State lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a bill that would essentially lower the penalty for people who intentionally lie about where they live to get their children into a different school system.
Last year, Tanya McDowell was arrested, accused of sending her 5-year-old son to the wrong schools.
She told police she was living in a van, sometimes sleeping at a homeless shelter in Norwalk or staying at a friend's Bridgeport apartment when she enrolled her son in a Norwalk school.
Members of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee are expected on Monday to vote on the proposed bill that would create a misdemeanor offense for misrepresenting home town for purposes of school enrollment.
Supporters said the new penalty would help protect parents from potential felony charges.
Opponents of the bill argue the penalty should not be lowered because misrepresentation constitutes municipal fraud.
The measure comes nearly a year after McDowell was charged with felony larceny for illegally enrolling her child in a Norwalk public school.
