Kerry Katona has found herself in a bit of trouble after taking her kids out of school for a holiday.
Although you might get away with this in Ireland, in the UK it comes with a hefty penalty. She was fined for taking her children out of school during the official school term. But, because she failed to pay the fine, she was summoned to court yesterday.
According to Metro, she was due to appear in front of Brighton Magistrates’ Court yesterday over the mispaid fine. She reportedly took Molly, 15, and Lilly, 14, out of school from February 20th to 24th, 2017 for a holiday.
Kerry failed to appear yesterday with her lawyer saying that she intends to pay the fine.
A representative for the council, Gareth Jones said:
“Her lawyer phoned and asked if the case could be put off.
She says she is planning on paying it. We are prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt and pay it. There have been some concerns about the children’s attendance.
This instance was for taking the children away for a week’s holiday.”
In Ireland, children are not allowed to miss more than 20 days of the school year. If it exceeds this amount the Child and Family Agency Tusla gets involved.
The reason parents may do this is to save money on off peak holidays or to go on holidays when it won’t be as crowded or busy. Some parents also work in jobs that don’t allow them to take holidays during the school breaks.
Would you take your children out of school during the official school year?
