But parents of persistent truants who refuse to work with the Council to address the problem have been warned that as a last resort the Council can and will use the courts to tackle the issue.
During the last three months of 2009 the County Council brought a total of 38 prosecutions against parents who have failed to work with officers to address their child's regular and persistent non-attendance at school.
And the outcome of those cases at magistrates courts in Eastbourne, Hastings and Lewes was a total of £2,917 in fines and £2,205 in costs.
The bulk of the cases, this time around, were in Hastings where 28 hearings resulted in a total of £2,557 in fines and £1,515 in costs. One parent, whose son had only attended 3% of classes between March and July, was fined £175 with £120 in costs.
Fines totalling £360 with £580 in costs were given to parents in eight cases brought before Eastbourne magistrates. One parent whose son had only attended 21% of classes between June and November pleaded guilty and was given a conditional discharge.
In the three month period there were only two hearings at Lewes Magistrates Court. One parent was given a supervision order for six months with £60 costs. Her daughter had attended only 61% of classes between April and October.
The cases were brought by Education Welfare Officers who support, help and advise parents if they are having difficulty with their child's attendance. Prosecution only comes as a last resort if parents refuse to co-operate with the officers in tackling non-attendance problems.
Councillor David Elkin, Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness said: “Most of the work of our education welfare officers is positive – working in schools to promote attendance and ensure our young people understand why their education and attending school is so important. They also work with families where there is a problem to help resolve the issue. I'm pleased to say that work has proved successful and the amount of persistent absence has reduced.
“However, alongside all this positive work we still do have the powers to get tough with the small minority of parents who ignore their child's persistent absence or who refuse to work with us to address it. It goes without saying that schooling is absolutely vital for a child's learning and future opportunities and if we have to use the courts to make sure parents face up to their responsibilities we will do so.”
Reference:
2695
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