Henderson Co. Truancy Crackdown
Two Henderson County parents have already been jailed for letting their child miss too much school this year. That’s because absentee director Harlan Fesmire has a new policy which only allows kids to miss, or be tardy for 10 days of school or parents are ordered to truancy court. He says about ten parents a week have to face the judge and are usually placed with a fine. If the case becomes a reoccurring problem, the parent could be ordered to up to five days in jail. “I guess the key issue is we’re wanting to make the parent’s aware that we are taking attendance as a serious issue and we are gonna try to monitor it as best we can,” said Fesmire. Some parents believe the penalties are too severe. “I don’t believe jail time is the right answer because there’s a lot of single parents in the world today. You put a parent in jail…how’s the kid gonna get to school?” said parent Kacy Day. Fesmire add parents are given a warning letter after five absentees. However, next year he hopes to make more parent’s aware of the serious policy.
