Parents who want to go on a vacation with their children during school term will be prosecuted if they failed to ask for permission from the school. About 60 percent of families within four years were found guilty of not following the policy, with 20,000 of parents committing the offense in a year or an equivalent of 105 court cases annually.
The sudden reminder of the policy came when a father took his child to Disneyland in April 2015. Jon Platt, a businessman, took his 6-year-old daughter on a week-long trip to Florida during a school term. He should pay a penalty of £120 or nearly $150 for his child's "unauthorized absence" after the Supreme Court ruled in the decision.
"Our position remains that children should not be taken out of school without good reason," a spokesperson for the Department of Education told The Daily Mail. "That is why we have tightened the rules and are supporting schools and local authorities to use their powers to tackle unauthorized absence."
Meanwhile, Platt apologized to his wife and said he was not surprised with the decision. But Platt believed that the verdict was outrageous because erring parents can be penalized with high fees or end up in custody for two years. He told The Telegraph that the Department of Education's recent win is the state's way of ruling the children over parent's rights.
Platt is facing legal charges of £10,000 penalty fees and a penalty of £1,000, which are equivalent to nearly $14,000. Various attorneys told Platt that there's a chance the penalty might be waived if his child has an outstanding performance and attendance rate of at least 92.3 percent.
According to the UK government, children are allowed to miss school if they're sick or have received an acknowledgment permission to leave school for a few days. Parents who will take their kids without notifying the school will be fined £60 going to £120 if unpaid after 21 days. After 28 days, parents are penalized of a fine amounting to £2,500 or will be taken in custody for three months.
