NC - Mother jailed because her child kept missing school

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los2188

los2188

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North Carolina mother put in jail because her child keeps missing school
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina mother has been put in jail because her child keeps missing school, according to WWAY.

The TV station reported that Jerri Collis has been charged with misdemeanor attendance law violation after her child had 10 unexcused absences from school.

Collis was sentenced to 10 days in jail, according to the TV station. The principal of the middle school her child attends reportedly sought the criminal summons after meeting with the mother.
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http://myfox8.com/2015/04/18/nc-mother-put-in-jail-because-of-her-child-keeps-missing-school/
2013_07_09-naD0a0wQDts3d.jpg
 
Do you think this is a fair thing to do to the mother/parent?
 
Unsure that it's fair but I can say that truency is a real problem in schools and funding is tied to student attendance.
 
I can only speak as a former Case Manager and Truancy Officer in Louisiana, truancy is a major issue. You have some children that even with court involvement, parents can not get their child to school. Sometimes it's parent issues. I always looked at historical data... Late check-ins, excused absences and unexcused absences, siblings absences and homework completion. After looking at the data, I would staff the case to determine how to proceed. Does the family need services...evaluation, parenting classes and or counseling.
 
Speaking as a teacher, "unexcused absences" are not student absences due to illness, doctor appointments, family funerals, etc. They are due to the parent saying " It was raining and I didn't feel like driving my kids to school today" "I was too hungover from the party last night to take them to school" or similar BS excuses. In many districts, 3 tardies equals one unexcused absence. It's not the child's fault they are late to school- it is the parent's, especially at the elementary and middle school grades, since the students do not have a driver's license.
 
rainwater said:
Speaking as a teacher, "unexcused absences" are not student absences due to illness, doctor appointments, family funerals, etc. They are due to the parent saying " It was raining and I didn't feel like driving my kids to school today" "I was too hungover from the party last night to take them to school" or similar BS excuses. In many districts, 3 tardies equals one unexcused absence. It's not the child's fault they are late to school- it is the parent's, especially at the elementary and middle school grades, since the students do not have a driver's license.
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Agreed. I was on the board of my son's charter school for two years. You'd be surprised at the blame parents/caregivers put on everyone except themselves for kids missing school. It's an epidemic.
 
They have to do something in my opinion . I agree that this a big problem here in the US.
 
rainwater said:
Speaking as a teacher, "unexcused absences" are not student absences due to illness, doctor appointments, family funerals, etc. They are due to the parent saying " It was raining and I didn't feel like driving my kids to school today" "I was too hungover from the party last night to take them to school" or similar BS excuses. In many districts, 3 tardies equals one unexcused absence. It's not the child's fault they are late to school- it is the parent's, especially at the elementary and middle school grades, since the students do not have a driver's license.
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I hear you and agree that it's not the child's fault and usually is the parents I, myself, have personal experience of this sort of thing when I was kid - my parents too unreliable, "busy", etc. Luckily, I could usually get myself and sister to the bus stop in time, in which raises my next question: Isn't this where having school buses to take kids to and from school are of utmost importance for a school district - and especially in rural areas? If what you're saying is the case - and i believe it is - this is a perfect example of why school busses should be an valid option to kids.


Sent via Tapatalk - please excuse any typos.[emoji92][emoji94]
 
Aeronomy said:
I wonder why this article has a completely different mugshot of her.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/2015/04/17/mom-in-jail-for-childs-school-attendance-violation/

Was it fair to charge her? I think so. A social worker with the school district stated “We do have multiple interventions that we utilize before having to make a decision to charge a parent.” Apparently, this had become problematic.
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In this case, it sounds like the district already did everything else they could. If that's the case, it's fair.
 
School districts often have a policy that says the child must live further than a certain distance from the school in order to have busses pick them up. Where I live, the distance is more than X miles for elementary/middle and X miles for high school students. If the student lives closer than that, it is the parent's responsibility to figure out how their child gets to school. Students who are handicapped, or who are in special education are always bussed to school regardless of distance.

Local LE also makes it a point to continuously patrol student travel routes as the students are biking/skateboarding/walking to school; and most of the students carry cell phones to communicate with their parents as they are en route. Teachers also teach students things they can do to stay safe, but I am not going to describe what we tell students.
 
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