By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
A longtime Piedmont student will no longer be allowed to attend middle school after the board of education ruled she no longer lives in the district.
Her father, Don Cass, submitted records that shows he lives in the district, but Superintendent James White and Executive Director of Administrative Services Shawn Blankenship disagreed. Cass’s attorney was present at the board meeting Wednesday, Sept. 3, for a hearing to the let board decide the outcome.
The board reviewed several documents and a video. Cass submitted a lease agreement dated from August showing he had rented a garage apartment from Mark Simpson who lives in the district. The board saw photos of personal belongings in the apartment and a copy of his driver’s license showing the address.
School officials had another story to tell board members of an elaborate scheme to defraud the administration. Blankenship presented information that seemed to show Cass and his daughter reside in the Putnam City School district at 8301 Willowcreek Drive in Oklahoma City.
The dispute concerning where Cass lived began last February when an anonymous letter accused Cass’s family of living outside the district. Blankenship received the letter as the residency inspector who checks up on “tips” that he receives from school principals throughout the year.
“A student will say something in class like, ‘Well I live in Edmond,’ or maybe they’re tardy a lot…or they’ll say, ‘Well it takes me 50 minutes to get here,’” Blankenship said. “I investigate every single one.”
In February, district officials attempted to reach Cass to ask him for proof that he lived in the district with a residency affidavit form and other proof such as a lease agreement, title to a home or utility bills.
White said district officials could not reach Cass.
“It was such a late date to get Mr. Cass to respond so they (school officials) told her she could finish the year and he was going to take care of the affidavit over the summer, but he did not do so,” White said.
Blankenship reported that by the end of summer Cass claimed to be living with his mother and promised to send her to the administration office to sign a residency affidavit form testifying Cass lived with her. Blankenship reported that she refused to sign it after she realized the penalty for making a false statement on the affidavit could result with a misdemeanor offense, up to one year in jail and up to a $500 fine.
“She quickly said, ‘Don will have to take care of this,’” Blankenship claimed. “She got up and said, ‘I’m not doing this,’ and quickly walked out.”
At that time Blankenship said he advised Cass to seek residency inside the district by purchasing a home or have his mother sign the affidavit.
Blankenship claimed that Cass had other plans to rent an apartment and make it appear that he lived there.
“He said, ‘Shawn, I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t live in the district,’” Blankenship told the board. “He gave me a plan, he gave me several plans. He just started walking me through all these plans all the way (to how) he was going to stage clothes at a friend’s apartment, even to the toothbrushes. He said he was going make sure toothbrushes are there.”
Blankenship said he tried to dissuade Cass.
“I said, ‘If you do this, you will get caught. We do check this.’ And that’s when he said, ‘That’s a risk I’m willing to take,’” he said.
Compounding the intrigue, White played a video that appeared to show Cass and his daughter coming and going before and after school at 8301 Willowcreek Drive in Oklahoma City.
Cass’s attorney, Sherman Reed, explained why his client and his daughter would sometimes spend the night at the house in Oklahoma City.
“First of all, he owns that property,” he said. “Secondly, he’s going through a divorce, thirdly he works at that property. So, he’s obviously made an expressed intent to move his residence in the school district. Having owned that property and being over there on two or three occasions doesn’t mean his residence has changed. His driver’s license has changed, his bank statements have changed, he’s moved his goods and his clothing to this residence (apartment)…his intent (is) for his daughter to be in the district and she’s attended the district for several years.”
White asked Reed if his client told him that Mrs. Cass lived at the house where he occasionally stayed the night. Reed said he didn’t know.
“He’s told us that his wife still lives there,” White said pointedly.
“As far as this hearing is concerned I’d have to consider it hearsay,” Reed replied.
Canadian County Sheriff’s Sergeant Cody Palmer testified before the board about the apartment. Blankenship sent Palmer to perform a residency check to investigate the apartment address. Palmer said when he went to the garage apartment address he was looking for Cass. He tried the house on the same property with the garage apartment where Mrs. Simpson told him she had no idea who Cass was.
“She said, ‘Sir, I have no clue who that is…only me and my husband live here,’” the deputy reported.
Board member Greg Duffy submitted a statement to the board after he visited the apartment. He saw clothing, bedding and other signs of occupancy at the address.
The attorney claimed that Simpson hadn’t told his wife about the lease agreement. He asked Duffy if he was there with Cass and Simpson.
“Did Mr. Simpson mention to you that he hadn’t told his wife about Mr. Cass living there?”
“He did,” Duffy answered.
Following the review of all documents, board members seemed to believe that Cass did not live in the district.
“I think we have to go on what we’ve seen, and it feels like to me that most of the evidence, at least in my opinion, is that the student lives outside the district,” Deputy Clerk Dustin Yowell said.
Reed asked to speak to the board before casting a vote.
“The majority of what you are considering is irrelevant,” he began. “Everything that happened before August 28 of this year has no bearing on the residency of Mr. Cass. Once he entered into a lease with Mr. Simpson, and whether or not Mr. Simpson’s wife knew about it…the fact of the matter, the evidence from that day forward is that Mr. Cass has expressed a clear intent to live within the district, has leased property in the district, has moved his goods within the district despite the fact that he owns property outside the district. Even if he expressed a deceitful intent in the months before, that has no bearing, no relevancy on his decision to move his residence. Once he’s done that under Oklahoma school law he’s established a residence in your district, he is, under the law, allowed to have his children attend school here.”
Board Vice President Jerrod Moser wasn’t buying it.
“You said a key word there, you said ‘intent to reside,’ what we’re saying is he may have intent but he’s not residing,” Moser said.
“Just let me finish please,” Reed asked.
“I don’t think he can finish,” board Clerk Zach Myatt interrupted hotly. “This isn’t a court, this isn’t irrelevant.”
The board voted 4-1 to uphold White’s decision to refuse the student’s request. Duffy abstained.
White said he was pleased with the board’s decision.
“We try to do what’s right and fair to the people that reside in our district,” he said. “We have a lot of people who try to move into our district. Some try to do it in a correct way and some in an incorrect way. So, in fairness to our people who reside here and pay taxes here we try to do the right thing.”
Following the meeting Reed said it would be up to his client to pursue a lawsuit against the district.
“He didn’t prove it (residency) in their eyes,” he said. “So, he can decide whether or not he will seek district court review of their decision.”
