An adult woman who used “falsified identification” to enroll as a student at three different Boston Public Schools this year is being investigated by police, officials said.
The Boston Police Department received a call from school administrators on June 14 after they became “concerned about a student” who was withdrawing from their school after enrolling less than a week before on June 8, according to a Boston police incident report sent to USA TODAY.
A man said his “daughter” was being bullied at the school and he wanted to enroll her into another school, the incident report said.
“Concerned that there may be some sort of custodial issue with the parents, the school began to ask from the district all of the enrollment paperwork,” Boston police said in the report. “It was when looking through the paperwork that a school administrator had noticed that one of the forms submitted for enrollment was not right.”
School administrators contacted police after they found discrepancies on a Department of Children and Families form.
The woman, Shelby Hewitt, was previously employed as a social worker by the Department of Children and Families.
“The Department of Children and Families (DCF) received a report and is investigating. Shelby Hewitt is no longer employed by DCF as of February 2023,” a DCF spokesperson said in a statement sent to USA TODAY.
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Woman attended three separate high schools in Boston, letter to parents says
In a letter to parents Tuesday, superintendent of Boston Public Schools Mary Skipper said the woman attended Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School and English High School by enrolling under multiple names this school year.
“This individual has been discharged and is being ordered to stay away from BPS facilities,” Skipper said in the letter obtained by USA TODAY. “While the investigation is in its early stages and remains ongoing, school officials have not identified any incidents of harm to students or staff.”
Skipper said families of students who may have interacted with the woman are being contacted by school staff and investigators.
“I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student,” Skipper said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. “This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud.”