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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Ind. Courts - "1st educational neglect cases seen in Allen County: The two women claimed to be home schooling their sons" [Updated]

Ashkey Smith reports in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, in a long story that begins:

For the first time, Allen County is holding parents legally accountable in educating their children, but one Fort Wayne Community Schools board member says it needs to be more than just a one-time effort.

Two felony cases are in the Superior Court system, where two women have been charged with educational neglect - a Class D felony in Indiana. They both claim they have been home schooling their children, but do not have the documentation to prove it.

Lila M. Ferguson, 38, and Molly M. Williams, 42, who were living together in New Haven at the time, are each alleged to have removed their sons from public school in January 2006. Both told school officials they would be home schooling their children, according to the probable-cause affidavits. Ferguson did not enroll her son in a public school again until Sept. 16, 2008, and Williams did not do so until Jan. 12.

If convicted, each woman could face six months to three years in prison. Both are scheduled to plead guilty in court today.

This is the first time in Allen County, as far as representatives know, that prosecutors have charged anyone with educational neglect. The closest known case to the area occurred last year, when a Wabash woman was charged with the same crime because her fifth-grade son missed 10 days of school the previous year, six of them unexcused. Also, he was tardy 28 times and, according to his teacher, sometimes arrived dirty, smelling of urine and without his homework. The woman later agreed to plead guilty in return for a 1 1/2 -year suspended sentence, which she is serving on probation instead of jail, as long as her son attends school.

[Updated 11/26/09] Today's Journal Gazette has a brief story headed "Home-school moms plead to neglect."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 25, 2009 02:22 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts