Columbia High School - continuance of mail being sent to the wrong address

Hello - this is email is in no way meant to embarrass or call out the admin folks at Columbia High School, - but I'm out of ideas.  We continue to receive the report card for one of the students, whose family we purchased our house from years ago.  I have called the school, spoken with people directly, - they say it will be fixed, - yet this continues.  Note that we don't have kids in the school, - so I speak with whomever I am transferred to.  

I just received another report card last week.  This has been going on for well over a year.  Any suggests out there?  

No bashing or nasty comments please.  

A times it can be difficult to get "educators" do to anything intelligent even when the task is trivial.

I would think sending the report card to the wrong person is illegal, violating student confidential rights since they were notified of the wrong addressing.

You may want to bring that up when talking with the superintendents office to get this resolved. You can also tell that office that you hope this is resolved, that you won't be forced to bring this up at a school board meeting or with the department of education on the school's lackadaisical attitude on student records.

I have spoken to a few administrative types at CHS - every time I receive these.  Note that I would not be at any school board meetings - I don't have children in the school - and never did (I'm an empty-nester).  I also sometimes wonder about the PARENT of the student - don't they wonder where their child's report card is?  Many thanks for your response.  

The only way I can think of to get their attention on your next call would be to suggest that perhaps the student whose report card you are receiving has moved out of the district, is no longer a resident, yet is still attending CHS as an "illegal" student.  

Maybe try reporting it via the relatively new "Let's Talk" feature on the school district website.  I can't find a more direct link, but if you follow the one below, you will see a side bar on the right hand side of the screen that says "Let's Talk".  If you click on it, a communication window will open.  I have had success communicating with the district via this feature when I did not know the correct person to reach out to. 

http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/site/default.aspx?PageID=1

if you bought the house years ago, has the student been in the same school? or have they moved from elementary to high school, etc?

i can only guess the parent did not change the address so they can continue sending the child to the school.

have you contacted the superintendents office? written to the board of ed?

cmarym - I will give it a try tomorrow.  All, - when I have called, - they have looked up the student, they say they will look to fix the issue, etc.  Thanks to all for the reponses.

If the report cards have come in the mail, have you considered marking the envelope "addressee unknown, return to sender" and placing it back in your mail box or mail slot for the letter carrier to pick up when your next mail delivery is made?  This might get the school's attention.

Another possibility is to bring the report card directly to the school office during school hours and explain the problem in person.

Either action is apt to get better attention than a phone call.

You can try calling Tiffani Barnes, the district's registrar.

I know from personal experience that the parent of the student must request the change of address (along with proof of residency) for any records to be changed - a call from an "outside" person will not precipitate an address change. Parents can check the student's grades online.

You face a financial cliff and you are still mailing report cards? 

usmale78 said:

I know from personal experience that the parent of the student must request the change of address (along with proof of residency) for any records to be changed - a call from an "outside" person will not precipitate an address change. Parents can check the student's grades online.

you would think it would trigger an investigation into if the student actually resided in district and require the parent to bring in proof of residency...i think each student costs about $12,000 per year...more if special ed...

usmale78 said:

I know from personal experience that the parent of the student must request the change of address (along with proof of residency) for any records to be changed - a call from an "outside" person will not precipitate an address change. Parents can check the student's grades online.

Then why did they say "it will be fixed" when randg called?

@randg please check your pm's  

bramzzoinks said:

You face a financial cliff and you are still mailing report cards? 

Not everyone has internet access. 

so why not then mail only to the 10 people without Internet access.  Half the time, our mail ends up down the street anyway.  

Or just send those few home with students.

bramzzoinks said:

You face a financial cliff and you are still mailing report cards? 

This^^

Can you write "return to sender" and drop back in mailbox  

Make sure you use a marker to cross out the bar codes on the envelope, both front and back, or else it will just come right back to your house. The one bar code is easy to find, usually in black ink. The second one is usually a very pale orangish ink which is harder to see.  

Yes, this (seconded by a former postal worker).

And write not only "return to sender," but add "has not lived here for X months/years,"  rather than just "addressee unkown."