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A student from Kazakhstan arrived in American on Aug. 3 hoping to learn how democracy works. Since her arrival, she's learned plenty about American bureaucracy instead.

Frederick County Public Schools officials say paperwork to allow her enrollment at Frederick High School was incomplete and one day late. The regional manager for the girl's exchange program, Patricia Littrell, says she's never dealt with such a "difficult" school system. And her host parents, Peg and Gerry Marose of Frederick, say the school system's regulations for enrolling foreign exchange students is vague and misleading and that the school system is being unnecessarily rigid.

Taissiya Kryazhova, 17, just wants to go to school. To stay in the United States, she must be enrolled, but she's still optimistic that things will work out for her. "The main thing," she said in an interview, "is not to worry."

Kryazhova was accepted into a government-sponsored scholarship program, Future Leaders Exchange, part of the Pacific Intercultural Exchange program based in California. Her host parents chose her from nine potential students after hearing about the need for hosts at their church, Good Shepherd Lutheran, in late June. The Maroses receive a $50 per month charitable tax deduction for hosting Kyrazhova for a school year, and the student provides her own money for needs other than meals and housing.

"These kids are crème de la crème in this program. They are basically filtered through many, many applications before they are approved," said the Rev. Ron Reaves, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. "I just hate to see the system she's come to learn about, the democracy we are and need to share with the world, become the obstacle for her to experience that." He added that the school system was "sabotaging" the student "for a minor inconvenience."

The Future Leaders Exchange program was developed in 1992 to bring students from the former Soviet Union countries to the U.S. and is funded by Congress, and administered by the Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Its parent program, Pacific Intercultural Exchange, was established in 1975 and is accredited by the Council on Standards for International Exchange Travel, a requirement for enrollment in Frederick County Public Schools as a foreign student.

The goal of the program, according to its website, is to encourage "long-lasting peace and mutual understanding between the United States and the countries of Eurasia." Mutual misunderstanding is a more accurate depiction of Kryazhova's first experience in America, according to the Maroses.

"There's been lost of miscommunication on both sides, and the school system is unwilling to make any exceptions," Peg Marose said.

The school system's regulation requires "pre-enrollment" by July 1, with all transcripts and related paperwork due by July 15. Littrell, regional manager for Pacific Intercultural Exchange, told the Maroses she faxed the required information on July 1, but the school system's records indicate that it was not received until July 2. It was not signed or notarized, something the Maroses thought could be done after they formally enrolled Kryazhova.

According to Supervisor of Student Services Kathleen Hartsock, "pre-enrollment" means that "the school principal must first know of the student's plans to attend his/her school before guiding the student through the last stages of enrolling."

"I would add that our policy would not have to be interpreted by families interested in hosting foreign exchange students," Hartsock said in an e-mail. "All families must go through CSIET (The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel). They assist families navigate this process. All foreign exchange students we enroll must use one of their programs."

"Balderdash," said Peg Marose. "This is no clarification for pre-enrollment."

She and her husband met with Frederick High Principal Denise Fargo-Devine because they believed that she had some say in whether or not Kryazhova could become a Frederick High School junior this year. Peg Marose said she was "dumfounded" and that her husband was "moved to tears" following the meeting with the principal.

"It looks like a warm and welcoming place with all the multicultural posters on the walls, but it wasn't at all," she said.

The principal's message on the school's website for the upcoming school year highlights the school's devotion to multicultural experiences. "The positive school climate enhanced by our increasingly international student population with over 94 cultures represented in the past 15 years," is named as one of Frederick High School's many accomplishments.

Fargo-Devine, now in her 16th year as principal at Frederick High, said she cannot speak to any specific enrollment, but said that one of the values the school "holds dear" are multicultural studies and foreign students.

She said she's required to work within the guidelines, and agreed that the policy on foreign student enrollment "could be tweaked" to be more clear. She said that the purpose of pre-enrollment is to assure that the student is eligible to enroll. "I can't be any more specific than that," she said.

Multiple calls to Littrell, regional manager of Pacific Intercultural Exchange, went unanswered by The Gazette's press time. A call to its headquarters in California was also not returned. The Maroses have contacted Frederick County Legal Aid Bureau, who they said agreed to take the case. Multiple calls to Nina Shore of Legal Aid were not returned by The Gazette's press time.

The Maroses are unsure exactly how legal aid can assist, but are now being told by Pacific Intercultural Exchange that Kyrazhova must be enrolled somewhere or the State Department will send her back to her home country, regardless of who is at fault.

The end result is that the Maroses are most likely going to send Kryazhova to a private school and cover tuition out of their own pockets. The area volunteer who helps host families and their students make the transition, Marlene Smith-Darnauer of Hedgesville, W.Va., is willing to help with tuition. The Maroses hope to get more donations through a fund set up by their church.

The church, according to Reaves, has a $2,000 deposit in hand, but it is "borrowed money."

"There's nothing wrong with private education, but it does not always provide a cross-section of the community," Reaves said, adding that Frederick County Public Schools should be "embarrassed" by the situation.

kheerbrandt@gazette.net