Concern over term-time holiday penalties for sick pupils’ parents
A CHARITY has claimed that the parents of children with life-limiting illnesses fear being fined for taking their youngsters on holiday during term time.
The Cystic Fibrosis Holiday Fund (CFHF) has outlined the anonymous case of a single father from Yorkshire who had to pay £90 after taking his son, who has the condition, out of school for two days before a half-term break in 2016.
Laurie Howard, director at CFHF, said that fines for such families “creates unnecessary stress for parents who are already facing financial and emotional difficulties.
In a separate case, the sister of Leeds teenager Iona Lindley, who died aged 19 from the condition, has spoken of how much a holiday they had in Sardinia meant.
Hannah Lindley, 21, of Horsforth, who also has cystic fibrosis, said: “I would give anything and everything to re-live that holiday with her.”
Cystic fibrosis is caused by a defective gene, leading to a buildup of mucus in the lungs and chronic infections. Many people who suffer from it die in their teens or 20s.
In Leeds, headteachers determine whether a fine is appropriate or whether there are exceptional circumstances which mean that the usual process is not needed.
In a landmark case this month, the Supreme Court allowed an appeal by education chiefs against an earlier ruling that father Jon Platt had not acted unlawfully by taking his daughter to Disney World when she could have been in class. But CFHF says there is no direction on whether parents with ill children can be granted special permission to take their family on holiday in term time.
CLC World Resorts and Hotels has pledged to pay fines issued by local councils on behalf of affected families staying at its accommodation.