Ohio mother Alicia Shannon kept her children safe at home when classes returned to in-person instruction a year after the pandemic in the fall of 2021. Now, the mom is facing truancy charges and neglect from the state's public school system because her kids had raked in more than the allowable days of absences.
Shannon decided not to let her children go to classes in middle school for fear that they would contract COVID-19. According to Teen Vogue, the mother's main concern was that her children's school does not have any vaccine mandates nor information about the effects of long COVID in children.
Read Also: 11-Year-old Girl Battles Long COVID, Still Needs Feeding Tube a Year After Hospitalization
Feeling Defeated by the System
But her decision to protect her children from the virus could open a child welfare investigation that may separate the parent from the children. Shannon revealed that she received a letter from the school principal on September 30 informing her of the excessive absences of her children. The mom said she feels defeated and distrustful of the school for "sacrificing children on the altar of the economy."
Children between the ages of six to 18 are mandated to attend school in Ohio and could be considered habitual truants after 30 hours of unexcused absences. According to Luftman, Heck & Associates, students who have repeated absences may face legal proceedings in juvenile court. Their parents could be criminally charged, which will impact their employment record. The state may also remove the children from their homes and move them to live with relatives or the foster care system.
Shannon is not the only parent dealing with truancy claims. In Washington, D.C., steps have been undertaken to report parents to the state's Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) because of educational neglect.
Mom Kavitha Kasargod-Staub, an educator and the PTA president, told NBC 4 Washington that she reconsidered sending her children, who were too young to get the vaccine, to in-person classes after learning that COVID cases are climbing in schools. On the day she decided to let her children stay home, a CFSA social worker called her house after the school reported her.
"You do everything that you can do as a parent to keep your child safe," the mom said. "[Only] to be told that because you are doing that, you are harming your child."
Cases of Truancy on the Rise in New York
Tajh Sutton of Parents for Responsible, Equitable, and Safe Schools (PRESS) said that truancy charges have risen in October and November in New York. She said that many parents who believe that they are doing the best for their kids are terrified of the letter, call or visit from the Administration for Children's Services (ACS). Sutton's organization is helping parents understand their legal rights by preparing and distributing toolkits about child welfare in many New York households.
The state's education department also released new guidance to direct schools on engaging families who have been keeping their children home due to their concerns over COVID. The guidance stated that reporting parents for educational neglect should be the last resort if all other solutions have been exhausted.
Related Article: Why These Boston Moms Have Scream Sessions in a Football Field
