COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother and father are facing criminal charges after their children missed too many days of school.
According to warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News, Christopher and Samantha Donnelly face misdemeanor charges of mandatory education for children between ages 6 and 16.
The warrant says that between the beginning of the school year and Dec. 10, Donnelly’s child has 39 absences at Palmer Middle School, according to the warrant. Of those absences, 19 were unexcused.
The other child, who warrants say attends Big Shanty Elementary School, has missed 30 days since the beginning of the school year, 15 of which were unexcused.
Since kindergarten, the middle schooler has missed 244 days of school. The elementary schooler has missed 144 days of school since Kindergarten.
In the state of Georgia, a school year is 180 days.
That means that in total, the middle schooler has missed nearly one and a half school years.
Cobb County jail records show both parents turned themselves in on Monday and were released just over an hour later.
A Cobb County Spokesperson released this statement:
“The Cobb County School District serves as a safety net for children and families. Our priority is ensuring every student receives a quality education and families have access to the support they need to help their children succeed. When attendance issues arise, the district works with families through truancy support, social workers, and other interventions to address challenges,”
Samantha Donnelly told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell her children were sick but are back in school.
Newell spoke with the President of The Cobb County Association of Educators about the steps that are taken before parents face charges for too many unexcused absences.
“It does happen, it’s extremely rare but it has happened in Cobb. Following Georgia’s mandatory student attendance law, it is entirely within procedures. Every teacher has to take attendance. It is a part of our professional duties,” Hubbard said.
The Cobb County School District has attendance protocols that are accessible online.
“When a child has so many absences, three, five, seven and 10 days, there is a progression of duty and care that the system takes to try to identify what the concern is or to provide assistance to get the child to school they do it,” Hubbard said. “It starts out with three unexcused absences, teacher communicates to the parents, five unexcused then the school generates a letter that goes home.
“At seven absences it goes to our school social worker at 10 absences it goes to DFAX once that’s done a referral is made.”
Mandatory Education For Children is a misdemeanor charge in the state of Georgia. The charges are filed through the Cobb County Solicitor General’s office.
“Cobb is just like every other Georgia school system, there are policies and procedures they must follow and cobb does an exceptionally good job of it for student welfare. It’s a matter of getting those children in school to where they can become educated where they can get good hot nutritious meals when these things aren’t happening the state has an obligation to try to protect that child,” Hubbard said.
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