she's lived in Bridgeport at a friend's house and because she hasn't stayed at the Open Door Shelter since 2009.
However under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act school districts must admit homeless kids to their schools. The act specifically defines a homeless child as one who lacks a "fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime address." Included in the definition are situations in which a parent and child share the housing of other people or who live in cars.
This definition seems to encompasse the varied situations McDowell told the CT Post that she has found herself in over the past two years:
Am I homeless?" McDowell asks, rhetorically. "I don't have keys to any place. I have a friend who often lets me sleep at his place at night with my child. But I'm not allowed to stay there during the day when he's at work. That's the way it is. For a while we lived in a homeless shelter in Norwalk, but that didn't work out for my son. So now I split my time between a friend's place in Bridgeport and sleeping in my minivan when my son goes to his grandmother's up in Wallingford some weekends. When I sleep in my minivan I keep it parked right on Merritt Street, by the shelter.
The Act also lays out a procedure that Norwalk Public Schools have to follow if they dispute McDowell's right to send her son to Norwalk schools. Her son had the right to be "immediately admitted to the school...pending resolution of the dispute." Ms McDowell had to be provided with a written explanation of the school's decision regarding school selection or enrollment, including the rights of the parent...to appeal the decision."
McDowell told me in an interview that all she she received was a voice mail message in January from a social worker stating that she had to take her son out of Brookside.
I spoke to Superintendent Susan Marks by phone on Friday. "The school system didn't initiate this arrest," says Marks. "We have homeless children in our school system and the schools support them." Marks says she was not given any information prior to McDowell's arrest and that she needs to sit down with her staff to figure out the sequence of events. Marks will also meet with Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling to discuss the arrest.
McDowell was already known to Norwalk Police. According The Hour's news blog, she had been arrested in November 2010 for possessing multiple bags of marijuana and of crack cocaine. Should her alleged drug dealing have any impact on her school case? Are the Norwalk authorities piling-on charges to ensure that she gets a significant prison sentence?
Some Norwalk officials claim they want to make an example out of McDowell. Depending on how her "homeless" status is resolved this move may backfire. McDowell's case is becoming a cause celebre amongst some in the civil rights community. In an article on the Huffington Post on Sunday, Boyce Watkins, a professor of Syracuse University, says:
Perhaps local officials should also be prosecuted for unconstitutionally denying Ms. McDowell's child his educational opportunities...I'd be remiss not to find the Mayor of Norwalk, Richard Moccia, guilty of abducting the infinite value of this child's life by perpetuating academic apartheid in the state of Connecticut.Those are fighting words.
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I don't understand why Susan Marks hasn't sat down with her staff to find out the series of events that led to this arrest. What is she waiting for? This arrest has had a major impact on Norwalk for days!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell done, Moina - thanks for following up on this story and getting out the facts.
ReplyDeleteHow about making an 'example' out of those who chose to make their own rules (ie: whoever decided to arrest her)
ReplyDeleteGreat reporting!
Did anyone watch the Hallmark Hall of Fame "Beyond the Blackboard" last night? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteI have no kids and yet I pay taxes for children to attend public school. That boy can have my tax dollars if he wants to go to school.
Great follow up, Moina. You make us all proud with this type of investigative reporting; keeping officials on the hook; and for caring about those who have no other voice to speak for them. I hope the outcome turns out to be more positive for this child.
ReplyDelete8:39, so if it was Susan Marks, you are saying to make an example of her? Seems to me that not all the facts were known in this arrest. Perhaps the police made a rush to judgement?
ReplyDeleteI knew this would make national headlines. Gee, can't we catch a break in Norwalk? Seems we are always a bright shining example of what NOT to do. I hoped for better with this new superintendant. I agree with the person that said that Susan Marks was too slow on the draw on this one.
ReplyDeleteWHY doesn't Norwalk PD and Marks DEFEND themselves. The woman is a criminal, has other "bases" other than Norwalk she seems more attached to that can educate her child as homeless, but it's too easy to just land in Norwalk, anybody can call Merritt St their home (it houses criminals, as per the daily police blotter in the Hour) and there is no accountability here. I think we should defend the police that arrested her for her drug activity, and say it will happen again and apologize to nobody, even the ever popular Huff Post.
ReplyDeletePeople should stop making McDowell out to be innocent. Apparently, she has previous drug arrests. My question is "why hasn't DCF gotten involved?" Norwalk Public Schools are not the ones harming the young child - SHE IS!
ReplyDeleteSome of the media outlets are making McDowell out to be a saint: she just wants '...what's best...' for her child. Perhaps if she wanted what was best for the boy, she wouldn't be dealing crack cocaine and marijuana. There has to be more to this story than we are being told.
ReplyDeleteShe never played the 'homeless' card until the time of her arrest. Very convenient. I would say someone is advising her well....
Let's not forget the big picture: there are many, many children residing in other cities who are attending our schools. Their parents have lied, provided false addresses, their relatives have lied, and they use bogus affidavits. Norwalk might be better than where they are coming from. We have one family living in Westchester, but mom works here in Norwalk. They used the phony affidavit and bingo: the child goes to Norwalk schools.
Well, can anyone else see who is posting in here, annon? Hmmm. Really poor strategic planning on this one. Can't get concessions from the unions so lets just pick on a poor minority homeless mom with no resources to defend herself or even aware of her rights.
ReplyDeleteAnd the mayors daugther is the prosecutor in town? Hmmmm. Cant convict a real bad guy, (see mistrial), but sure as heck we can nail a poor black woman and rip a book out of a defenseless, advocateless kids hand.
And we wonder why there is so much hopelessness and violence. Having real difficulty connecting the dots, Aren't we?
Spin this any way you can think of.
It's still a foul.
Flag thrown.
This case is sick on so many levels and just makes our city look cold, careless and incompetent. The woman was told to leave Brookside in January. She left. Then she was arrested in April!!! There are so many children in Norwalk Public School from other towns and these children have WORKING parents. Why this woman only?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the Mayor's daughter was the prosecutor, but I'd like to know who is responsible for letting so many out of district children attend our schools. If this is such a criminal case, then why wasn't the person or people responsible for checking into this doing their jobs? I'm so fed up with this. They bring in crackpots for political and selfish reasons and everything is about a deal. Too many damn deals. Doesn't matter whether people are qualified as long as they fall in line, do the bid of the powers that be and use flattery all day long.
When will citizens wake up? Oh, when will they wake up?
The McDowell story highlights another real issue that nobody is talking about and that is the whole ECS funding that is slowly whittling away at our own NPS public educational system?
ReplyDeleteThis is a PERFECT example of how Norwalk sends its tax dollars to Hartford and then its own tax dollars get redistributed to cities like Bridgeport ( I think over 65% of their funding is via the state) but then Norwalk gets virtually NOTHING and in the end and we end up educating 200+ of their students.
If the estimates are accurate about how many out of district students we have (predominately from Bridgeport), then it’s costing Norwalk’s own free and reduced lunch children approximately $2.6M in lost student programming.
This coming budget year it’s going to be about lost staff for all children.
This is a story about how the system is broken.
I believe we need to speak to education funding in general, particularly in light of pending NPS staff cuts. Norwalk’s taxpayers are struggling to take care of its own student population …let alone another city’s.
I too, am sympathetic to Ms. McDowell’s plight. How about the City of Norwalk asking the City of Bridgeport to send us the 13K per student that we spend educating their students?
Sadly, the system is broken. When will our state and local politicians fix the funding and accountabilility issues? The two go hand and hand with student achievement.
Defend the PD and Marks? Why? This situation is a very touchy situation. With evaluating all of the pieces to the puzzle thus far, the mother may not seem like a model mother for raising her child, but she does know if enough that, her child would get a better education in Norwalk. I don't think local administration should defend themselves, because if there was a way to investigate the district of Norwalk, I am certain that charges of larceny could very well be brought up on our top people who run the board of Ed. Example look at Fay Rutolo and all of the dirt she has done, and it's public knowledge, but our board still found a way to bring her back for another year. Norwalk is a district of they do what they can do as long as they are not caught. The value of honesty does not exist in Norwalk.
ReplyDeleteHer son could dress better too if she shopped at Macy's, maybe they should let her walk in and steal some clothes, maybe if he wants something different for dinner Stop and Shop should let her go in a steal some food! Come on people, we all want more or our kids but can only live within our means! If she needs assistance there are LEGAL ways of getting assistance. Try registering your kids at a school system better than Norwalk, we know there are plenty of them, and see how far you get for wanted something better for YOUR kids.WE have rules for a reason, we can't bend them for everyone who wants us to or what would be the point of having them.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in Norwalk for three decades. Both my husband and I have worked hard all our lives. We were raised poor, very poor, and put ourselves through night school so we could make a better life for our kids.
ReplyDeleteWe would have loved to send them to school in New Canaan or Westport. How far would we have gotten?
How about that nicer house? We wanted that for our kids, too. Maybe we should have just moved right in and claimed it.
As stated on the front page The Hour today, this women has been arrested for possession of drugs. CAN DCF BE CALLED? LET'S GET THEM INVOLVED TOO!!!
ReplyDeleteSuch vehemence. Is it needed. If she broke the law, perhaps justice will be served. If the state or city broke the law, then perhaps justice will be served. The LAW will determine the technicalities, but many of you sound like those who stood around in slavery days watching blacks get lynched for sport.
ReplyDeleteI don't condome this young lady's life style IF the reports of it are true, but if she can't get a job or was raised not to know better, who's to say she didn't do what she thought was best for her child.
What I hope for this woman and her Roodner Court friend is that as young women, they have learned valuable lessons and turn their lives around for their children's sake.
None of your vehemence matters. The law will decide. Think rehabilitation, reform, not lynch mob.
I pay real estate taxes every month. I work hard to pay them. I pay them so NORWALK CHILDREN can go to our schools. White children, black children, brown children, poor children, middle class children, undocumented children, I don't really care. Children who live here go to our schools. Our schools where the budgets are stretched so tight, kids in some school have closets or utility rooms as classrooms. Schools where teachers and aides will be losing their jobs this summer. Big schools with library assistants for only 19 hours a week.
ReplyDeleteChildren who live in Bridgeport must go to school in that city. Period. I am sick of this. Stop making her out to be a persecuted innocent person. Would you have us open our doors and let every person in who wants to come?
I want a BMW but can't afford one. Does that mean that I can steal one from a dealership or parking lot? She is a liar and a criminal. That has all been proven.
'She' is not the victim here. The child is.
ReplyDeletePlease 6:50, you are full of it. Many children outside of Norwalk have been attending Norwalk Schools for years. There were three months between this woman pulling her son from our system to her being arrested. In that time why weren't all of the others arrested as well?
ReplyDelete