Judges rule taking kids on holiday during term time not unlawful

It's not a crime to take children on holiday during the school term, a court in Britain decided Friday.

A ruling by a judge in the High Court was described as a pivotal moment by a campaign group set up to challenge a ban on children taking holidays when they should be in the classroom.

Tens of thousands of parents have been handed fines for taking their children out of school.

Parent Jon Platt took his daughter to Disney World in Florida in 2015, despite her school refusing to give permission for the absence.

He refused to pay a 120-pound (172 U.S. dollar) fine after his daughter missed seven days of lessons, and won a High Court ruling in his favor on Friday.

He had argued his daughter's attendance remained above 90 percent, the threshold for persistent truancy defined by the country's Department for Education. His court fees of 25,000 pounds (36,000 U.S. dollars) were raised by contributions from other parents across the country through crowdfunding.

Magistrates in a lower court hearing had decided Platt had no case to answer as his daughter had attended school regularly.

But the local authority where his daughter attended school, Isle of Wight Council, asked the High Court to clarify whether a seven-day absence amounted to a child failing to attend regularly.

Judges of the high court dismissed the council's challenge, with campaigners saying Friday's decision could redefine the way the law is applied in England.

Regulations introduced in 2013 by the government meant school head teachers could only grant leave of absence to pupils during term time in exceptional circumstances.

The regulations were meant as a mechanism to stop the practice of many parents taking their children on holiday before or after summer vacations. Parents claimed that the costs of vacation-time holidays were far more expensive, sometimes four times higher in the summer months. But government officials argued that missed lessons could lead to worse exam results for children.

Data supplied by local councils show that in the year to August 2014, almost 64,000 fines were issued to parents for unauthorized absences from classrooms. The fines are usually 120 pounds, or half if paid quickly.

Craig Langman, chairman of the Parents Want a Say campaign against the term-time holiday ban in England, called the court case "a pivotal moment."

Platt said later in a media interview the decision would have implications for hundreds of thousands of parents. Endit