Paying for students who don't really live in town remains a concern for Alna selectmen. The board on March 6 approved a letter to send Regional School Unit 12.

“We're going to keep the light on it,” First Selectman David Abbott said March 13 about the need to enforce residency requirements, so fraud doesn't add to taxes the district towns pay.

“That's money out of our pocket, as well as the RSU's,” Abbott said.

Selectmen and Town Clerk Amy Warner first discussed the district's handling of the residency requirement in November 2013. Warner said at the time that, through her own checking into the matter, she had found that at least one student the district was paying tuition for, didn't live in Alna.

The board's new letter to district superintendent Howard Tuttle states the selectmen believe the district is aware of two situations in which it's paying tuition for non-residents. It asks if the district has a process to verify residency; and, if not, could the district work with Warner to develop one.

It also asks if the district tries to recoup tuition money paid for non-residents.

“We are interested in resolving this issue as soon as possible and look forward to your reply,” the letter states.

Tuttle on March 13 reiterated past statements that the district does work to verify where students live. Residency fraud is an issue in all school districts, and can be hard to determine, due to a divorce or other issue, he said. “It's something that we struggle with.”

As for the two instances the letter cites, Tuttle said, as far as he knew, the district had not determined there was fraud.

He said he would be calling the town of Alna to speak with officials.