Parents arrested for failure to register homeschooled kids

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Yup, and with the internet almost everything is permanent. Privacy is an old fashioned concept these days. It's just wrong.

 

[Wifezilla]

How much money did they spend arresting and prosecuting these people? They couldn't write them a ticket???

The speed at which the teaching plan was approved also shows this is something that most likely could have been handled without police involvement.

Some home school food for thought for those that are interested...
http://school.familyeducation.com/home-schooling/educational-testing/41081.html
http://www.parentdish.com/2009/12/21/teachers-jailed-for-low-test-scores-detroit-parents-enraged/
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/schools/home-schooling-soars-in-central-florida-173171.html

 

[rainplace]

Once a summons was issued, wouldn't that be public information?

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
They weren't arrested, Wifezilla. They were issued a ticket to appear in court.

 

[rainplace]

And that is why I hate the media, and why sometimes I hate the internet...

 

[Wifezilla]

They weren't arrested, Wifezilla.

So the media got it wrong? The story specifically said ARRESTED.​

 

[Wifezilla]

"FONDA, New York, January 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A homeschool legal defense group will defend a New York couple in court after the parents were arrested for failing to register their four homeschooled children at the local school district for the past seven years.

Richard and Margie Cressy were arrested by the Montgomery County Sheriff on child endangerement charges for not registering their children, ages 8-14, at the local district. The Cressys submitted and won official approval for their homeschool curriculum for the 2009-2010 school year, but soon after were arrested for not having done so in previous years.

The Home School Legal Defense Association agreed to take the case after the couple requested legal guidance from the group.

“It was completely unnecessary to arrest these parents, and we believe this is outrageous," HSLDA Senior Counsel Jim Mason said in a statement. "We will be working with our local New York counsel to aggressively defend these homeschool parents against the charges that have been leveled against them."

Fona-Fultonville Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard Hoffman told a local news station that the Cressys "didn't fulfill their legal responsibility to file with the school district to be home-schooled."

Jim Mason, an attorney with the HSLDA, told LifeSiteNews.com that the Cressys had not in fact broken the law, and the police's decision to arrest the couple was "highly unusual."

"It is not illegal to do what they did," said Mason. "There's a regulation that has established a safe harbor that if you do register, then this sort of thing will not likely happen."

"This is basically a paperwork issue, not a [child] endangerment issue," said Mason. "I've been here more than eight years, I've dealt with situations in New York off and on during those eight years. This has never happened in my experience."

Mason said the children were still at home.

When asked why he thought police took such unusual action, Mason said: "I don't know. I'm going to find out.""
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10010709.html

 

[domino7]

Big brother. We will protect you. lol

 

[CountryMom]

Un fortunately there are many cases that the press make to sound horrid about homeschoolers when in reality the 'officials' overstep their states laws to try to make an example. Public administrators and police departments as well as CPS do not always know their own state laws for homeschoolong. Many have an opinion and many jump to conclusions. I would encourage anyone who cares about children's education to research homeschooling and local laws before judging all of us.

Here is a link to HSLDA and many more situations around the US on these matters. Also info for each state and their laws. And also links for curriculum that in many cases is the exact same thing used in public n private schools. Parents are educated (some more so than teachers) and have the same teaching manuals and information as teachers.

http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

excuse any typos...i am one handed today....

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
Interesting, here's the a different one:

Home school arrest case goes viral

GLEN - A local case about home schooling is now getting national attention.

It comes after two Montgomery County parents , Richard and Margie Cressy, were charged with endangering the welfare of their children because they didn't file the proper paperwork with the school district.

Stories about this couple went viral on the Internet. Now both the sheriff and the school superintendant say they've been inundated with angry reaction from across the country.

Just browse the blogoshere and you'll see a tirade of reaction to a local home schooling case.

Richard and Margy Cressy were charged with endangering the welfare of their four children, between the ages of eight and fifteen, for not filing the paperwork for home schooling with their District.

"Well, it's started out as a mole hill and it's turned into this mountain," family friend Lainie Racaniello said.

Racaniello lives just up the street from the Cressy's farmhouse. She says Margy Cressy is very serious about home schooling, but forgetful about informing the district.

"It was a simple oversight I guess is the best word, an oversight on her behalf," Racaniello said.

"They either forgot or didn't know they were supposed to. I don't think they were purposely trying to hide or do something wrong," Fonda-Fultonville School District Dr. Jim Hoffman said.

Hoffman says the Cressy's have now filed the paperwork. But the district is responding to up to 100 e-mails and calls from across the country from people who are incensed that the couple was charged at all, including allegations they say are not true.

"In some cases attacking us for having the children removed, none of which happened," Hoffman said.

The Sheriff's Department also says it got dozens of calls and issued this clarification saying the Cressy's were simply issued appearance tickets and that the children were not removed from the home.

Now Racaniello only hopes the case will go away.

"One hundred percent hopeful they'll be dropped because it's unfounded. Absolutely ridiculous, that it's gotten to the point that it's at," she said.

The sheriff says when investigators went to the house, the Cressys said they knew they were supposed to register with the district and also weren't able to produce lesson plans.

The couple has hired an attorney who did not return calls seeking comment. Montgomery County District Attorney James "Jed" Conboy told News Channel 13 that he wants to make sure the Cressy's are providing the children with the education they are entitled to, and seeks a suitable resolution to the case.

Found here: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S1353136.shtml?cat=300

And from the plain truth:
Two parents in Montgomery County are accused of improperly home schooling their children.

Forty-seven-year-old Richard Cressy and his wife, 41-year-old Margie Cressy, are charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

The sheriff’s department says the two were home schooling their four children, ages 8 to 14 years old, without the required approval from the school district.

The Cressys were issued appearance tickets to appear in Glen Town Court at a later date.

Found here: http://www.plaintruth.com/the_plain_truth/2010/01/couple-arrested-for-homeschooling-in-new-york.html