TX- Bedford keeps daytime curfew

From the Star-Telegram:

Under the curfew, people under 17, with a few exceptions, are not allowed to be in a public place in Bedford and Euless between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on school days. Violators and their parents can be fined up to $500.

Bedford leaves daytime curfew in place Mar. 11, 2009 Star-Telegram

Parents who home-school their children have said that the curfew erodes their personal freedom and holds students, parents and businesses guilty until proven innocent, perhaps forcing them to go to court to avoid paying fines.

Officers are required to determine that a student is not home-schooled before writing a citation, city officials said.

Since daytime curfews are one of my pet peeves as a homeschooler, I’ll add some more provincial information about Rockford, Illinois.  That municipality initiated a daytime curfew in 2006.  The success is questionable.
From the Rockford Register Star:

Truancy rates again on the rise in Rockford (01/19/08)

But a year after Rockford schools teamed with the city of Rockford, Winnebago County and the United Way in a unique anti-truancy partnership, a mid-year report shows truancy — a predictor of criminal behavior and high school dropouts — is once again on the rise.

The comparisons between the two cities in two different states are irresistible in these articles.  From the March 11th Texas Star-Telegram article:

Since the curfew was enacted in September, the city has written two citations, while the number of unexcused absences districtwide dropped to 20,055 from 28,876 a year ago, officials said.

That reduction was also the story the first year the Rockford daytime curfew was initiated. Truancy rates dropped nearly 30%.  But then increased almost 11% the next year. Determined teens will find a way out of the building.

7.7% of Rockford students were truant in 2008, 2 years after the daytime curfew was initiated.  The Rockford school district offers ids to homeschoolers.

Isn’t that helpful of them?

posted by Susan Ryan

Tags: Bedford Texas, daytime curfew, Rockford Illinois

This entry was posted on March 11, 2009 at 8:24 am and is filed under Curfews, News-Commentary, State News, Truancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.