Marcie Lucci is one of several Penn Hills residents upset her taxes are paying for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's children to attend a cyber charter school.

The Republican senator owns a home in Penn Hills, but lives in Leesburg, Va.

Penn Hills School District is paying $38,000 this year for five Santorum children to attend Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School based in Midland, Beaver County. The district has paid an additional $62,000 for his children to attend the school since 2001.

"It might not be illegal to bill Penn Hills for their education, but it is deceitful, unethical and immoral," said Lucci, a mother of two school district children. "It is outrageous he is doing this."

Penn Hills School District, which is required by state law to pay cyber charter tuition costs for students living in the district, is investigating whether Santorum is actually a resident.

A statement issued by Santorum's press office on Tuesday (yesterday) stated he had been in contact with the school district officials and is awaiting questions from them that he will answer to clarify his residency and the education of his children.

The proof of residency that the district requires is a residential property lease or deed, two utility bills, a telephone or cable bill.

The charter school, which has more than 2,100 students, requires parents prove they are a Pennsylvania resident by providing a utility bill and a copy of the driver's license of a parent.

Santorum and his wife, Karen Garver Santorum, have owned the house at 111 Stephens Lane since 1997. They pay about $2,000 annually in property taxes to the district.

But records at the Allegheny County Election Office also show that the couple are not the only people claiming the home as their residence.

Bart and Alyssa DeLuca, both 25, are registered voters listed for the same address. They are not related to Penn Hills Mayor Anthony DeLuca or his father, state Rep. Tony DeLuca.

Alyssa, Karen Garver Santorum's niece, registered as a voter living at the Santorum house in September 2000. Then Bart registered with the election office in June 2001 by using the same address.

Bart is listed in the telephone book for 111 Stephens Lane. The phone number was recently disconnected.

A reporter rang the doorbell at the home last week when four cars were parked in the driveway but no one answered the door.

Several neighbors refused to answer questions about Santorum's situation. They felt uncomfortable talking about the senator, especially when his wife's parents, Ken and Betty Lee Garver, live next door to the Santorum home.

Neighbors referred to Ken Garver as a well-respected pediatrician who had served many Penn Hills families.

Long-time Penn Hills resident Bernice Berg believes Santorum's behavior is hypocritical of views he expressed while running against U.S. Rep. Doug Walgren in 1990.

Santorum called Walgren, whom he defeated, a "carpetbagger" for living outside his district.

"He has adopted double speak when we already have too much of it," said Lucci, the mother of four Penn Hills graduates. "He is not a resident of Penn Hills. He should be paying for his children's charter education."

School board member Lenny Gallo feels the same way.

"This is very unfair to the people of Penn Hills," he said. "He is never in Penn Hills."

Allegheny County Election Office records show Santorum has voted in person five times since 1995, when he registered to vote, including this year's general election. Other times he voted absentee ballots. He registered to vote as a Penn Hills resident five months after buying the Stephens Lane home.

Sara Werner, school board member, said he has been seen voting at the polls at Forbes Elementary School since his 1997 election. She said Santorum and his wife are "nice people," and that Santorum has been seen attending Mass at St. Bartholomew Church when he is in town.

Werner said Santorum has a moral obligation to do what's right regarding the residency question, adding he cannot use the cyber school law to provide his children with an education at Penn Hills taxpayer expense if, indeed, he does not maintain a residence in the municipality.

"If it's not right, he has to rectify it," she said.

"I think it definitely needs to be checked out. We need to prove if, in fact, he still owns that home."

She pointed to the situation with former Penn Hills councilman John DePietro who continued to serve by claiming his brother's house as his own residence when, in fact, he lived in Kennerdell, Pa. Although that was known, DePietro continued to serve until he resigned earlier this month.

Margie Krogh, a school board member, also questions Santorum's actions.

"I don't know what his logic is behind this," the Christian educator said. "The children should go to school where they live."

The Santorum family lives in the Loundon County School District, where 44,000 students attend 64 district schools.

Students' scores on nationally-normed achievement tests and the Scholastic Assessment Test at Loundon County consistently rank well above state and national averages.

The community where Santorum lives in Virginia has six private schools.

School board member Erin Vecchio doesn't understand why Santorum's children aren't enrolled in either the public or private schools in Leesburg.

"Santorum has questionable ethics to make Penn Hills residents pay for his children's education taking place in Virginia," she said. "School district taxes should be spent on educating the children of Penn Hills residents. If he actually lived in Penn Hills, he would understand the importance of dedicating tax dollars to our children's education."

Officials at Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (formerly Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School) did not return phone calls about or respond to an e-mail with questions of how Santorum's residency was determined or what action they might take regarding the status of his children should Penn Hills decide he is not, in fact, a resident.

Besides the school district looking into Santorum's residency, the municipal department of code enforcement is investigating why the senator doesn't have an occupancy permit for his home.

The Santorums never obtained the necessary permit for themselves or the Delucas. Santorum said in a statement issued by his press office Tuesday afternoon that he purchased the home directly from the owner in 1997 and was never advised that a permit was required, until recently.

A woman filed an application for an occupancy permit on Santorum's behalf on Monday with the Penn Hills code enforcement office.

Santorum said that he has obtained the permit but Penn Hills code enforcement staff in the office late yesterday afternoon said no permit has yet been issued. A temporary permit will be issued upon completion of the inspection and a permanent one once any deficiencies are completed.

The PROGRESS, the Gateway newspaper covering Penn Hills, reported earlier this year that Santorum failed to appear for jury duty at Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in July. He said he never received the notice sent to his Penn Hills home to serve as juror.

The senator had the same complaint in April when the PROGRESS called his Washington, D.C., office on why he had not paid his delinquent municipal property taxes of $275 from 2002.

Central Tax Bureau filed the delinquent tax claim in the county courthouse in November 2003.

A Santorum family member paid off the delinquent tax bill a few days after the PROGRESS called the senator's office.

Delinquent school district taxes were not paid with the same speed.

The school district filed a delinquent tax claim in the county courthouse in March 2001 for $222, but Santorum waited until March 2002 to pay off the bill.

The third-ranked Republican in the Senate, Santorum is paid an annual salary of $157,000. He will be up for re-election in 2006.

(Staff writer Zandy Dudiak contributed to this story.)