Leopold schools probe residency complaint

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- School officials in the small, rural Leopold School District are investigating allegations that as many as 42 students -- nearly a fourth of the total student population -- are enrolled illegally.

The investigation stems from an anonymous written complaint made to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, school and state education officials said Thursday.

Initial indications are that at least some of the students named in the complaint don't reside in the district, said Tom Quinn, DESE's director of school governance. Some may reside in the neighboring Woodland School District, Quinn said, citing information he has received from Leopold school officials.

DESE received an anonymous written complaint in February that prompted Quinn to formally ask school superintendent Derek Urhahn to investigate the matter. He said he requested the investigation in a letter to Urhahn on Feb. 9.

On March 12, DESE received another anonymous letter making similar allegations but containing an expanded list of names of students alleged to live outside the district.

A similar typewritten letter, signed "concerned parents," recently was mailed to the Southeast Missourian newspaper.