Posted on 05/24/2002 10:17:33 AM PDT by Registered
All in all, it was a good experience. Ask her if she wants to go back to public school though, and she looks at you like you are crazy! Good kid, our daughter!!!!
Our strength is not letting the power hammer on any homeschoolers. Let the facts be made known, and 99.99% of the time, the power has overstepped.
We must keep the lines clearly drawn, and our rights clearly defined for the apparachiks.
If anyone could email me with the name of the person in Grand Traverse Co, I'd be very interested.
Fair use cya's apply
April 18, 2002
Truant child lands mom in jail, then in school - Brenda Hansen's daughter had amassed 37 unexcused absences already this year By PATRICK SULLIVAN
Record-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - Thirty-seven-year-old Brenda Lee Hansen has been ordered by a judge to go back to school.
Hansen, of Interlochen, couldn't get her daughter to go to school on her own, so District Judge Thomas Gilbert ordered Hansen to attend Traverse City West Junior High School with her 15-year-old daughter for the next month.
Hansen pleaded guilty Monday to a truancy violation and was sentenced Tuesday. She was also sent to jail for two days, ordered to attend parenting classes and put on probation until her daughter turns 16 next February, when she will no longer be legally obligated to be in school.
Gilbert said he would have sentenced Hansen Monday morning, but when he asked her where her daughter was at that time, Hansen told him she was at home - and not at school. Gilbert decided to delay the sentencing for one day and bring the daughter into court so he could explain to the girl why her mother would be going to jail for two days.
School administrators and the probation department will decide how Hansen should spend her time at school.
Hansen's case comes from a truancy intervention program that started in Traverse City in January, 2000.
Under the program, students who are caught skipping school or who accumulate four unexcused absences in a row or six in a school year receive a hand-delivered warning from a police officer. Another unexcused absence triggers a requirement that the parents attend a class on parenting. A third offense can lead to a truancy prosecution.
Along the way, truancy officer Pat LaBelle said, she works with police and the Family Independence Agency to discover whatever is causing the truancy.
In Hansen's case, investigators were never able to learn what caused the girl to accumulate 37 unexcused absences this school year, LaBelle said. Hansen told Gilbert she just couldn't control her daughter.
"Jail is the last resort and I don't like doing that but if we can change behavior with a short jail sentence, I'll continue to do it," Gilbert said. In most cases, the first contact with police gets the student back to school. Between Jan. 1 and March 31, out of 47 offenses the truancy office processed, 32 of those did not go beyond a first offense.
You should see the commercials for this program!! They show a kid riding in a car...voiceover says "make sure your child is in school" pan back to show police cruiser with kid in the back seat voicover: ::Or they might be getting a ride from us". Then, a judge appears, and urges all citizens to report kids whom they think should be in school. The first time I saw it (and every time since) I'm reminded of the block captains in WWII who reported on their neighbors to the Nazis.
Michigan District Harasses Home Schoolers
Despite complying with Michigan's lenient home school law, one family's Christmas holiday was interrupted by an unnecessary police investigation.
A few months after the 2001-2002 school year began, the Hendricks* family of Traverse City, Michigan, withdrew their three children (one with special needs) from public school. Home schooling is completely legal in Michigan and there are no specific notification or testing requirements. The Hendricks, going beyond what Michigan law requires, notified the school district of their withdrawal and that they were beginning home schooling.
A short time after withdrawing, however, the Hendricks received a letter from the Grand Traverse County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney indicating that a petition would be filed in family court should the Hendricks fail to provide an education in the required subjects. Since Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks were confident they were providing adequate instruction in the required subjects, they simply continued on with their home school program.
Then, much to the Hendricks surprise, a police officer showed up on their doorstep on December 26, two months after their initial withdrawal from public school. The officer demanded to come into their home to examine and approve their curricula. When the family refused, he threatened the parents with 90 days in jail and indicated he would seek a warrant against them if necessary. He then left.
The family immediately called HSLDA for assistance. HSLDA contacted the officer's supervisor who was not overly concerned with his officer's actions. HSLDA then contacted the school district and discovered that whenever the district learns of another home schooling family in their area it is standard procedure to notify the local Truancy Intervention Program. (Established by a federal grant, this program is an independent agency which contracts with the county and school districts to track truant children.)
The agency then notifies the county prosecutor's office about the "truant" family. The standard procedure of the prosecutor's office is to first send the family a letter and then have a police officer follow up in person. The school district indicated that the prosecutor would make a decision as to whether or not to file charges once he received a report from the visiting police officer.
After sorting through this bureaucratic tangle, HSLDA wrote to the prosecuting attorney's office informing them that the Hendricks were in compliance with the law. Any further action against the family would constitute a violation of their civil and statutory rights. The prosecutor agreed not to pursue any educational neglect charges against the parents. However, his final words seemed to indicate a continuing prejudice against home schoolers. Because the family is home schooling a special needs child, he said, they run the risk of "potential involvement with juvenile or adult criminal justice system," insinuating that their special needs child was a potential law breaker.
HSLDA and the family are thankful that they no longer have to worry about continued harassment. Yet the experience was undoubtedly damaging to the Hendricks. Mrs. Hendricks explains, "my children are still afraid to go outside. They are scared of the police." The children cannot forget hearing the police officer repeatedly tell their parents that they could go to jail for what they were doing.
HSLDA is considering filing a civil rights suit against the school district for following this "standard procedure" of harassment. Any Michigan HSLDA members who receive similar harassment from police or school district official, should contact our office immediately.
*The family's name has been changed to protect their privacy
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.