Parents in court over children’s school absences

TWO PARENTS who failed to ensure the regular attendance of their children at school have been prosecuted after being taken to court by City of York Council.

The prosecution was heard by York Magistrates and followed numerous attempts by the authority and schools to engage the parents to give the children the education to which they are entitled.

York’s school attendance rate is high with only 4.2 per cent absence – the national average is 4.6 per cent and the Yorkshire region average is 4.7 per cent.

City of York Council says it rarely prosecutes because it finds that working with schools and parents is the best strategy to maintain high levels of attendance at school.

Both parents prosecuted had, prior to court, failed to engage with the schools and authority to support their children’s attendance and had also been issued with a fine as an alternative to prosecution, the council said.

They had not paid it, prompting the council to prosecute.

In one case, the parent had previously been prosecuted for their children’s poor attendance at both primary and secondary school. The parent pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a community order with an electronically monitored curfew between 5pm and 7am for seven months. The parent was also order to pay prosecution costs of £140, and a court surcharge of £85.

The other case concerned the parent of a child registered at a secondary school. The parent opted to plead guilty and was fined £69, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £50 and a £30 court surcharge.

Both parents had failed to provide the schools with acceptable reasons for much of their children’s absence and the schools had therefore marked the absence as unauthorised.

Coun Stuart Rawlings, executive member for education, children and young people, said: “These are unusual cases because our schools and the council work very hard – and largely successfully – with parents to ensure that attendance levels in York are above the national and regional averages.

“However, where appropriate, we will use court as a last resort in order to protect the interests of children who are being denied the education to which they are entitled.”