Six Weaver Unified parents of truant children arrested, DA says
Six parents of truant children were arrested Friday in Merced County, the District Attorney’s Office reported.
The sweep targeting parents of Weaver Union School District students was conducted Friday morning by investigators from his office, District Attorney Larry D. Morse II said in a news release.
“School districts across Merced County are constantly confronted with parents who simply cannot be bothered to send their kids to school,” Morse said. “When the schools have exhausted every option available to them, the cases are forwarded to our office for prosecution. Those arrested (Friday) were targeted because they also failed to appear in court to face the charges filed against them.”
The Merced residents arrested Friday were Abel and Melissa Lopez; Joseph Partida, 33; Feuy Saechao, 32; Lisa Turrey, 34; and Oscar Ramirez, 39.
Morse said his office is prosecuting about 70 cases of Merced County parents charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for failing to send their children to school.
Prosecutors, as part of Friday’s sweep, made arrangements with Merced Superior Court Judge Mark V. Bacciarini to have all six defendants arraigned that same day. Two of the parents, Abel and Melissa Lopez, pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to serve two years of probation, 24 hours of community service and fined $220 each.
The other four defendants pleaded not guilty. A conviction can result in up to a year in county jail, Morse said in the statement.
Bruce Alameida, assistant superintendent of Weaver Unified, said he was pleased to see law enforcement and the schools working together.
Morse said similar sweeps are planned. “Parents with outstanding warrants for failing to send their kids to school should expect to be arrested,” he said.
Steve Gomes, superintendent of the Merced County School District, said superintendents across the county have met with Morse in recent months to organize an effort to confront parents of truant children.
“School districts make every attempt to work with parents or guardians of habitually truant children to improve their student’s attendance before submitting their names to the DA’s office for prosecution,” Gomes said in the statement. “When students are constantly absent from school, they fall behind in their academic progress. That, in turn, often leads to more truancy and increases the likelihood these kids will become dropouts.”
Morse said parents who don’t ensure that their children stay in school “are robbing them of their chances for success in life.”
“Studies have long established that elementary schoolkids who are frequently absent fall behind in school and are more likely to become high school dropouts,” he said. “And the statistics on high school dropouts are truly frightening.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Six Weaver Unified parents of truant children arrested, DA says."