The head of the White Bear Lake school district detailed on Thursday how a 22-year-old man faked his way into classes and the school’s football team, saying he stated on district forms that he was homeless.
Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak sent a second message to district families since the man was found to have fraudulently enrolled “to provide some accurate information to clear up rumors.”
Kazmierczak’s follow-up comes one day after police said in a statement they were investigating the man’s possible “unlawful conduct involving interactions with minors” along with possible acts of fraud and forgery.
The superintendent said the man certified on district forms during the enrollment process that he was a homeless unaccompanied youth. The superintendent explained that this designation “requires school districts to follow the [federal] McKinney-Vento Act, which mandates the immediate enrollment of eligible students even if they cannot provide standard documentation such as academic records, immunizations, or proof of residency.”
The man also presented a birth certificate from another country, which the superintendent’s message did not specify, showing he was 18 years old and eligible for high school enrollment, Kazmierczak continued.
“Throughout the enrollment process, there was no reason to believe the official birth certificate was fraudulent,” the superintendent said. “The provided birth certificate included authentic watermarking and official stamps/seals. There was no indication that the document was anything less than authentic.”
Kazmierczak said the man was enrolled for 19 school days from Sept. 3 to Sept. 29. He signed up for football on Sept. 8 and attended three practices, the superintendent added.
“He did not compete in any contests or travel with the team to any away games,” according to the superintendent.
Kazmierczak’s message said the man enrolled under the name Kelvin C. Perry Jr. and not his actual name, which was shared in the statement.
The Star Tribune is not reporting the man’s true identity, because he has yet to be charged with a crime. In the meantime, he remains held in the Washington County jail in connection with violating terms of his probation stemming from a gross-misdemeanor indecent exposure conviction in March.
The Star Tribune has reached out to the man’s attorney and family members for further information about his time at White Bear Lake Area High School and the criminal accusations.
On Tuesday, state Rep. Elliott Engen, R-Lino Lakes, sent a letter to Kazmierczak calling for his immediate resignation. Engen contended in his letter that “this failure represents a catastrophic lapse in basic enrollment verification protocols, student safety measures and administrative oversight, which are core responsibilities that fall squarely under your leadership as superintendent.”
Engen, a 2017 White Bear Lake graduate whose brother is senior there, provided to the Star Tribune a copy of this season’s Bears football roster that lists the man as KJ Perry. Engen also sent the Star Tribune an earlier season’s football roster for Forest Lake Area High School that has the man’s real name. The same name appears on the Star Tribune’s roster for Forest Lake in 2021.
Forest Lake school district spokeswoman Renae Reedy confirmed Wednesday to the Star Tribune that the man was a student there until January 2023 and that he played football there. Reedy said she’s unaware of her district having any concerns that the man, who was not too old to be in high school back then, enrolled there improperly.
On Thursday, a spokeswoman with the Centennial School District said the man received individually tailored instruction in the district’s Area Learning Center from Sept. 6, 2023, until Dec. 19, 2023. He then shifted to the learning center’s online program from Dec. 20, 2023, until May 28, 2024.