AHeights Parents To Pay Price For Truant School Kids. Literally

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — A new Arlington Heights ordinance could fine parents could up to $750 for knowingly allowing students to miss school and not reporting it. Mayor Tom Hayes described the measure, which was passed with a 4-2 vote by the Village Board, as "a last resort" for officials to combat cases of chronic truancy, the Daily Herald reports.

Here's how the new ordinance works: Arlington Heights parents would be fined after other avenues had been exhausted by a school district or police. Those citations would be heard during administrative adjudication hearings at Village Hall, with a hearing officer and village prosecutor present.

The village's four school districts backed the ordinance, which was proposed this summer after Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 reported dealing with 10 families who had chronic truancy issues involving at least 10 unexcused absences, according to the Herald. Officials looked at a similar measure in Schaumburg to craft the new ordinance, the report added.

Critics of the measure pointed to an existing ordinance that allows the village to cite students for truancy, and 40 of those citations have been handed out since 2015, the report stated.

"If you cite a child, you're citing a family already," Trustee Richard Baldino, one of the board members who voted against the ordinance, said Tuesday. "I don't feel you necessarily need the right to cite twice. If we cite these [parents] and assess a penalty, that will increase fear and resentment and make the situation possibly worse."

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