In court, couple whose girl skipped school to join their honeymoon
A NEWLYWED couple are facing a £5,000 fine and a criminal record – because their daughter missed school to join them on their honeymoon.
Janine and Shane Scott wanted to share their dream trip to New York with seven-year-old Elissa, after their guests funded the £3,000, five-day holiday as a wedding present.
But school chiefs refused to grant permission for Elissa to be absent.
The Scotts had believed it would be granted on the grounds of exceptional circumstances but now face a legal battle.
They returned from honeymoon to a letter from St John’s Church of England primary school in Stockton-on-Tees, informing them they could be fined up to £2,500 each, and/or imprisoned for three months for the unauthorised absence.
The couple are due before Teesside magistrates today after electing to fight £60 fixed penalties imposed on each of them.
Despite not guilty pleas, they fear that they are likely to receive an even bigger fine and a criminal record.
Janine, 28, was so upset by the prosecution that she has now given up her job as a health support worker.
It means she can look after Elissa, now eight, and year-old brother Roman full time.
Stagecoach driver Shane, whose four weeks of holiday a year must be taken during set periods in his £19,000-a-year post, said he felt the fines were unfair.
He said: “It is scandalous. We were planning the wedding and the honeymoon.
“We did not have the time to sort out time off from school until just before we left.
“Elissa goes to the park and a local supermarket on school trips. mental Yet she cannot visit America with her parents on honeymoon. It is a punishment and a disgrace.”
St John’s headteacher Kerry Coe said: “What is disappointing in this case is that the parents booked a holiday in term time without any prior discussion with the school and then informed the school only after the holiday had already started.
“We try to be fair to everybody and, having drawn a line that the vast majority of our parents respect, we were left with no choice but to request that a fixed penalty notice be issued when that line was crossed.”