Several Texas cities and counties are reviewing local
curfews this week. Some are considering adding
daytime curfews, and others are considering
renewing such ordinances. The Texas statute
requires this review every few years.
Harris County commissioners will review the proposal
of a special committee which has taken public input
on the proposed daytime curfew supported by the
district attorney and law enforcement officials. At this
time, it appears that they will decline the request for
the daytime curfew, in response to overwhelming
opposition to the proposed ordinance.
The cities of Waco, Amarillo, Wharton, and others are
also considering such proposals. THSC strongly
encourages home schoolers to closely follow city and
county efforts regarding daytime curfews, in order to
protect an erosion of the freedom we have to pursue
our academic freedom during the daytime hours. If
your city is considering such action, encourage calls
in opposition by home schoolers and others in your
area. For specific information read below:
A home school student in Houston was separated
from his father and, while waiting for a bus, was
stopped by city police and given a citation for violating
the daytime curfew of the city. His parents were forced
to go to court to prove that he was a home school
student.
A home school student in San Antonio was finished
with his school work for the day and, with his parent's
permission, went to a local mall. While there, he was
stopped by police officers and cited for violating the
city's daytime curfew. He had to appear in court with
his family to prove that he was a home school
student.
Close to noon one day, as part of his physical
education, a home school student in Lubbock was
riding his bicycle around a city park. According to the
family, a police officer stopped him and asked why he
was not in school. The young man explained that he
was home schooled. The officer then told the boy that
the city daytime curfew required that he stay in doors
until 2:30 p.m.
A student in Paris, Texas, was stopped by a police
officer who asked her why she was not in school. She
explained that she was homeschooled and was on
the way to the pharmacy, because her mother was
very ill and needed medication. The officer said she
was not allowed in public from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and
that her father should go to the pharmacy instead.
When she explained that her father was responding to
the serious medical condition, he replied that the
father should have gone to the pharmacy instead of
sending her, gave her a citation, and required her to
return home as he followed her.
In another Texas city, a home school leader was told
that home schoolers were not exempt from the
daytime curfew. He explained that the exemption
would only apply to "school activities" and that the
police officer would decide whether or not the activity
was a school related activity.
In December of 2006, a home school mother, in yet
another Texas city, had instructed her two teenage
children to take a five-minute walk around their block
prior to their lunch break, in partial compliance with
their school's physical education requirements. The
two students were stopped by a police officer who
asked them why they were not in school. When the
students responded that they were homeschooled,
the officer told them they were not allowed outside
during school hours. He followed them home and
told their mother that they were in violation of the
daytime curfew of the city, which does not allow
children in public between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3
p.m. unless they are at school.
These are all real examples of the problems that
daytime curfews pose for students who homeschool
or attend private schools on a different schedule from
the local public schools.
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