California mom goes to jail for letting kids skip school

October 4, 2012

A Kings County mother is spending 180 days in jail for allowing her children to repeatedly miss school [KPMH].

Lorraine Cuevas, 34, violated California’s chronic truancy law by allowing her second and third grade students to skip a combined 116 days of last school year, which exceeded the state maximum of 10 percent of the school year.

Kings County Superintendent Tim Bowers said Cuevas had plenty of time to avoid going to jail.

“It’s a process that takes months to get to his point,” Bowers told KPMH. “On average we’re making 15-20 calls in dealing with these issues.”

The sentencing of Cuevas marked the second time Kings County officials jailed a mother for her children’s truancies. Another mom, Victoria Jeff, went to jail last year for allowing her three kids to skip 20 days of school.

The arrests of mothers for child truancy comes at similar timing to a string of bizarre arrests nationwide.

Two weeks ago, police arrested a Texas mother for allowing her kids to play outside without supervision. The children were riding motorized scooters on the family’s cul-de-sac when a neighbor reported the mother for letting the kids play outside unsupervised.

Also last month, a northern California woman was booked in Napa County Jail for chalking “Youtube WTC 7” on the sidewalk. And in June, Florida police arrested a man for spitting on the sidewalk.