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MCPS won't grant 14-year-old tuition waiver

by Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer

When Jeff Sukkasem needs peace and quiet to study, he gets it

without asking. He sets his own course schedule. His textbooks
are free. But he pays a price for these perks — he must bike or
walk to the Davis Public Library in Bethesda, since the county's
public school system won't let him attend classes for free.

For the past two years, the 14-year-old has been struggling to
attain the school system's tuition waiver so that he could attend
North Bethesda Middle School. A U.S. citizen born in
California, Jeff has argued that as a resident of the county living
with a legal guardian, he has the right to attend public school at
no cost like the rest of his friends.

"I actually want to hear them talk about school, what it's like,"
Sukkasem said.
Laurie DeWitt/The Gazette

Jeff Sukkasem, a Bethesda resident, with his attorney Patrick Hoover at the Davis Public
The school system, however, states that without any financial or
Library, where Sukkasem has been studying because Montgomery County Public
physical hardship, a person like Jeff should be able to live with
Schools won't grant him a waiver for the school's $14,000 tuition. Sukkasem, a U.S.
his parents and attend school where they live. His parents, who
citizen living with a legal guardian in the county, argues that he should have the right to
are divorced, currently live in Thailand.
attend public school for free. But the school system counters that there is no hardship
preventing Sukkasem from attending school in Thailand, where his parents live.
"Tuition waivers are granted in cases of documented crisis —
not for the purpose of free school attendance," wrote school spokesman Steve Simon in an e-mail, noting that he could not speak
specifically about Sukkasem's case.

Sukkasem said he moved to the county in March 2007 and attempted to enroll at Cabin John Middle School the same month,
after spending the three previous years in Thailand. Sukkasem said he found the cultural transition from California difficult
(Sukkasem said he does not speak Thai). He said he got poor grades at his school in Thailand and wanted to come back to the
United States, where he attended school from kindergarten through fourth grade.

He lived with a friend of his mother's, Boonyawee Johnson, in Potomac until early 2008, when he moved in with Kanya
Amornpimonkul, a Bethesda resident who also knew Jeff's mother and became his legal guardian. While he remains in contact
with his parents and is on good terms with them, his attorney Patrick Hoover said neither they nor Amornpimonkul, who works
nights as a desk clerk, can afford to send Sukkasem back to Thailand.

The same lack of funds, Hoover said, keeps Sukkasem from attending private school or paying $14,000 in tuition for public
school.

Hoover's argument is straightforward: regardless of any hardships, as a legal U.S. citizen and county resident with appropriate
documentation, Sukkasem should be allowed to attend public school for free.

"They refuse to follow their own regulations," Hoover said.

But in September 2007, Dr. Anita Mostow of Montgomery County Public Schools' Residency Compliance Office denied
Sukkasem a tuition waiver because he was "here for school purposes." This decision has been upheld by the school's chief
operating officer, Larry Bowers, in April 2008; Superintendent of Schools Jerry Weast, in August 2008; and by the Board of
Education in September 2008.
Throughout the record, school officials have asserted that Sukkasem has not provided any evidence of tangible hardship that
would prevent him from living in Thailand with either of his parents. As an example, the Board of Education cited the salary of
Jeff's father, a policeman in Bangkok who earns the equivalent of $137 a month, as being about average for the city.

They have also cited correspondence from Sukkasem's mother as evidence that he is in the United States due to his personal
preference, not any form of hardship that would grant him a tuition waiver.

Hoover argues that the technicalities driving the school system's opinion thus far are irrelevant after two years, and that the
school system is waiting until Sukkasem "finds a way back to Thailand."

"I've never had a case like this in 28 years," said Hoover, who has a firm based in Rockville.

He said he is prepared to take the case to the Maryland Board of Education and then to Montgomery County Circuit Court if the
county Board of Education does not change its decision on appeal. He said he may also soon seek a temporary injunction from
Circuit Court to allow Sukkasem to attend Walter Johnson High School next fall.

Sukkasem, meanwhile, says he spends five to six hours a day studying during the school year in the hope that he'll be able to
attend Walter Johnson in the fall. He struggles in history because the topics are more abstract and he "doesn't know where to
start" without a teacher's guidance.

He plays basketball and football for fun. When he's feeling the need for more passive entertainment, he watches MTV, Spike TV
and the Discovery Channel. He says he hopes to be an Air Force pilot one day. His formal education, however, remains
grounded.

"I don't see anything I can do in Thailand," Sukkasem said.