Washington, DC -- Robert J. Spagnoletti, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, announced today that his Office, in collaboration with DC Public Schools, will monitor attendance and immunization rates for public school students as the new school year begins on August 29, 2005. As that date quickly approaches, District officials are urging parents to remember to update their children's immunizations and ensure that all of their children are registered in time to begin the new school year.
Under DC law, parents, guardians and caretakers who reside in the District, whether permanently or temporarily, are required to enroll children between the ages of five (5) and seventeen (17) in school. The law applies to all District children who will turn five on or before December 31st of this year. Enrolling children, however, is not alone sufficient to comply with the law. Parents, guardians and caretakers can be criminally prosecuted if they fail to ensure that children under their custody or control are attending school regularly.
The Compulsory School Attendance laws enable the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to seek imprisonment of parents or guardians who fail to ensure that children are enrolled in and regularly attending school. "Our goal is to address the cause of the problem early on and make sure our children are being educated, not to lock up parents," said Mr. Spagnoletti. "But make no mistake," he added, "those who refuse to ensure that their children get their immunizations and regularly attend school will ultimately face criminal sanctions."