( CNN ) -- For years , children from Ciudad Acuna , Mexico , have attended schools across the border in Del Rio , Texas , but this week that changed for students who can not prove residency . The local school superintendent imposed new regulations to stem what he said is a long-standing problem for the district . `` I have seen van loads of kids with plates from Coahuila State ( in Mexico ) pulling in front of the school , '' San Felipe Del Rio School Superintendent Kelt Cooper told CNN . `` Everyone knows what is going on . It 's real blatant . '' Cooper , who joined the district 11 months ago , previously was superintendent in the border town of Nogales , Arizona , where he had to deal with similar circumstances . There , he remembered , he once had 32 students with the same home address . When district officials checked , the property was a vacant lot . In Del Rio , Cooper said he began to notice `` there was some slackness in the protocol '' dealing with proof of residency . `` Border towns are really unique , '' Cooper told CNN in a phone interview . `` There is a lot of fluidity between the two cities . Having grown up in the border , I know this is very common . '' Last week , Cooper received confirmation from authorities at the International Bridge border crossing that some 540 school-age kids were crossing the bridge in the mornings . Cooper said the situation was `` getting out of hand , '' and on Wednesday he dispatched district staff members to the bridge to talk to the parents accompanying their children from the Mexican side . The staff was able to identify 195 students that could be barred from the district 's schools if they failed to provide proof they lived within the district . Three of the students were Carla Gomez ' children . In a phone interview , Gomez told CNN she lives in Del Rio with her sister-in-law , but she travels back and forth to Ciudad Acuna to see her husband , who was deported . On Wednesday , Gomez was stopped by school district staff and received a letter saying that her children would be dropped from enrollments if she could n't provide proof of residency . To prove residency , the district requires parents or guardians to provide an official document such as a utility bill , lease or proof-of-rent payment , none of which Gomez said she can provide since everything is in her sister-in-law 's name . She said her only alternative may be homeschooling her children . Cooper said he knows some of the parents who received letters are upset , especially those with children who are U.S. citizens . But he said the issue is a matter or residency , not citizenship or immigration status . `` Citizenship is a moot point . It really comes down to whether you live here , '' Cooper said . `` Frequently , they ( Mexicans ) come with the impression that their kids are U.S. citizens , so they can go to school here , '' he added . `` I am not U.S. Border Patrol , Customs or INS . If you are a resident here , you get to go to school here , if you do n't , you do n't . This is not a matter of border enforcement . '' A 1982 Texas Supreme Court ruling protects students from being discriminated upon based on immigration status , but Texas law states the student must live in a school district 's area to attend a school within that district . Cooper and his staff are trying to work out a tuition system for students who can not prove residency . He is in talks with state agencies to calculate an appropriate tuition fee , but the school board would first have to approve the program . `` We are saying if we have room , you can pay tuition . We do n't want this to be a burden on taxpayers . Some of the parents we have talked to have expressed interest in paying tuition , '' he said . But as Cooper has learned this week , the tuition program has proven unsuccessful in other cities . He has spoken with three superintendents of other border school districts , all of whom have said to him they tried the tuition program but it did n't work . `` I got the impression from them it was not worth the hassle , '' he said . But losing non-resident students could wind up costing the district . Cooper estimated that in a worst-case scenario , the district could lose some $ 2.7 million in state funding since budgets are based on attendance . There are currently about 10,000 students in the district .
School district cracks down on Mexican students crossing border to attend class . Superintendent says students must prove residency to be allowed to go to school . School district may consider tuition system for affected students .