A 32-year-old woman was arrested for fraud this week for allegedly attending three Boston high schools this year, according to Superintendent Mary Skipper.
In a letter to students’ families on Tuesday, Skipper said the woman is under police investigation and was ordered to stay away from Boston Public Schools, the Boston Herald reported.
Authorities discovered the alleged fraud on June 14 when a man claiming to be the suspect’s father arrived at English High School and said he wanted to take her out of the school because she was being bullied, according to a police report. Since the student in question had enrolled just a few days before and there was only one week left in the school year, staff became suspicious.
“I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student,” Superintendent Skipper said in a statement. “This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud.” https://t.co/uRADbE2iaj
— Boston Herald (@bostonherald) June 20, 2023
“Concerned there may be some sort of custodial issue with the parents, the school began to ask from the district all of the enrollment paperwork,” the police report explains. (RELATED: 29-Year-Old Woman Who Allegedly Enrolled In High School Pleads Not Guilty)
During the 2022-2023 school year, the woman allegedly attended Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School and English High School by manipulating the student transfer process and enrolling under multiple false names, Boston25 News reported. Boston police have launched an investigation, per the outlet.
“I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student,” Skipper said in a statement, adding that “school officials have not identified any incidents of harm to students or staff.”
In a similar case last week, a 28-year-old immigrant in Louisiana was arrested for allegedly posing as a high school student for a year to improve her English. Law officials say that woman is being charged with “injuring public records” since she presented a fraudulent passport and birth certificate.