BRIDGEWATER -- A family was ordered to pay a school district more than $38,000 after it was discovered that a student was living outside of the district's lines, the Commissioner of Education recently determined.

The parents, identified only in state documents as "M.K.," were ordered to pay a full year's tuition, or $38,329.20 to the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District.

The family appealed the decision by an administrative judge who ruled they lived outside of the district, but the state sided in favor of the judge.

The parents said they live in Bridgewater, but that the mother of the student frequently stays in South Bound Brook to care for her ailing mother.

However, a residency investigation found that M.K. and her son reside in South Bound Brook and that the father was seeking treatment for substance abuse and was not able to care for the child at the Bridgewater address.

The district's attendance officer started investigating the family's residency in 2015 after receiving an anonymous email claiming the child and his mother lived in South Bound Brook.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.