So Foul: Homeless Mom Arrested For Sending Kid To School In Wrong District, Could Face 20 Yrs

A lot of people use a relatives, friends or even work addresses to send their kinds to schools in districts they are not zoned to. Most didn't know they could get arrested for it, face a long stretch in the pen and owe $15,000 if caught.

The 15K is what it supposedly costs to school a child for a year.

That's what Tanya McDowell of Norwalk,Connecticut is dealing with today. To make matters worse she is homeless. Sometimes crashing at homeless shelters, her car or a friends couch. McDowell thought at least she had her son in a good school.

"I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," McDowell, 33 told the Stamford Advocate.

McDowell was charged last week with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools. She was released after posting a $25,000 bond.

The babysitter whose address was used to get McDowell's son into the new school was evicted from her Public Housing home.

"I know so many people who enroll in other school districts where the kids go home on the weekend to visit their parents so they can have a better education," McDowell says.

Norwalk Board of Education Vice Chairman, Glenn Iannaccone can't remember anyome ever being arrested for this.

"This is the first time I have heard something like this where there has been an arrest. Other allegations like this have been handled by the central office. I'm not sure if the police have been involved," Iannaccone told the CT Post. "Maybe this is the district's way of cracking down on this."