Katy mom alarmed after principal, officer enter home for residency check

Ring camera footage showed a Katy High School principal and a district police officer entering a Katy home shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, to check whether the family lived in the district. The visit was at the home of her 15-year-old son while she was at work, and the video showed the officials identifying themselves as conducting a residency verification before speaking with the teenager, who was home alone.

The mother said the officials knocked, entered the house and then followed her son into his bedroom before leaving a few minutes later. She said she had never been contacted before or during the visit and objected to the fact that school officials and a police officer had gone into the private areas of the home without her knowledge. She said her family would not normally allow even close friends into those spaces.

Families who sign an affidavit of bona fide residence acknowledge that the district can conduct residency verification. The district’s form defines a bona fide residence as the student’s fixed, permanent, principal housing for legal purposes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Katy ISD registration materials also require proof of residence, including leases, mortgage or closing papers, utility bills and notarized bona fide residence forms in some living arrangements.

The mother said she has filed residency paperwork every year for the past five years because of a shared custody arrangement, but argued that the paperwork does not spell out how a home visit should be handled or why anyone needed to inspect a bedroom to verify where her son lived. Texas children have the right to a free public education in the district where they reside or through another public option such as a charter school.

Pearland Independent School District does not enter a student’s home without a guardian present. The district has not answered the specific question of why the principal and officer entered the home without a parent or legal guardian there, even though the teen was alone inside.

Texas Education Code Section 37.081 governs school district peace officers and allows districts to commission officers or contract for school security functions. Katy ISD’s affidavit form says district peace officers shall verify bona fide residences as necessary.