HOUSTON (Reuters) - The parents of students at
a Houston middle school who tell teachers the dog ate their homework or
the cat ripped it up are getting an unusual response: tell it to the
judge.
At Houston's North Shore Middle School, the parents of students who
habitually fail to complete their homework and miss a mandatory
afterschool programme are being summoned to court, school officials said
on Thursday.
The school this week issued 48 misdemeanour criminal citations, similar
in severity to a traffic ticket, to those students' parents. The tickets,
which could have yielded a fine of up to $185 (115 pounds), required
parents to appear on Wednesday before Harris County Justice of the Peace
Mike Parrott.
Parrott did not fine anyone, but used the session to set an example and
explain the importance of finishing schoolwork, he said.
Galena Park Independent School District spokeswoman Staci Stanfield
said the tickets actually are for failing to attend the mandatory
afterschool programme for habitual homework offenders.
"We are issuing citations because students are not attending school. We
are not issuing citations for not doing homework," Stanfield told Reuters.
Parrott said even though it is a truancy violation being ticketed, the
purpose of bringing the charges in conjunction with the afterschool
programme is to make sure students complete their assignments.
Students are supposed to finish the missing homework at the afterschool
session, which is considered part of the regular school day and subject to
truancy laws under the Texas Education Code, he said. Students are
referred to the programme by their teachers.
Stanfield said the programme, unique to North Shore Middle School, was
explained to parents at the start of the school year. Before the citations
are issued, parents are supposed to have been notified by letter that
their child was required to attend the afterschool session.
Parrott said a lot of parents did not get the letter because the
students were entrusted with bringing the notices home.
Since Texas school districts are their own separate taxing entities,
they have powers not unlike a county or city government -- such as the
right to issue criminal citations.
As for whether he will be issuing fines when cases are referred to him
in the future, Parrott said "There is no doubt, the next time up."
No homework? Tell it to
the judge 
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