CALUMET CITY | Thornton Fractional Township school officials will be asked next month to approve a tougher policy for checking the residency status of nearly 2,500 students.

District 215 Superintendent Creg Williams said this week he wants the school board to approve more stringent checks than those currently done for students at Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City and Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing.

Currently, the district's two high schools require all incoming freshmen and transfer students to show proof they live within the Calumet City/Burnham or Lansing/Lynwood boundaries.

But Williams concedes there is nothing done to verify those students continue to live within the district.

Williams and other school board members in the past have said they have heard stories of families who move from the community but continue to send their children to the two high schools rather than transfer them to the public schools in their new hometowns.

Williams said he would like to require a residency verification for students at the beginning of every school year, meaning students would have to verify their home addresses up to four times during their time at either high school.

Williams would not say at Tuesday's meeting exactly what the school board would vote on when it meets Oct. 28 at T.F. South, 18500 Burnham Ave., in Lansing.

"We'll be looking at asking for residency for all students, not just the ninth-graders," Williams said.