Va. Supreme Court: Parents Can't be Charged for Student Tardiness

Following a Virginia Supreme Court ruling last Friday, parents of Virginia schoolchildren will no longer be charged with a misdemeanor if their children are late for school.

In a 5-2 ruling, the court exonerated Maureen Blake, a Loudoun County mother of three who was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2012 after her children were repeatedly tardy. The court determined Virginia’s compulsory school attendance law only requires children to be enrolled.

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Cleo E. Powell wrote that the majority’s decision indicates “there are no repercussions under the Code for a parent who brings her child to school twenty minutes prior to dismissal every day.” The dissent was joined by Justice William C. Mims.

Blake shares custody of the three children with their father, Victor Blake, and is responsible for taking them to school on Thursday mornings. The children missed school one day and were late 10 days between Sept. 15, 2011 and Jan. 19, 2012.

Each of the violations occurred on a Thursday. Her three daughters had received 5, 6 and 9 tardy slips for being between 5 and 20 minutes late.

Blake reportedly told school officials she and one of her daughters have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which contributed to the frequent tardiness. The school determined the reasoning was not sufficient to mark the tardies as “excused,” according to the court ruling.