Hot Lava Mama Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 From a Buffalo, N.Y. station: http://www.wkbw.com/news/was-buffalo-mom-jailed-over-homeschooling-decision Having elementary-aged children ripped away from the mom sends a chill down my spine. My prayers go out to this mom and her kids. Hot Lava Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 There has got to be more to this story. Hundreds of thousands of homeschool parents, I'm sure in that same district, why her? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 This is terrible. I'm wondering if she didn't know to get this in writing, that her children were unenrolled, and not just trust someone's word: "I spoke directly to the homeschool coordinator and she told me from this point on my children were officially un-enrolled from school." I hope she sues the district and wins, but I'm horrified that they snatched her kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 There has got to be more to this story. Hundreds of thousands of homeschool parents, I'm sure in that same district, why her? The tone of the article suggests that though she says she's "always had full custody" of the children, perhaps that wasn't actually a legal arrangement and now the father or other influential relative is intervening. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Every time there is a story like this there is more to the story. Having her kids taken away and her being jailed is heartbreaking, but I wonder what else is going on. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I'd definitely be interested to hear more of this story. What is presented here is insane but there HAS to be more to it. I hope. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 My guess that that her ex had something to do with this... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Someone in a FB homeschooling group I'm in who is local to this woman said that (unsurprisingly, since this always seems to be the case) there is much more to the story than is being reported. Edited February 8, 2017 by Mergath 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I am figuring there is an XH/father of the children involved somehow. Still not sure how they had the right to take her kids. I do know schools think they are the boss of your kids. In AR a friend of mine decided to use K12 through the state. Which is not homeschooling....ARVA (Arkansas Virtual Academy) requests records just as if they had moved to the next town. I guess they didn't do it fast enough and a week after school started the principle called my friend into his office (she was a sub) and berated her and told her she couldn't do it and that she had not notified the school of intent to homeschool...and by the way what IS this ARVA? He had her so rattled that she called me crying saying she had to take her child back to school or she was going to get in trouble with the truant officer. I was so mad I thought I would explode. But I helped her through it and coached her on wording....and he eventually backed off....probably when ARVA requested the records. My point is 'authorities' do crazy crap sometimes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I am figuring there is an XH/father of the children involved somehow. Still not sure how they had the right to take her kids. I do know schools think they are the boss of your kids. In AR a friend of mine decided to use K12 through the state. Which is not homeschooling....ARVA (Arkansas Virtual Academy) requests records just as if they had moved to the next town. I guess they didn't do it fast enough and a week after school started the principle called my friend into his office (she was a sub) and berated her and told her she couldn't do it and that she had not notified the school of intent to homeschool...and by the way what IS this ARVA? He had her so rattled that she called me crying saying she had to take her child back to school or she was going to get in trouble with the truant officer. I was so mad I thought I would explode. But I helped her through it and coached her on wording....and he eventually backed off....probably when ARVA requested the records. My point is 'authorities' do crazy crap sometimes. Yes, but not generally in connection to homeschooling alone, regardless of what the HSLDA would have everyone believe. Not once have I seen a story like this where it didn't come out later that there was a significant amount of abuse or neglect. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Yes, but not generally in connection to homeschooling alone, regardless of what the HSLDA would have everyone believe. Not once have I seen a story like this where it didn't come out later that there was a significant amount of abuse or neglect. Yes probably is the case with this story too. Maybe a relative watching the situation decided the homeschooling was the tipping point. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I agree that it sounds like there is likely more to THIS story, but I'd just like to point out that people can, and do, lose custody of children WITHOUT there being more to the story. Case in point: my sister, whose custody case I've posted about frequently on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I used to work in social services. I can't ever recall a time when I saw children put in foster care for the first instance of truancy, or where multiple calls for truancy were solely about truancy. They would've implemented a treatment plan to get the kids educated first, and after noncompliance, then maybe moved to foster care as a last resort. Kids who were taken into foster care after reports of truancy were usually truancy plus abuse, truancy plus neglect, truancy plus drugs, something. When the police or social worker came to the house something else was going on. Contrary to the belief of some, the state does not want to snatch children. They don't have enough homes for the kids who really need to be taken. You hear horror stories, but I am very sure that there is a lot more going on here than she says. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I agree that it sounds like there is likely more to THIS story, but I'd just like to point out that people can, and do, lose custody of children WITHOUT there being more to the story. Case in point: my sister, whose custody case I've posted about frequently on this forum. Oh, I know that people lose custody of their kids for all kinds of idiotic reasons. However, I have yet to see a case where someone had their kids taken away for homeschooling, and homeschooling alone, where there wasn't also a history of abuse or neglect. It seems like at least once a month someone posts an article saying, "Homeschool family has children stolen by the government for homeschooling!!!!" and everyone freaks out. Then a month later someone posts an update that's like, "Yeah, dad was selling crack out of the bathroom and beating the kids, too." 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I agree that it sounds like there is likely more to THIS story, but I'd just like to point out that people can, and do, lose custody of children WITHOUT there being more to the story. Case in point: my sister, whose custody case I've posted about frequently on this forum. your sister it was her ex who started it all rolling (yes, I know the system is dysfunctional) that is very different. - this woman is claiming she did everything right and some government agency took her kids. not - an ex objected. not - some other family member/concerned person objected. not - she was already being watched by cps so they took her kids. etc. cps does not just come take your kids. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Oh, I know that people lose custody of their kids for all kinds of idiotic reasons. However, I have yet to see a case where someone had their kids taken away for homeschooling, and homeschooling alone, where there wasn't also a history of abuse or neglect. It seems like at least once a month someone posts an article saying, "Homeschool family has children stolen by the government for homeschooling!!!!" and everyone freaks out. Then a month later someone posts an update that's like, "Yeah, dad was selling crack out of the bathroom and beating the kids, too." I agree, and often the people who do lose custody of their kids are losing custody to a spouse, not to foster care. There is a huge difference in a judge deciding which parent gets custody in a dispute and the state deciding both parents are too unfit to have the kids and they need to go to foster care. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Here's a video of the mother herself talking about this: http://eagnews.org/buffalo-mother-arrested-after-homeschooling-children/ She certainly comes across as an okay mom, though I'm not too fond of the "the white man is the devil" comment near the end of the video. And a Buffalo Councilman has called her arrest utterly unacceptable. In the end, I don't know either though - I've never heard of issues with Buffalo ISD before, so this is not a district that's known for bullying homeschoolers. It could be total incompetence of CPS etc, or there could be more to it. I hope it gets resolved quickly though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I suspect more to the story and likely since custody is mentioned, she did not have authority to pull them out of school. Unfortunately, your children are not your children when you go through a dicorce. They become the state's children and the state dictates what the custodial parent can and cannot do. Often homeschooling is not one of them if the other parent has a say in educational decisions. When my brother had sole custody of his sons, he still had to get court permission to change schools. So if that is the case, it becomes violation of court order and legal truancy. Family court judges, as a general rule, get stinky when a parent does not do what he or she decrees. Very complicated when there is divorce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 If I had to made a guess, the ex didn't want them being home schooled and got involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 You'd hope the ex would assume custody. This story sounds like she contacted the news but has not (yet?) received support from HSLDA or another advocacy group. If it truly is simple as 'lost custody for homeschooling' I'm sure we'll hear more about it. For the kids sake of course I do hope it is incompetent government nonsense. But not enough to go to assume that at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Usually I say that there is more to the story... but in the updated news article, the councilman specifically says that the arrest is "utterly unacceptable" -- and that the charge was "educational neglect." She had only been homeschooling for--what--a month? Further, the councilman stated that "somebody messed up, somewhere" and is asking the courts to return the children to their mother. The comment about having custody in order to homeschool does, initially, make me think "ex who doesn't want the kids homeschooled," but then why were they placed in a foster institution and why would a councilman be calling on the courts to return the children to their mother immediately? And why the charge of educational neglect? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.