School Districts Need to Arrest Parents of Absent students like Jacksonville Just Did

Oct. 23, 2014   -  Tavares, FL

The Lake County school district is having a huge problem, especially in the African American communities, of student absenteeism and tardiness.  Absent and tardy kids fall farther and farther behind others under the Common Core teaching method, which will affect their ability to graduate high school.  That may be one reason why three schools in Leesburg, FL were all classified as F schools recently.

Other school districts have the same problem with chronic student absenteeism and tardiness, leading Jacksonville's County School District to obtain arrest warrants for the parents, and they busted 18 of them recently.

http://jacksonville.com/slideshow/2014-10-21/18-jacksonville-parents-busted-failing-send-kids-school#slide-1   

"Eighteen Jacksonville parents have been arrested on warrants charging them with repeatedly failing to send their children to school as 26 others are being sought, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

The 44 truancy cases involve children who missed a combined 6,558 days in the last three school years. In one case a child had missed 239 days since 2011 and is now a 9-year-old first-grader, according to prosecutors.

The children of these parents have the highest absentee rates in Duval County, the State Attorney’s Office said."

"Each warrant carried a $1,503 bail. If convicted, the parents face up to a year in jail on the delinquency charge, which is a first-degree misdemeanor, and up to 60 days on the second-degree misdemeanor for failure to comply."

School and student rankings drop when nothing is done about high student tardiness or absenteeism.  This is what the Lake County School District and others should be doing - enforcing the parent's responsibility to ensure the kids are in school and on time.  And, the administrators should know trends like this and bring them to the Board for authorization to act.  School District Boards and Administrators need to stop being THUD managers regarding school attendance and tardiness.  (talk about an issue, then THUD, it drops to the floor).    

Another method being tried now in Lake County, FL is to get local churches, including in the African American communities, adopt a school and visit with parents to get them to ensure kids are not tardy and don't skip school.   Additionally, at least one Principal is visiting parents of tardy and absent students to encourage they to ensure the kids are at school on time every day.

VJ -  PS - Thanks to LCSD Board Member Bill Mathias for posting this article on Facebook.

Here is an entire program in Indiana to reduce absenteeism in schools.

Below is the Jacksonville article in case they restrict it to paid viewers.  Be sure to view the slideshow.

18 Jacksonville parents busted for failing to send their kids to school as police seek 26 more

By Dan Scanlan Tue, Oct 21, 2014 @ 5:20 pm | updated Tue, Oct 21, 2014 @ 7:09 pm

 

Slideshow: See the 18 parents arrested for letting their kids repeatedly skip school

 

Eighteen Jacksonville parents have been arrested on warrants charging them with repeatedly failing to send their children to school as 26 others are being sought, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

The 44 truancy cases involve children who missed a combined 6,558 days in the last three school years. In one case a child had missed 239 days since 2011 and is now a 9-year-old first-grader, according to prosecutors.

The children of these parents have the highest absentee rates in Duval County, the State Attorney’s Office said.

The adults were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failure to comply with compulsory school attendance laws, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Most were arrested Thursday, with others Sunday and Monday, according to their arrest reports.

Slideshow: See the 18 parents arrested for letting their kids repeatedly skip school

The Duval County school district worked to improve attendance with these parents, then the State Attorney’s Office’s Truancy Arbitration Program was invoked before arrest warrants were filed as the final resort to improve attendance.

Each warrant carried a $1,503 bail. If convicted, the parents face up to a year in jail on the delinquency charge, which is a first-degree misdemeanor, and up to 60 days on the second-degree misdemeanor for failure to comply.

The 18 are Michael Reams, Barbara Souza, Lashauna Lopez, Trina Arlene Taylor, Justin Frier Sr., Tiffany Brooks-Lamar, Tiffany Furrer, Lucius Corbitt, Afton Nolan, Charlie Thorton, Nikisha Brown, Rachel DeJesus, Aneisha Lundy, Susan Profit, Jackeya Davis, Claudia Tunin, Christina Crook and Kari Pope-Little.

 

Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549