INTERVIEW – MAYOR VINCE GRAY – DC Councilmember for Ward 7 and former mayor of D.C. – discussed potential enrollment fraud at D.C.’s Ellington School and widespread problems with the D.C. school system

• Report points to enrollment fraud at DC’s Ellington School (WTOP) — WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday that a review is underway after a report of possible enrollment fraud at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Bowser held a news conference Tuesday, just hours after The Washington Post reported that dozens of families who live outside D.C. may be avoiding the tuition payments required for their children to attend the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Two D.C. officials told The Post that a preliminary check by the Office of the State Superintendent for Education of about 100 students who claimed D.C. residency found more than half may live outside of the District of Columbia. Nonresidents can attend the school, but are required to pay $12,000 in annual tuition. Ahnna Smith, the deputy mayor for education, told WTOP that the irregularities were discovered as part of an annual review of school enrollments that begins every October. Checking the residency documentation of each family is part of the process, Smith said; “they found a number of irregularities at Duke Ellington, and that triggered a deeper investigation.”