Half his house is in W. York school district, half in York City. W. York rejected his kids
Nathan Fleming moved his family to the rowhouse on West Poplar Street four years ago.
It was convenient. His barber shop is just a few blocks away on South Sumner Street. He believed that he would be able to send his three daughters to West York schools, a good school district. It was a good move, he believed.
His two eldest daughters – 10-year-old Nathaliz and Za'Miya Johnson, 12 – had been going to York Academy, off North George Street, across from the York Revolution ballpark. His youngest, Olivia, 6, was enrolled at Holy Trinity Catholic School on South Beaver Street.
This year, as the COVID pandemic became not such a big deal, he said, he decided to enroll his daughters in West York schools. He thought it would be good for the girls and that they’d get to go to school with their friends from the neighborhood.
In June, when he called the West York Area School District enrollment office, the person he spoke to looked up his address on a state website and told him that his home was indeed in the district’s territory and that his daughters would be eligible for enrollment. The state Economic and Community Development website says that his home is indeed in West York borough.
It's a tax issue
But then he went to enroll his daughters, and the district’s enrollment office told him, no, he does not live in West York, which was news to Fleming. The district informed him that the property taxes for his home – he rents, and his landlord pays the taxes – go to York City.
“My day-to-day for work is here in the borough,” said Fleming, wearing a West York schools T-shirt. “Eighty to 90 percent of my family's activities are in the borough. I have a Bulldog Pride poster in my window.”
And now, four years after moving into the three-story rowhouse at 1025 West Poplar Street – just off Richland Avenue – he was being told he doesn’t live in West York and his daughters would have to enroll in York City schools.
It was bewildering.
“The state says my address is in West York,” he said. “West York says that’s a mistake.”
And it began a journey that has led to him getting conflicting messages from different government entities as to whether he lives in West York. He’s even seen maps that show three different borders between the borough and the city, one of which runs through his house.
One map shows the border as Richland Avenue, he said. Another shows it as the alley a few houses east of his home. And yet another, demarked by a white line that juts out into the street from the curb in front of his house, shows that the border bisects his house – three quarters of his house in West York and a quarter in the city. He has an L-shaped couch in his living room, and if you sit on one part of it, you’re in West York. On the other, you’re in the city. “It goes through Olivia’s bedroom,” Fleming said.
According to that map, the border, established in 1904 when West York was incorporated, runs west from Richland Avenue, through his home, and then back to Richland Avenue. A home just a block away, at 1025 W. King St., would fully be in West York. That border was drawn two years before his home was even built.
Since he rents, he didn’t know where his property taxes were paid – his landlord pays the taxes – but it turns out that it’s York City.
“The irony is that I called York City, and they looked it up and said, ‘It’s West York’ and West York says it’s York City,” Fleming said. “I keep getting conflicting answers between the state and the local government. There are a lot of discrepancies and kids have to suffer from it.”
The previous family that lived in the house told him three of their five children graduated from West York – one played football and another was a cheerleader. He called the school district with that information and was told that they had no record of that. He gave them the names of the children, and the district told him that they did attend West York schools but weren’t registered at that address.
“We’re hoping we can stay here in West York,” Fleming said, the weird thing being that he believes he already lives in West York and wouldn’t have to move to be declared a borough resident.
A large part of the problem is that his daughters would attend York City’s McKinley Elementary School, if York City would accept his daughters’ enrollment, the city believing that he lives within West York School District.
The school is two miles away, on Manor Street, a long walk since York City is a walking district and his daughters wouldn’t have access to a bus. Fleming made the walk himself and it took an hour and twenty minutes. “I’m 35 and in shape, and it was a lot,” he said. The walk would also require his daughters to walk through the west end of the city, which, he said, is not a safe neighborhood. (One irony is that Fleming attended McKinley school when he was a kid, but his family lived just a few blocks away.)
The bus stop for West York is just nine doors west of his home, at the intersection with Dewey Street.
Fleming has contacted numerous officials about his plight, including his state senator and representative, county officials, school officials and the state Department of Education, which informed him that disputes like this pop up throughout the state and there’s not a lot the department can do about it.
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West York superintendent: It's the law
In an email, West York Superintendent Todd Davies told he can understand Fleming’s desire for his children to attend West York Schools, but that he was not eligible to enroll his children in the district’s schools, citing a state law that permitted the owners of a house on a border between two municipalities to choose which one they preferred. Since the original occupants of 1025 W. Poplar St. chose York City, that’s the way it is. “As a matter of law,” Davies wrote, “1025 W. Poplar Street is considered part of the York City School District.”
Davies wrote, “We realize that you may be disappointed with this decision. If your place of residence changes, we will gladly reassess your eligibility to enroll your children at West York. If you choose to have your lawyer review this matter, they can contact our solicitor, Jeffrey D. Litts, at Saxton & Stump to discuss the relevant laws. However, the fact remains that your current place of residence does not meet the eligibility criteria for enrolling your children at West York. Therefore, any attempts to do so will be respectfully declined.”
It is too late for this school year – West York schools open later this week. But Fleming is hopeful that his landlord – who is supporting him – can get the York County assessment office to declare that his home is indeed in West York and that his children will be eligible to enroll in West York schools in the future.
Davies said in an interview that it’s not the first time West York has had a residency issue pop up, but “it’s an odd situation and it is unusual. But there are laws that deal with this kind of thing.” He noted that all 500 school districts in the state must adhere to those laws, and West York must obey them.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Davies said. “I’m proud that he wants to send his kids here. This is a great district, and I can understand why he wants to send his kids here.”
Fleming said, for now, his two eldest daughters will attend York Academy, and his youngest will go to Holy Trinity.
Fleming said, "This situation is crazy and morally wrong. There are several address and boundary line discrepancies that the school district is making my issue. The superintendent or school board has the ability to do what is right and fair given these unique circumstances and they aren't giving us much to go on."
Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: West York Pa. school district rejected family that lives on border
