Son Questioned About Truancy Without Parent Notification; Is This Legal???

[WCDavis559]

FLORIDA
PLEASE HELP!!!!! I HAVE TO TALK TO THE SCHOOL TODAY!!!!!
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS AND ANY ADVICE!
My son attends elem. school in Florida. My ex-husband and I share custody of our two children, but I moved 2 going on 3 years ago about 45 mins away from the school and did not want to move them out of their school so we let them continue to attend. The school, starting this year, has a policy that there is only 1 bell (no tardy bell) and that school now begins at 7:40AM when last year it was 8:00AM and the tardy bell was at 8:15AM Which for parents like myself, who had a little more of a drive and no busses come that far away, gave us a little time cushion. We have been anywhere from 1 to 15 mins late for school this year and now the school has called a Truancy officer to talk to my son (and not my daughter) without contacting me. Can they do this and is it legal??
I know that we have to be on time and we haven't been but we have always without fail talked to the Pricipal every year (He knows me well) and this has never been a problem. Until this year. At the begining of the year, my son was being bullyed in his 5th grade class by a boy that is 13 and going to turn 14 before the year is up. (He is 6' and 150 lbs) My son is 10 (5' & 80lbs)so naturally I'm thinking, "What is a 13, almost 14 year old doing in my son's class?" So, I told the Principal what was going on and the bullying stopped. Then last month my son was in class and was stabbed in the stomach with a pencil by a classmate. (Luckily it barely broke the skin) I was furious when I was finally called 2 1/2 hours later! There were no police called! The principal was out of school that day, so I had to deal with the Asst. Principal, who when I got there knew nothing and asked if I could come in the following day when she could talk to both students and a witness. To make a long story short; the boy received 2 days in school suspension and his mother called him out sick both days!!!! The school did not insist that he make up his time or any other type of punishment. On top of that I had to call the police and file a report.
MY point in giving all of this information is that now I think that the Asst. Principal is targeting my son and has made this apparent to me by not speaking with my daughter who is getting to school at the same time as my son. Neither child is missing any "class work" and both are excellent students.
What Can I DO? What are the laws regarding truancy?
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ANY AND ALL ADVICE!!!

 

[BelizeBreeze]

FLORIDA
PLEASE HELP!!!!! I HAVE TO TALK TO THE SCHOOL TODAY!!!!!
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS AND ANY ADVICE!
My son attends elem. school in Florida. My ex-husband and I share custody of our two children, but I moved 2 going on 3 years ago about 45 mins away from the school and did not want to move them out of their school so we let them continue to attend. The school, starting this year, has a policy that there is only 1 bell (no tardy bell) and that school now begins at 7:40AM when last year it was 8:00AM and the tardy bell was at 8:15AM Which for parents like myself, who had a little more of a drive and no busses come that far away, gave us a little time cushion. We have been anywhere from 1 to 15 mins late for school this year and now the school has called a Truancy officer to talk to my son (and not my daughter) without contacting me. Can they do this and is it legal??

Yes

I know that we have to be on time and we haven't been but we have always without fail talked to the Pricipal every year (He knows me well) and this has never been a problem. Until this year. At the begining of the year my son was being bullied in his 5th grade class that is 13 and going to turn 14 before the year is up. My son is 10 so naturally I'm thinking, "What is a 13, almost 14 year old doing in my son's class?" So I told the Principal what was going on and the bullying stopped. Then last month my son was in class and was stabbed in the stomach with a pencil by a classmate. (Luckily it barely broke the skin) I was furious when I was finally called 2 1/2 hours later! There were no police called! The principal was out of school that day, so I had to deal with the Asst. Principal, who when I got there knew nothing and asked if I could come in the following day when she could talk to both students and a witness. To make a long story short; the boy received 2 days in school suspension and his mother called him out sick both days!!!! The school did not insist that he make up his time or any other type of punishment. On top of that I had to call the police and file a report.

O.K. but how is this relevant to your CURRENT issue?

MY point in giving all of this information is that now I think that the Asst. Principal is targeting my son and has made this apparent to me by not speaking with my daughter who is getting to school at the same time as my son. Neither child is missing any "class work" and both are excellent students.

And this is also irrelevant.

What Can I DO? What are the laws regarding truancy?
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ANY AND ALL ADVICE!!!

what can you do about what?

 

[HomeGuru]

As to the tardiness, leave your home a little earlier in the morning. Say 20-30 minutes earlier. It is your fault they are late, you are the driver and the mother.

 

[usaohol]

thats why you have ot have school board approval

I know in my county in FL and neighboring counties they make you get approval enrolling kids out of their own district, and you have to make sure that you get them there on time, and they make it quite clear it is YOUR responsibility.

 

[WCDavis559]

Florida
I know that it is my responsiblilty.
I do not have to have approval from the school board- My ex-husband lives in the county where they attend school.
I would love to leave earlier, I have to leave at a certain time- my 1st grader attends school near my home and he's too close to the school (so there is no bus pick up) and he's too young to walk. I can not bring him to school any earlier. My husband leaves for work well before we leave and can not bring him to school either.
About the previous information; I was furious to say the least about what happened to my son. I wrote letters to the entire School Board regarding the manner in which my son's attack was handled. (Mostly faulting the Asst. Principal conduct) I think that it is a little suspicious that the school's Asst. Principal has spoken to my son because my daughter has not been spoken too. They get to school at the same time. They both have great attendance, just some tardies. Both are excellent students. Which I realize is also important, and I am doing everything I can to keep the tardies at a minimum.
I spoke to the Principal about this issue he has always been understanding. Now the Principal is out having surgery and won't be back for some time, I think that it is suspicious that this is being brought up now.

 

[stealth2]

Well, gee. YOU moved, and therefore caused this problem with tardiness. Why should your son's classmates have to deal with the disruption of his being constantly late? Perhaps you need to either move back to where this child goes to school and transfer the other, of allow Dad to have pri**** custody so that your son can get to school on time. This is not the school's problem - it is yours.

 

[usaohol]

Just a thought

Florida
I know that it is my responsiblilty.
I do not have to have approval from the school board- My ex-husband lives in the county where they attend school.
I would love to leave earlier, I have to leave at a certain time- my 1st grader attends school near my home and he's too close to the school (so there is no bus pick up) and he's too young to walk. I can not bring him to school any earlier. My husband leaves for work well before we leave and can not bring him to school either.
About the previous information; I was furious to say the least about what happened to my son. I wrote letters to the entire School Board regarding the manner in which my son's attack was handled. (Mostly faulting the Asst. Principal conduct) I think that it is a little suspicious that the school's Asst. Principal has spoken to my son because my daughter has not been spoken too. They get to school at the same time. They both have great attendance, just some tardies. Both are excellent students. Which I realize is also important, and I am doing everything I can to keep the tardies at a minimum.
I spoke to the Principal about this issue he has always been understanding. Now the Principal is out having surgery and won't be back for some time, I think that it is suspicious that this is being brought up now.

First your ex is the one who lives in district not you, so you are saying there pri**** address is with ex in order to not have to change schools, so the childrens tardiness is all on you.

As for the "attack" on your son, you could have requested that the school resource officer be present. They are great at intervention. The child missed the two days of school because his mom called him in sick, did you consider that maybe she had more severe conseueences for her child than what would be offered in I.S.S. which is merely a group of kids hanging out for the day. I know if my son had done that I would pull him out those two days too, and I guarantee he would not have enjoyed those two days.

Have youc hecked your sons attendance? What time is he getting to class does he go straight there, or maybe hang out for awhile first, does he miss other classes?

 

[majano]

WCDavis what happened?

How did this play out? I just read your question but it's too late to reply right? You need to find the rules and regulations for you state; then see what they are for the district. See what's in writing and ask some questions.
I'm totally ignorant, but I'm beginning to find good places for advice and information.
I'd like to hear how this was handled.