Parents arrested for failure to register homeschooled kids

[rainplace]

well, looking at the HSLDA's site, I'm even more confused... They state they were arrested after they received confirmation that they were in compliance...

Parents Arrested for Failing to Register Their Homeschool

Richard and Margie Cressy, homeschool parents of four children ages 8–14, were recently arrested by the Montgomery County Sheriff for failing to report to local school district officials. The Cressys were actually arrested over a week after they had received confirmation from their local district that they were in compliance for the 2009–2010 school year.

HSLDA has been contacted by the family, and we have agreed to take their case. HSLDA Senior Counsel Jim Mason said, “It was completely unnecessary to arrest these parents, and we believe this is outrageous.” 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.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Somebody is having trouble keeping their story straight. Starting to think it's just a publicity stunt.

 

[PineappleMama]

Well that just makes no sense. You sent them a ticket, then while they are waiting for their court date you arrest them.
And during that wait for the date they came into compliance? There's something off there.
If that's true, then I agree with the lawyers (gasp) that it was wrong... that's WHY you have the court date duh.

Considering the quotes I think it is pretty obvious who it was that called the media in.. those lawyers. They WANT the media to make a big thing of it, and every quote they put forward can influence potential jury members should a lawsuit be filed. Not to mention it might add pressure to the judge involved if he's in an elected position. AND it will make the police hesitate to interfer in the future... even if the children really are endangered... so, yeah several ways that this use of the media could be a bad thing.

But, the fact that only the Super seems to have given a comment, and that was only after the mess was broken by someone else indicates that the district is at least trying to respect their privacy. So... that's something. At least to me.

AND since only the lawyers are talking, and they can say almost anything and get away with it, who's to say how much of that story is true, and how much is exaggeration for effect? For all WE know they were given a ticket as stated, waited for date, filed paperwork/approved and it was CPS that came in to investigate endangerment charges (that does seem to fall into their area no?) and when CPS showed up they got cranky (I prolly would to) and refused to allow their home to be reviewed/searched so they were arrested.... the lawyers could say "They were arrested in relation to these charges while waiting for the court date" and still be telling the truth... just leaving out a few details is all. That's just a hypothetical, but it illustrates the point that whoever is willing to talk to the media (and recall the lawyer is authorized to while the district/PD/CPS are not) is the one whose quotes are going to be used, and typically the side that's taken by the -gullible?- public at large.

Still, if the parents didn't want a storm then they should have filed the dang papers... they had SEVEN YEARS... not hours, not days, not even weeks or months but YEARS. ANY time in there they could have filed and avoided this entire mess, they CHOSE not to. Now when they are punished (as they knew they would be) they're making a federal case, bringing in out of state lawyers, dragging the district through the mud, all to cover their own bums. If this district is anything like ours than they have enough on their plate with budget cuts and whatnot already... don't need some insane drama and mud slinging. *sigh* In the meantime the media is attacking like rabid wolves and parents of those district's kids, the kids themselves, the teachers, the staff are all suffering for it. Not to mention the expense of a legal defense that will come out of the district's already strained funds... way to spend our taxpayer dollars.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
School attendance is not a federal law, but rather are covered by state laws. I do believe there is a federal law that requires each state provide public education free of charge, but that is a different issue.

 

[CountryMom]

Quote:
School attendance is not a federal law, but rather are covered by state laws. I do believe there is a federal law that requires each state provide public education free of charge, but that is a different issue.

Yes, State Law and why I encourage all to educate themselves on their own state laws before making statements.

Please, everyone ck out some more stories on HSLDA. You will be surprised how many homeschoolers have been unfairly gone after legally. It amazes me some of the situations and this case is just one.

 

[PineappleMama]

Just a guess, but I imagine the "No Child Left Behind" law has something to do with it.

That's why the military was given my hubby's info.... because he's a college student...
That jerk really messed up when he said that he'd rather speak with Hubby than me, HIS MOTHER.

If my DS and DD go to college I'll be getting calls from recruiters for them too... chaps me...
But I won't digress on that.

Suffice it to say that NCLB has tons of stuff, from Army stuff to Teacher Certification Regs that are a pain in the butt. I wouldn't be in the least surprised to learn that something about HSers was included too.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
Our high school gave us the ability to opt out of giving our son's names to the military recruiters.

As far as all this conjecture goes with the media and their case, after wifezilla's post and doing more searching:
I'm unsure exactly what happened when they were "arrested."
I'm unsure where the charges of child endangerment come from and or who charged them... it does not appear to be CPS... but unsure.
I'm unsure if their paperwork was in before or after the ticket to appear was given to them.

Their children were not taken away from them at anytime. CPS found that their home was fine and helped them get their paperwork in (maybe). CPS was called in because of complaints (neighbors?) that there were school age children running around during school hours.

That's it.

I hate things that are worded in such a way as to inflame me. It's manipulation. I hate that any news agency "reports" without the facts. It seems that it would be easy for the media to follow the paper trail to give the public a time-line of what happened when and who did what.