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Home-school mom charged with allowing truancy

BY JOHN D. HOMAN
the southern

Friday, April 29, 2005 6:32 AM CDT

MARION - Williamson County State's Attorney Charles Garnati is taking a tougher stance with parents who fail to follow established curriculum guidelines when home schooling their children.

On Thursday, he announced at a press conference that he has charged Marion resident Kim Harris with permitting truancy, a Class C misdemeanor punishable up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. Harris is said to have willingly and knowingly allowed her 15-year-old son to be truant.

Garnati stressed that he supports home-schooling in general, just not for parents who abuse the privilege.

Some parents have allowed their children to be truant from public schools, and when threatened with legal action, have pulled their children from that school to avoid prosecution, Garnati said.

"It's what I call an end around," Garnati said. "These are parents who have no intention of home-schooling their child. Unfortunately, there is no law on the books that criminalizes improper home schooling. What concerns me are those children who are chronically truant from school."

In Illinois, chronic truancy is 10 percent absenteeism from the classroom. In Williamson County, Garnati said, he files truancy charges against four to five parents each year. Harris is the first, however, who claimed to be home-schooling her child at the time charges were filed.

"Our priority is to get children back in school and not have to take the parents or kids to court," Garnati said.

Admitting that the Harris case is pretty much a "test" case, Garnati said he made his decision to prosecute after he and Marion school district

officials had exhausted all other efforts to solve the problem.

Mickey Sullivan, truant officer with the regional superintendent of schools office in Herrin, said the number of truancy cases has dwindled in the county under Garnati's watch. But she believes the number of children who are home-schooled who are not receiving proper instruction has increased.

"People don't have to register with our office if they decide to home-school their kids," Sullivan said. "The only way we know the student is being home-schooled is if the parent pulls the student from the school for whatever reason or if we get a report that the student has been seen out on the streets. Otherwise, it's hard to track."

Sullivan said one of the keys to solving truancy and delinquent home-schooling parents is for state's attorneys and judges to take a tough stand with the families involved.

"You don't generally go to jail for truancy, but you can for contempt of court if the judge orders you to go to school and you don't go," Sullivan said. "Fortunately, Williamson County is one of the few counties that will support truancy laws."

In the Harris case, Sullivan said she made three trips to the residence to see if there was an established curriculum. In each case, however, she found that there wasn't one.

"She didn't produce any evidence of home-schooling," Sullivan said. "It's important that we send the message to those parents who are not home-schooling their kids properly that they can be prosecuted."

Marion High School Principal Gerald Murphy said the dispute is not whether or not children are enrolled in public schools or home-schooled, but rather if the parents who choose to home school are trying to get around the system and not provide a quality education for their child.

john.homan@thesouthern.com

618-997-3356 x15807

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Jane wrote on Nov 29, 2006 12:47 PM:

" "I support the efforts of school and law officials in checking the effectiveness of Home Schooling. Home records should be maintained as in Public and Private Schools. Evidence of attendance, testing results and acedemic performance should be available to county or state officials when a child's well being is in question. Many parents are truly diligent in instructing their children and they follow Home Schooling guidelines. But, there are cases when a child is allowed to stay home, have no instruction, and run the streets at night. These are the instances that become major problems for the community. The law needs to support education. Adults that do not provide an enriching, well-disciplined atmosphere at home should be prosecuted." "

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Kathleen wrote on Jul 14, 2006 9:07 PM:

" Perhaps Charles Barr should get his facts straight before he makes a fool of himself. Anyone with a little intelligence will tend not to offer an opinion on something they do not understand. "

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Dawn wrote on Jun 6, 2006 10:02 AM:

" What gives any agency the right to tell a parent how to educate their children? Parents know their own children better than anyone. No agency should have the right to say which education choices are better or worse for these kids. The state dictates a compulsory attendance law not a compulsory curriculum law. For generations, children were taught by their families. Tell me how the public school system has exceeded a home education. No child left behind, although a great concept, has become a hinderance on American classrooms. Teachers are underpaid, underappreciated and overworked. They can only go as fast as the slowest student. This is wonderful for those students who need the extra time, but the rest suffer with boredom and therefore lack interest in the classroom. If I can provide a quality education to my children that sparks their curiousity, love of learning and yearning for more why not? As an educated mother I am disturbed that agencies are discouraging mothers to take on the role that God has given them. These kind of stories are the ones that may prevent another Mother from pursuing homeschooling due to fear. Opponents claim that there is no way to track those parents that take advantage of the homeschooling system. The same way there is no way to get rid of bad teachers due to tenure, there is no way to get rid of or track terrible administrators, or no way to track bad politicians. Lets solve the root problem of our education system before we attack those who are trying to help their kids. "

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Lillie wrote on May 27, 2006 2:59 PM:

" Is there no limit to the violations of our constitutional rights in this country any longer. By test case what is this man referring too. How much more invasion into the privacy of our lives and our homes will happen as well as even our phone calls according to the press. Is there no limit on what the government can do these days local and federal. Its homeschooling and phone calls today what will it be tomorrow. "

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