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[Upper Arlington is an upscale suburb of Columbus.]

The Columbus Dispatch : Orphan must pay to stay in UA schools

Upper Arlington’s superintendent has stood by his decision not to let Meagan Haught stay in the school district, but the teen and her guardians haven’t given up.

Meagan, who will be 14 next Friday, will be a freshman this fall. She moved out of Upper Arlington after her mother and father died five weeks apart early this year, but she was allowed to finish the year at Hastings Middle School.

She lives in Columbus with her aunt and uncle, Stan Haught and Mona Cook-Haught, who are her legal guardians. Their home is in Centennial High School’s attendance area.

Meagan also lost her grandfather in 2007 and an uncle on Christmas Day 2006, so the Haughts are concerned that leaving Upper Arlington schools would be one change too many to ask of their niece.

She had moved to central Ohio with her mother and sister in 2005 from Baton Rouge, La., a week after storms from Hurricane Katrina destroyed her mother’s business. They were reunited with Meagan’s father, who had separated from her mother 18 months earlier.

Cook-Haught said they had shown Superintendent Jeff Weaver a letter Tuesday from Meagan’s therapist that recommended she stay with her friends in the Upper Arlington district.

In a letter the family received yesterday, Weaver emphasized his duty to taxpayers. Although district policy states an exemption can be used “to protect the student’s physical or mental well-being or to deal with other extenuating circumstances deemed appropriate by the superintendents,” it has been used only for seniors, Weaver wrote.

No students from outside the district are enrolled in Upper Arlington, he has said.

Weaver wrote that Meagan could continue in the district if her family moved there; if she moved in with a guardian who lived in the district; or if the family paid tuition.

Tuition is $12,727.72 a year, said Paul Craft, a district administrator, and is set by the state.

Last updated on Friday, August 15, 2008