Re: Unique Situation
 

That is EXACTLY my point. And the rules that school districts attempt to enforce, regarding residency and visas, are almost certainly illegal/ unenforceable.

Re: Unique Situation
 

I thought this was the case in our school system until I went to a school budget meeting recently and discovered that not only can students from another administrative unit come to our schools for a fee, but also teachers at our school can bring their children to the school also for a fee. This is likely to increase in Maine as the governor is very pro-school-choice. It's going to be interesting.

Re: Unique Situation
 

Again, those are fees related to choices. If you live in the area, your children are required to attend school (subject to the homeschool exception, or parental choice to pay for a different school), and no fee is allowed.

Re: Unique Situation
 

Sorry, I wasn't trying to create the great debate.

I am none the wiser as to our situation and will leave it at that given the conflicting guidance.

Thanks to those that did try to offer genuine assistance, to the others take it easy.

Thanks

Chris

Re: Unique Situation
 

Yes, they can attend school, there is no charge, though you will almost certainly be asked to contribute stationery supplies and tissues, wipes, etc.

Under the Affordable Care Act you can obtain health insurance, that much is certain, and it will likely be through your employer, and isn't/ can't be priced based on your child's health. You get to choose, probably from several policies, offering different premiers and deductibles (excesses). Depending on your employer 's generosity in subsidizing the cost, it will likely cost you between $100 and $1,000 per month in insurance premiums; $600-$800 is typical IMO. Each year you pay the first $x, being the deductible, and then insurance picks up most of the rest. There is usually also a modest point of service fee, called a copay, usually $25-$30.

Any prescription drugs will be subsidized by the insurance, but in a very unpredictable way. You can look up the gross cost of the drugs at goodrx.com, but the only certain thing is that you will pay somewhere between zero and the total cost. ..... There is usually a drug copay, typically of $10.

Re: Unique Situation
 

To my personal memory you can attend in US public school. Maybe you would be required to pass an exam in general studies - English, math. But ai I remember it's not obligatory, at least not in every school

Re: Unique Situation
 

To get entry to the school? .... That doesn't sound right? :confused:

Re: Unique Situation
 

Oh, sorry, but I've heard something like that about USA. I know that there are good public schools in Russia tha requires passing entry exams.

Re: Unique Situation
 

No, as was discussed above, and apparently irritated the OP :o, in the US schools are assigned on the basis of your home address, and that determines which school your children attend, the school can't turn you away. .... There are certain choice possibilities (magnet schools, academies, out-of-district schools, etc.) for which there may be fees, but generally your addreas determines school assignment.

Re: Unique Situation
 

Hi I made the move to Dallas 6 months ago. You've asked a lot of good questions heres some answers and advice:


1) If you are not on something like an L1 visa, for example a H1B, that's not a good deal. H1B is not known as the body shopping visa for nothing.


2) Your company should have a healthcare scheme. It may be a high deductible one, but they should contribute reasonably. For my family I pay $250 a month for medical, $30 for dental and $15 for vision. The company trebles this. Check the small print. I got lots of freebies on mine too based on lifestyle choices.


3) I think Aus is similar to UK with taxation. So don't take a simple exchange rate multiplier. You will be below market value here and unable to move company unless/until your company gets you a green card. This should be a red flag if a combination of 1,2 and 3 are not fulfilled.


4) Dallas, like everywhere, has a highly variable schooling system.


4a) Firstly there's getting in. The getting in part is down to English as a primary language and having the right jabs/inoculations. YOU ARE OBLIDGED to have both sorted if its not the case at your expense. Check the Texas Education board website. THEY ARE REALLY STRICT ON THIS. You can walk into a Walgreens to get them done, but you MUST have proof.


4b) I suggest a pre-visit out here to talk to the administration people at the school you finally choose (see my housing advice to follow). By choosing a school I mean choose a district and a school and RENT THERE. Don't choose a house and take the school. You need to prime the school about YOUR education system and the needs, achievements of your kids. They WILL STILL probably get put in grade recovery classes, but you will have warned the councilor to keep an eye on their progress. My son got place in Grade Recovery despite being a Sheldon Cooper at Physics, and is now with the Seniors in high school. They realized having him in with his own age was disruptive to those kids as he knew too much.


4c) The house rental websites have school reviews. Its basically a pretty easy pick though. The more the houses cost to buy, the better the schools. Property taxes pay for schools in Texas. I'd recommend North of Dallas, and Frisco ISD. If they are sporty look at Allen, but don't expect academic excellence, expect overly well funded excellent sports.


5) Homes. Because of schools go straight to a rental home. Apartment complexes than companies stick you in will be in a different ISD and probably a different school area and tie your hands. Your kids will be in and out of recovery classes for months. I got a realtor to look for me in the high school area I wanted and rented there. Realtors finding for you will work for free. My company would have paid for an apartment for 8 weeks, but its a hassle and not worth it. Get them to pay for a hotel suite for a couple of weeks instead as I did, but have a home rented with an address the day you move over (as the address determines eligibility for the school).


Ping me if you want any more advice. If you plan and prepare the move will be smooth and bar the kids/wife having inevitable bouts of homesickness you'll make the transition much better than turning up and relying on a relo company who are just looking to sell you and your company pointless services.

Re: Unique Situation
 

totally agree about the Dallas school comments. We were in Dallas ISD for a few months and it sucked majorly. We moved north to Mckinney (East of Frisco) and its a bazillion times better. I love the school district and my kids are doing great there.

Re: Unique Situation
 

Does Grade Recovery, whatever that is, apply for elementary kids? I know if someone moves here with kids of high school age, or maybe even middle, you'd have to ride the school hard to get them to recognize the child's previous studies and make sure they're in the correct academic class track. But mine - at 7 and 11 - were simply just placed in the correct grade for their age, 2nd and 6th.

And this was despite coming from Switzerland, where the oldest hadn't written a sentence in Enlgish for 3+ years, and the youngest couldn't read yet. They gave her some one-on-one tutoring for about 6 months, a couple of times a week, but she was otherwise in a regular class.

Re: Unique Situation
 

Yeah Grade Recovery is usually High School. I didn't do an age check.

Re: Unique Situation
 

No, but to rank you for classes. The boys had to, much to their great surprise. They had to do a civics exam, and ended up in the top 10 in the school - despite never touching the syllabus.

Mine you, when #2 son scored 105% in his last maths test, you have to wonder about the standards here....

Re: Unique Situation
 

:) My son ran a grade of 104.something for most of last semester's US History course, based on getting extra marks in an exam (answering a couple of voluntary extra questions or something). Funnier when it's actually for maths, though!

He was halfway through 6th grade when we arrived here. Once in middle school and noticeably finding the classes easy now he was all caught up in English, he took some aptitude tests, CoGAT ones, as the gateway tests to being placed in more demanding classes (other kids had been placed in them based in their end-of-year state tests). His school split it out that the performance on the verbal reasoning block determined placement in Honors English and Social Studies, and the numerical reasoning block made him eligible for the Accelerated Math and Science track, so he did Pre-Alegebra in 7th, then Algebra 1 and the 9th grade general science class in 8th.

Being a year ahead in the Math and Science tracks is useful, as he's going into his junior year next year, and has been able to sign up for more APs with prerequisites than he otherwise would have. Plus of course he's had the benefit of more engaging classes with a group of like-minded peers; not necessarily all the smartest children, but definitely the ones more inclined to work hard and not be disruptive.