Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Teachers have complained to [legislators] that there's not a whole lot they can do with disruptive children if parents won't go talk to them," the Salem Republican said.
To encourage parental participation, Griffith said, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing the courts to impose fines if parents "willfully and unreasonably fail" to work with school administrators.
Those fines are listed in an "acknowledgment of responsibility" pledge that all parents with school-age children must sign. Some Montgomery County parents, whose children went back to school Monday, are angered by what they see as an invasion of privacy.
"This was not meant as an insult to the majority of parents in Virginia who are involved with their children," Griffith said Thursday. "It's meant as a last resort for the small minority of parents who aren't helping."
By signing the pledge, parents acknowledge that they have read the student code of conduct and have reviewed it with their children. Parents who do not return the pledge can be fined $50.
The statement also explains that if a child misbehaves, parents are expected to meet with school officials. If a parent refuses to meet, he or she can be asked to pay a $500 fine.
Griffith, a member of the House Education Committee who voted for the pledge, said it received bipartisan support because it asks parents who are taking advantage of public education to simply sit and talk.
"You don't have to agree; you've just got to participate," he said.
But Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union chapter in Virginia, said such a contract will worsen the relationship between parents and schools.
"Incentives for parents would work," he said. "But forced participation will not be effective."
Even though Willis "would like to see a [Virginia] judge bold enough to knock it down," he doubts any challenge will be made.
If a school system does decide to take a parent to court, the fines imposed would be civil, not criminal. That means a parent who does not pay the fine would not be sent to jail.
If a school system did decide to take a parent to court, the matter would be civil, not criminal, meaning no jail time would be imposed.
Griffith said that while the requirement may seem extreme for Southwest Virginia, teachers in urban areas need all the help they can get.
"If you've got one disruptive child in a classroom, you can lose days trying to smooth that out," he said. "This is helping the children who aren't disruptive to learn."
by CNB