Wow, I certainly never realized this was a thing.

According to Illinois Policy, you can be charged with a Class C Misdemeanor (which can result in 30 days of jail time or a $500 fine, or both) if you allow your child to miss school. What exactly falls under the umbrella of "allowing" them to miss school?

Illinois law states that a child is not allowed to be absent for more than 5 percent or more of the year without valid cause. Valid causes includes religious holiday, illness, family death, or family emergency.

Interestingly, the law also states that the previous 180 days of school are included, not the current year, so your child could be in violation within the few days of school.

Even if your child attends school regularly, you could still risk jail time if they're frequently tardy.

A parent could theoretically be charged if their child is five minutes late 18 times over the course of the school year, despite it only amounting to 90 minutes of class time lost.

And if you think that Illinois doesn't enforce the law, think again. Illinois mom Christina Miller was charged last year because her son, who suffers from severe medical issues, was late 32 times and had six unexcused absences. Miller said it was too expensive to take her son to the doctor repeatedly to obtain a note.

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