RED BANK — The Red Bank school district is cracking down on non-borough residents who are illegally sending their children to the borough’s schools.

The Board of Education last week passed a resolution to appoint Vincent Soviero as the district residency officer for the 2003-2004 school year.

Soviero, a licensed detective and a former member of the New Jersey State Police Department, will work on a case-by-case basis, at an hourly rate of $35.

In addition to creating the new position, the board plans to establish a Residency Hearing Committee to make decisions on the individual cases.

According to district Superintendent Dr. John Krewer, teachers have been urged to identify these "illegal" students and report them to Soviero. If substantial evidence indicates that the child lives outside the borough, Soviero will pass the case to the committee.

"Our goal is to protect taxpayer dollars," said Krewer. "There are a number of these cases circulating. They are blatant issues that need to be addressed as early as tomorrow."

However, Board Member David Tarver suggested school officials draw up more specific guidelines for addressing the non-residency issue.

"Some of these kids may live out of the district because they are in an abusive or [precarious] situation," Tarver said. "I want to make sure there are policies and procedures, and I want to make sure we do it in a way that helps these kids be in the district legally."

While assuring Tarver that there would be a "deliberate and judicious" decision-making process, Krewer said most of these illegal students are not avoiding precarious situations.

"We feel confident using federal money to create a staff position to look at the human piece you’re talking about," he told Tarver. "We are very sensitive to these issues, but people are sending their kids for convenience, which is theft of service."

"A lot of people don’t want to pay for private kindergarten. It goes on in a lot of other communities," added board member Barbara Horl.

Board member Rosemarie Kopka suggested the board urge other communities to offer a public pre-kindergarten service.

"If they want to have this service, their citizens should pay," she said.