Couple charged for children's repeated tardine

[awpitt]

Yes this the right thing to do? I tend to think so. Interested in your thoughts.

Couple charged for children's repeated tardiness

WASHINGTON - A Loudoun County couple is facing misdemeanor charges for failing to get their children to school on time -- repeatedly.

Amy and Mark Denicore of Waterford face a trial next month because their three children have been late to Waterford Elementary School 150 times over the last two years.

Va. couple charged for children's repeated tardiness - WTOP.com

 

[Baja28]

Hell yes! Morons.

 

[vraiblonde]

Of course it's the right thing to do.

 

[Vince]

Amy and Mark Denicore of Waterford face a trial next month because their three children have been late to Waterford Elementary School 150 times over the last two years.

"We aren't perfect and I think the fact that the public school system is trying to criminalize this kind of problem is the real issue," Mark Denicore says.

Unfortunately, being an idiot is not a crime. If it were, there would be a lot more in jail.......but 150 times!!!!!

These two idiots should definitely be on trial and fined, BIG TIME!!!

 

[aps45819]

Yes
I doubt if there were no complaints about being late prior to filing charges. The parents seem to think other people should accommodate their being irresponsible. Glad to see the system is taking action.

 

[BadGirl]

Both parents are lawyers, so of course they are taking this on.



If it were simply a matter of their kids being late, I could care less. But when their arrival into the classroom disrupts the kids who are engaging in their daily schedule, and disrupts the train of thought for the teachers, then I have a problem with that.

Get the damn kids there in time, and this wouldn't be a problem

 

[itsbob]

Of course it's the right thing to do.

Depends.. Watch the wording in the article.

They even say "IF" the students disrupt class.. which seems to tell they really don't disrupt the class.

Let's say your kids go to a local school here, and you KNOW that school starts at 9:00... but the real definition of starts is, they all sit at their desks and eat the free provided breakfast, or meet in the cafeteria for the first 30 minutes of the day.

If you brought your kid in 20 minutes late EVERY day, what difference would it make? What exactly would they be disrupting?

They would have to show me more FACTS before I gave an opinion, right now I'm leaning more towards the parents. What do they disrupt, and what effect does it have on the daily schedule? The article points out neither.

 

[RoseRed]

Another link: Tardiness Leads to Charges for Students' Parents | NBC4 Washington

Morning commutes can be lengthy, but the Denicores half a mile away from the elementary school -- less than a two-minute drive.

Denicore admitted he knew the court summons was coming but said there are other important things to teach children besides timeliness, like eating a good breakfast and tying their own shoes.

“It’s like herding cats trying to get them all heading in the right direction,” Denicore said.

Try getting them all up a bit earlier.

 

[b23hqb]

Depends.. Watch the wording in the article.

They even say "IF" the students disrupt class.. which seems to tell they really don't disrupt the class.

Disagree. Every time a class is interrupted, especially at grade-school level, there is a disruption.

The parents have a problem getting the kids there. Not the kids fault. Even if only three minutes, consistently, it is a parental time-challenged issue.

Put them on the local school bus. If the bus is late, no issue.

 

[Christy]

I didn't read the article, but I personally find it absurd to charge the parents with anything. Welcome to the Nanny state. Whatever happened to schools taking care of issues? Make the kid sit in the office until there is a break in the class, even if it is hours. Don't let the kid make up the work. Deal with it at the school level for crying out loud.

 

[RoseRed]

I didn't read the article, but I personally find it absurd to charge the parents with anything. Welcome to the Nanny state. Whatever happened to schools taking care of issues? Make the kid sit in the office until there is a break in the class, even if it is hours. Don't let the kid make up the work. Deal with it at the school level for crying out loud.

Read the articles!

 

[aps45819]

I didn't read the article, but I personally find it absurd to charge the parents with anything. Welcome to the Nanny state. Whatever happened to schools taking care of issues? Make the kid sit in the office until there is a break in the class, even if it is hours. Don't let the kid make up the work. Deal with it at the school level for crying out loud.

They live 2 miles from the school
The only reason the kids are chronically late is because they're special and the rules every body else has to live by don't apply to them.
They're to special to ride the bus and to special to show any courtesy to anybody in the school.

Hope the judge throws the book at them

 

[Vince]

Denicore admitted he knew the court summons was coming but said there are other important things to teach children besides timeliness

Yeah, don't teach your kids to be on time for anything. It won't matter to them later in life....like getting to work on time or getting to the doctors on time. Hell, they probably won't make it to your funeral on time either. That's probably the only time it won't matter.

You can't fix stupid.

 

[twinoaks207]

Depends.. Watch the wording in the article.

They even say "IF" the students disrupt class.. which seems to tell they really don't disrupt the class.

Let's say your kids go to a local school here, and you KNOW that school starts at 9:00... but the real definition of starts is, they all sit at their desks and eat the free provided breakfast, or meet in the cafeteria for the first 30 minutes of the day.

If you brought your kid in 20 minutes late EVERY day, what difference would it make? What exactly would they be disrupting?

They would have to show me more FACTS before I gave an opinion, right now I'm leaning more towards the parents. What do they disrupt, and what effect does it have on the daily schedule? The article points out neither.

Going strictly on what information was in the article...

I believe that the word "if" was used as part of an "if - then" scenario, ie., if they ____ then this happens.

It is a disruption when you have kids walking into the classroom after the rest of the group has gotten started with whatever it is that they are doing. Not all schools do breakfast in the classroom. When a child walks in late, all the kids look to see who has entered the classroom and the attention focus is lost. The latecomer needs to put the coat & backpack away & then get to their seat, more opportunity for loss of focus. The teacher must then re-focus the attention of the group on the daily lesson, so the late arrival impacts the entire class. The child arriving late is playing catch-up and may have missed directions or other important information for the beginning of the day. The late arrival may interrupt the morning announcements (via PA or broadcast) in which case you have students and teacher missing important information for that day.

I've done the herding cats routine (with 4 kids, not 3) and 6 of us trying to get to the one bathroom at the same time. My kids were NEVER late to school. I may have been late to work (designated cat-herder) a few times but I had understanding employers and my arrivals could be flexible on most days due to my schedules.

By the time it gets to this stage, the school has already attempted to work with the parents -- talking to the kids, sending notes home, calling the parents, sending more letters home, calling the parents, involving the guidance counselor and maybe a pupil personnel worker (school social worker), more phone calls. Quite frankly, it gets to the point that so much extra time is being spent on contacting these parents that it really becomes a time/resource/disruption issue for the school.

Why should these two parents be allowed to take up so much of the school's valuable time and negatively impact so many other people (3 classrooms, 3 teachers, Principal, Assistant Principal, Secretary, Guidance Counselor, higher-up administrative staff, etc. -- close to 100 folks right there!)?

If these folks can't be responsible enough to get their kids to school on time, then perhaps they should teach them at home. I'd love to hear what a judge would say if that lawyer happened to be late for court...

 

[puggymom]

I actually prefer the expression "herding turtles" because that is what it feels like most of the time. That being I hate being late and am usually 5-10 minutes early for everything.

 

[awpitt]

Depends.. Watch the wording in the article.

They even say "IF" the students disrupt class.. which seems to tell they really don't disrupt the class.

Let's say your kids go to a local school here, and you KNOW that school starts at 9:00... but the real definition of starts is, they all sit at their desks and eat the free provided breakfast, or meet in the cafeteria for the first 30 minutes of the day.

If you brought your kid in 20 minutes late EVERY day, what difference would it make? What exactly would they be disrupting?

They would have to show me more FACTS before I gave an opinion, right now I'm leaning more towards the parents. What do they disrupt, and what effect does it have on the daily schedule? The article points out neither.

That's not what I got from the article. It seems that the kids are arriving at school after classes have started. In my case, for my high schooler, first period starts at 8am. All kids who want to have breakfast at school have to do so prior to 8am. If I brought my kid to school at 8:20 everyday, he would be missing half of his biology class everyday and would likely fail that class because he'd be missing half of all instruction. So, the lateness does make a difference.

 

[maxima87]

According to one article about them, the some of the tardy slips say 0 minutes late. How late is that?

 

[KDENISE977]

And what about the kids growing up thinking they are better or that normal rules don't apply to them because that's how the parents have raised them?

 

[itsbob]

That's not what I got from the article. It seems that the kids are arriving at school after classes have started. In my case, for my high schooler, first period starts at 8am. All kids who want to have breakfast at school have to do so prior to 8am. If I brought my kid to school at 8:20 everyday, he would be missing half of his biology class everyday and would likely fail that class because he'd be missing half of all instruction. So, the lateness does make a difference.

In your particular case that is true, and would agree with you, but for some reason the article leaves out those kind of details..

If what I think is the case, you may be teaching your kids future life lessons about not making rules or decisions for the sake of just saying you did it. Have a purpose and sound reasoning behind things you do.

 

[bohman]

Going strictly on what information was in the article...

I believe that the word "if" was used as part of an "if - then" scenario, ie., if they ____ then this happens.

It is a disruption when you have kids walking into the classroom after the rest of the group has gotten started with whatever it is that they are doing. Not all schools do breakfast in the classroom. When a child walks in late, all the kids look to see who has entered the classroom and the attention focus is lost. The latecomer needs to put the coat & backpack away & then get to their seat, more opportunity for loss of focus. The teacher must then re-focus the attention of the group on the daily lesson, so the late arrival impacts the entire class. The child arriving late is playing catch-up and may have missed directions or other important information for the beginning of the day. The late arrival may interrupt the morning announcements (via PA or broadcast) in which case you have students and teacher missing important information for that day.

I've done the herding cats routine (with 4 kids, not 3) and 6 of us trying to get to the one bathroom at the same time. My kids were NEVER late to school. I may have been late to work (designated cat-herder) a few times but I had understanding employers and my arrivals could be flexible on most days due to my schedules.

By the time it gets to this stage, the school has already attempted to work with the parents -- talking to the kids, sending notes home, calling the parents, sending more letters home, calling the parents, involving the guidance counselor and maybe a pupil personnel worker (school social worker), more phone calls. Quite frankly, it gets to the point that so much extra time is being spent on contacting these parents that it really becomes a time/resource/disruption issue for the school.

Why should these two parents be allowed to take up so much of the school's valuable time and negatively impact so many other people (3 classrooms, 3 teachers, Principal, Assistant Principal, Secretary, Guidance Counselor, higher-up administrative staff, etc. -- close to 100 folks right there!)?

If these folks can't be responsible enough to get their kids to school on time, then perhaps they should teach them at home. I'd love to hear what a judge would say if that lawyer happened to be late for court...

I'd love to add something to this, but you've pretty much got it covered. These parents are spewing complete BS. Hundreds of other families in that school have accepted responsibility for arriving on time, but this one doesn't have to? When they live that close, and have the privilege of driving instead of putting the kids on the bus? Just complete bull####.

That said, the article mentions some municipality where the penalty is up to a year in jail - that's extreme. And who puts the kids on the bus then? Just keep citing & fining them, and let their arrogance fund the school system.

And what about the kids growing up thinking they are better or that normal rules don't apply to them because that's how the parents have raised them?

I'm betting that ship has already sailed.