Beechwood Bd. of Educ. v. Wintersheimer, 2015–CA–000582–MR

• Decision Date: 17 June 2016
• Docket Number: NO. 2015–CA–000582–MR,2015–CA–000582–MR
• Citation: 493 S.W.3d 390
• Parties: Beechwood Board of Education, Appellant v. Craig Wintersheimer and Susan Wintersheimer, Appellees
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

493 S.W.3d 390

Beechwood Board of Education, Appellant

v.Craig Wintersheimer and Susan Wintersheimer, Appellees

NO. 2015–CA–000582–MR

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

RENDERED: JUNE 17, 2016; 10:00 A.M.

BRIEF FOR APPELLANT: Suzanne Cassidy, Covington, Kentucky

BRIEF FOR APPELLEE: Stephen D. Wolnitzek, Covington, Kentucky

BEFORE: CLAYTON, KRAMER, AND J. LAMBERT, JUDGES.

OPINION

CLAYTON, JUDGE:

In this case a school board is seeking tuition reimbursement from a family it claims did not reside in its school district for almost two years while the family's children attended the schools. The school board sued the family and lost after a bench trial was held. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

Craig and Susan Wintersheimer lived in Lakeside Park, Kentucky, outside the boundaries of Beechwood Independent Schools (“Beechwood”).¹ Their children did not attend Beechwood. However, in the fall of 2010, the Wintersheimers decided to move into the Beechwood district and build a home. As Beechwood permitted nonresident students to enroll at Beechwood if they planned on living in the district within ninety days, the Wintersheimers enrolled their children at the beginning of the 2010–2011 school year. Per the nonresident policy, the Wintersheimers paid tuition for each of their three children, which totaled approximately $5,000.

As often occurs during major construction projects, delays occurred resulting in the Wintersheimers' new residence not being completed by the end of the fall, 2010 semester. The delays were so significant that groundbreaking did not occur on the property until April 2011, and they were not allowed to finally move into the property until November 19, 2012.

Wanting to remain residents inside the Beechwood district, and wanting to avoid having their children switch schools, the Wintersheimers rented an apartment from their builder beginning in January of 2011. The apartment is located inside the Beechwood district boundaries. The rental cost was approximately $700 per month. The Wintersheimers did not make any payments to the builder while they leased the apartment; instead, its total cost was added to the final bill they received from the builder once the permanent residence was completed. Also in January of 2011, the Wintersheimers notified Beechwood in writing that their new address was the same as the apartment they were now renting. It appears the Wintersheimers only paid rent for the apartment during the months in which their children were in school at Beechwood. Beechwood permitted the students to remain enrolled and changed their statuses from nonresidents to residents.

The Wintersheimers also maintained their Lakeside Park residence, where they resided during the summers. Thus, the Wintersheimers had property interests in three parcels: a single family residence in Lakeside Park; a plot of land in the Beechwood district, upon which their residence was being built; and an apartment in the Beechwood district. For all intents and purposes, the Wintersheimers desired to leave their Lakeside Park residence and make their home in the Beechwood district.

At some point, Beechwood became suspicious of where the Wintersheimers resided. They instituted an investigation during the summer of 2012. They concluded that the Wintersheimers were residing at the Lakeside Park residence due in part to: a letter that was sent to the apartment's address, which was returned as undeliverable; the Wintersheimers' checks, which still had their Lakeside Park address; and a drive-by of the residences, performed during the summer months, which showed evidence that only the Lakeside Park residence was occupied. Beechwood informed the Wintersheimers that they would need to provide proof of residency and pay tuition from the spring 2011 semester through whatever date they could establish residency within the Beechwood district. They also informed the Wintersheimers that they needed to provide proof of residency for their children to begin school in the fall of 2012. Due to the residency dispute, the Wintersheimers' children were not allowed to attend Beechwood for the first three days of the 2012–2013 school year.

In November of 2012, shortly before the Wintersheimers were allowed to fully move into their new home, Beechwood filed suit in the Kenton Circuit Court seeking $19,030.56 in nonresident tuition for the spring 2011 through fall 2012 semesters. A bench trial was conducted at which Craig and Susan Wintersheimer each testified that while school was in session they would spend time at and sleep at the apartment in the Beechwood district, and they also spent time at the house under construction. They may not have spent every day and night inside the Beechwood school district, but they intended on residing within the district and were making substantial steps toward achieving that goal. They did spend the summers in their home in Lakeside Park.

Beechwood's witnesses included various employees and administrators. They testified to their investigations that were predominately performed during the summer months. They also testified to their myriad views on what made someone a Beechwood “resident.” Beechwood's school policies relating to residency were introduced, as were documents relating to the Wintersheimers' various property interests.

At the conclusion of the bench trial, the Kenton Circuit Court found Beechwood failed to prove its case:

The Wintersheimers each testified that they had the intention of making the Fort Mitchell apartment their residence, and that they in fact did live there during the times in question. The testimony of the school officials and other evidence in the record indicated that the Wintersheimer family may not have lived at their stated address in Fort Mitchell during the summer of 2012. There is insufficient evidence in the record to establish that they did not reside at that address during the second half of the 2010–2011 school year, the 2011–2012 school year, or the beginning of the 2012–2013 school year.

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendants Craig and Susan Wintersheimer have been bona fide residents of the Beechwood School District from January 2011 through the date of trial and do not owe tuition to the Beechwood Schools for their children having attended there during that period. The complaint against them is hereby dismissed with prejudice.

(Opinion, pp. 2–3). Beechwood now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The instant case is an appeal from a bench trial. Thus:

[T]he trial court's findings of fact are “not [to] be set aside unless clearly erroneous with due regard being given to the opportunity of the trial judge to consider the credibility of the witnesses.” Lawson v. Loid, 896 S.W.2d 1, 3 (Ky.1995) (citing CR 52.01 ). Factual findings are not considered clearly erroneous if they are “supported by substantial evidence.” Gosney v. Glenn, 163 S.W.3d 894, 898 (Ky.App.2005) (citations omitted). Appellate review of legal determinations and conclusions from a bench trial is de novo. Id. (citations omitted).

Goshorn v. Wilson, 372 S.W.3d 436, 439 (Ky.App.2012) (alterations in original, footnote omitted).

ANALYSIS

The sole issue before this Court is: were the Wintersheimers bona fide residents in the Beechwood district between the spring semester of 2011 and the fall semester of 2012? In spite of the Wintersheimers' two property interests inside the Beechwood district, the substantial financial outlays they expended to reside in the Beechwood district, the amount of time the Wintersheimers stayed at and/or slept in their various Beechwood properties, and their clear intention to ultimately reside in the Beechwood district, Beechwood asks us to answer this question in the negative. It argues that the Wintersheimers' obtained the apartment inside the Beechwood district as “merely a ruse to attempt to avoid having to pay tuition for their children to attend Beechwood schools prior to their official move to a new residence located within the School District.” (Aplt's Reply Brf. at 1). Beechwood asks us to find the Wintersheimers were nonresidents and could be charged tuition. We disagree with Beechwood.

Under Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 158.120(1), “[a]ny board of education may charge a reasonable tuition fee per month for each child attending its schools whose parent, guardian, or other legal custodian is not a bona fide resident of the district.” (Emphasis added). Thus, we must determine where Mr. and Mrs. Wintersheimer were bona fide residents. As neither the statute nor the Chapter defines “bona fide resident,” we turn to case law interpreting similar statutes.

In a case involving school residency, our state's then-highest Court had to interpret Section 3605 of the Kentucky Statutes of 1899, which stated, “that no child of persons residing beyond the city limits shall be admitted as a pupil in any such schools except on payment of such tuition fees as the board may require.” Board of Education of City of Winchester v. Foster, 116 Ky. 484, 76 S.W. 354 (1903). In that case, parents who resided in Virginia sent their daughter to live with her uncle who resided in Kentucky. The uncle was “to board, clothe, educate, and treat [the child] as one of his own children so long as she continued [as] a member of his family” or until she turned 21 years of age. Id. The uncle sent the child to the local city school, which required tuition be paid because it did not believe the child's parents were residents within the city limits.

The Court examined the relevant statutes and found “no provision for the admission of children who are not bona fide residents of the city[.]” Id. As the niece was not the uncle's child, and nothing about the family arrangement created a binding contract on the uncle, nor did it make the uncle the child's guardian or parent,

[h]er admission free to the public schools would violate not only the express letter, but also the spirit, of the statute, as it was plainly the purpose of the General

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