Home-educating mom fights arrest warrant

A mother in Logan County, Ky., who did not comply with a court order
to stop home-schooling her teen-age daughter and place the girl back in
public school, goes to a hearing Monday to fight a bench warrant issued
against her for contempt of court.

On Wednesday, lawyers from the

Home School Legal Defense
Association, in Purcellville, Va., persuaded Circuit Court Judge Tyler Gill in Russellville, Ky., to freeze, or "stay," a warrant for the mother's arrest until a hearing could be held. Gill scheduled the hearing for Monday.

According to HSLDA, the mother filed a legally required notice of intent to home school with Logan County High School. But school officials decided to pursue truancy charges for the days between the time the daughter was withdrawn from school and the time the school says it received the notice of intent from the mother.

At the Nov. 17 arraignment for the truancy charge, Logan County District Court Judge Sue Carol Browning ordered the daughter to return to the public high school. But because of the daughter's persistent headaches, the mother failed to obey the court order. When Browning learned that the mother had not enrolled the child in public school as ordered, she considered the mother to be in contempt of the order and, on her own motion, issued a warrant for the mother's arrest.

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Children are considered truant if they have three or more unexcused absences.

Gill will decide whether the lower court's warrant was justified and whether the juvenile judge had the authority to order the child to public school. Depending on the outcome, the mother may still face jail time, Home School Legal Defense Association officials said.

Confusion abounds over the circumstances surrounding the warrant. The mother contacted HSLDA just days before a scheduled Nov. 30 hearing. She apparently was not appointed counsel and needed a legal representative. Given the short notice, HSLDA contacted a local attorney who, they say, was granted a continuance until Dec. 21.

Nevertheless, when HSLDA and its new clients did not appear on Nov. 30, Browning issued the warrant against the mother and a pick-up order to remove the daughter from her home. Browning could not be reached yesterday for comment.

According to Michael Smith, president of HSLDA, Browning initially said she issued the bench warrant because the child was not attending school. But Smith says the girl's school absences were excused, therefore negating a truancy charge.

"My concern is that the judge might remove custody temporarily and place her in foster care. And then, of course, order her into school and order the foster parents to make sure she goes," said Smith. "This judge is failing to recognize the right of this family to home-school. Period. That's the big issue."

But it's a "big issue" Logan County doesn't have much experience with, according to County Attorney Tom Noe, who said, "This is the first time we've ever had to really get into the issue of home schooling here. We don't have many home-schoolers here."

Regarding confusion over the warrant and the questionable Nov. 30 court date, Noe said his understanding from the judge was "that she agreed to continue it if they would guarantee her that the child would be back in school continuing to get an education."

"These lawyers knew there was a court date," he added.

Noe declined to give a detailed account of the proceedings on Nov. 30, explaining juvenile cases are confidential. But he did comment on home schooling in general.

"In many cases, the parents aren't qualified to home-school," the attorney said. "We have to say, 'Hey, is this the best thing for the child?'

"If we've got someone who is qualified to provide that, I think we would look at that as a realistic option. But I don't think that's the case here," Noe continued, claiming that in many cases, home schooling is used "for the wrong reasons," implying it can be a legal loophole for truancy.

"We want to do the right thing here," he stressed.

Monday's hearing will be held at 3 p.m. at the circuit court in Russellville, Ky.

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