More News

The saga of a U.S. citizen denied a free public education in the county for two years came to an end Monday evening when the school system agreed to enroll a 14-year-old Bethesda resident to high school for the next school year.

Jeff Sukkasem, who came to the county in March 2007 after growing up in California and then Thailand, will be enrolled in Walter Johnson High School in August, according to a June 29 letter from Montgomery County Public School System to Patrick Hoover, a Rockville attorney representing Sukkasem's attempt to enroll in county schools.

"He's a little anxious about entering the school. He knows that he may be somewhat of a celebrity at that school, but that he's not dissuaded. He's bound and determined to make a success of it," Hoover said Tuesday morning.

Hoover has maintained that Sukkasem is a resident living with a legal guardian and therefore should be entitled to a free public education. In various opinions issued since 2007, school officials had maintained that Sukkasem was not a hardship case and was living in the county for the purpose of obtaining a free public education, and was therefore not entitled to a $14,000 tuition waiver. They noted that his father's salary of $137 a month as a policeman in Bangkok, Thailand, for example, was average for that city.

Sukkasem had been studying on his own at the Davis Library in Bethesda in an attempt to keep up with the courses being offered at North Bethesda Middle School.

Sukkasem's continuing residence in the county refuted the school system's earlier claim that he established residency with the aim of receiving a free education, Dr. Anita Mostow, who works in the school's Residency Compliance Office, said in the June 29 letter to Hoover In the June 29 letter to Hoover.

"The fact that Jeff has remained in Montgomery County with his legal guardian and his guardian alone has provided for his care and support, even though Jeff has not been enrolled in school, leads us to conclude that his continued presence in Montgomery County must be for purposes other than attending school free of charge," Mostow wrote to Hoover. The letter goes on to say that he will be enrolled "as a Montgomery County resident" at Walter Johnson.

In legal guardianship documents from Montgomery County Circuit Court signed by Sukkasem's guardian Kanya Amornpimonkul in April 2008, the court agreed to appoint Amornpimonkul as his guardian, "provided that such appointment shall not be considered a waiver of any tuition that may be assessed by the Montgomery County Public Schools."

Hoover said the letter finally represents the county's recognition that Jeff is not an international student, even though his parents (who are divorced) live in Thailand.

"We are very gratified that MCPS has finally realized after all this time that Jeff is a resident of the county and is entitled to attend school in the county," Hoover said. "He's very excited."