Kelley Williams-Bolar, 41, a single mother from Akron, Ohio, was convicted of two felony crimes in January and jailed for nine days after she falsified documents so she could enroll her daughters — one a third grader, the other in junior high — in a neighboring, higher performing school district. This month, Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio reduced the convictions, which were for records tampering, to misdemeanors. He said the original punishment had been too harsh. Ms. Williams-Bolar, who works as a teacher’s aide in an Akron public school, is pursuing a degree in family child development. A criminal felony would have hindered her chance of getting a teacher’s license. Though the case focused attention on the disparity in the academic quality of school systems, Ms. Williams-Bolar said she did not do it to gain an educational advantage. She explains:

QUESTION You registered your daughters in a school district that didn’t serve your neighborhood. Why?

ANSWER My home had been broken into in 2006. I decided to enroll my kids using my dad’s address. We’re over there a whole lot. He helps raise them. He’s very involved with my children. Everything was fine — at least I thought it was — until the second year. I was very concerned about their safety. I didn’t want them at home by themselves. I was in school. I worked long hours at the university. I wasn’t comfortable with them being that independent. My children were too young. One was in junior high and the other was in third grade. They were too young. I did not have an opinion if the schools were at the level they should be or not. That’s not why I did what I did. People do it all the time. My grandparents raised me, so I didn’t think it was a problem because I didn’t give them a fake address or anything like that. Their grandfather is involved in raising them.

Q. What happened once the school district found out?

A. We received a letter in the mail saying, “You don’t actually reside with your father,” and they wanted us to come to a meeting. We tried to make it right. So we got my father a power of attorney but they didn’t want to accept that, so it went to a judge. We pulled them out when the school year ended. Seventeen months later we received an indictment, even though they had not been in school for almost 18 months.

Q. What did you do?

A. Initially, I didn’t know exactly what was going on because it was a secret indictment, so me and my dad went to court and stood before the judge and they explained it. I was shocked. I never thought I would be prosecuted for it. They said that the education had been stolen. That was in November 2009. Initially, I didn’t say anything to anybody. I was going through a depression. I didn’t say, “I’m getting indicted.” [She laughs.] I stayed in my shell. My neighbors knew about it, my co-workers knew about it, and I knew they were looking at it. The reaction was split. Some said they had done it, and the other half said they were getting ready to do it. I spoke to a relative and she said it would be better if people knew about this. So she filled out an online form or something with The A.P. This is my aunt. She said, “Kelly, I think I did this A.P. thing right. I think it caught on.” And the next thing you know, it was out there.