STUDENTS' TRUANCY GETS MOM ARRESTED
Miami Herald, The (FL) - Wednesday, January 26, 2000
Author: ROBERT SANCHEZ, rsanchez@herald.com
Mindy Pearl Viera, a single mother of two, was sound asleep at 5 in the morning when law-enforcement agents pounded on the door of her North Dade apartment. They handcuffed her and took her to jail - all because her children missed too much school .
Viera, 46, is the first Florida parent arrested in a growing crackdown on truancy, according to the Miami-Dade state attorney's office, which made the arrest Monday morning. She faces arraignment Feb. 10 for allegedly breaking state law after one of her teenage daughters missed school more than 100 times last year, the other almost as much.
``My office will provide accountability for those parents who deliberately fail to ensure that their children receive the fundamental education they so desperately need in order to avoid embarking on a path toward a life of crime,'' State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
According to Rundle's office, both daughters, 15 and 13, flunked at Citrus Grove Middle School last year after one was absent 101 times [74 unexcused] and the other was absent 79 times [63 unexcused]. Last fall they were not enrolled in school until Sept. 28, even though classes began on Aug. 30.
Viera, who described herself as a onetime gang member who has turned to Christianity, conceded that she has made some mistakes as a parent:
``I'm good to my children. I don't believe in spanking. Lots of times you don't hear from the schools, especially the middle schools, when your children are absent.
``My 13-year-old has asthma. She's been hospitalized three times. I don't have insurance. One of the doctor's notes had the wrong date. I changed it. . . . I guess they had to make an example of someone.''
STATE INTERVENES
After she was taken to jail, the Department of Children and Families temporarily took charge of Viera's daughters. Viera was released at 3:30 p.m. Monday, and her daughters were returned home later that day.
Viera, who has a full-time job, said Tuesday that the episode frightened her girls, one of whom pleaded with the arresting agents: ``Take me; it's not her fault.''
``One of my daughters couldn't sleep last night, afraid somebody would come banging on the door again,'' Viera said.
The formal misdemeanor charges against Viera included ``contributing to the delinquency/dependency of a child,'' refusal ``to comply with compulsory school attendance'' and ``false official statements.''
Rundle's spokesman, Don Ungareit, said Viera was released into a pretrial intervention program on these conditions: Her children must attend school unless excused, and she must receive a psychological assessment and an evaluation for substance abuse.
TIP'S GOALS
Ungareit said that arresting parents is not the goal of Miami-Dade's Truancy Intervention Program. TIP, a joint project of Rundle's office and the Miami-Dade Public Schools, began in 1994 as a pilot project in four schools and was expanded in 1998 to encompass all schools.
Under TIP, a computer triggers an investigation after a student has had five unexcused absences. Viera's arrest, Ungareit said, followed after numerous conferences and warnings had failed to improve the daughters' attendance.
In Broward, Sheriff Ken Jenne and State Attorney Michael Satz have also taken an aggressive approach to enforcing truancy laws. Jenne's deputies regularly conduct sweeps of truants' haunts, taking about 60 to 70 students a day to the Juvenile Intervention Facility.
EFFORTS PRAISED
During a visit to Fort Lauderdale in October, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary William Bankhead praised Jenne's efforts: ``The Broward County program sets the standard for the state.''
The South Florida crackdowns are part of a nationwide effort to reduce truancy. Law-enforcement officials cite statistics indicating that truancy is a strong predictor of a child's future involvement in juvenile delinquency and adult crime. They also blame truants for most daytime burglaries of homes.
CHRONOLOGY OF DEALINGS
Here is a chronology of the Truancy Intervention Program's dealings with Mindy Pearl Viera, arrested Monday because of her daughters' repeated absences from school:
Oct. 22, 1997: Meeting at school regarding one daughter's 13 unexcused absences.
April 29, 1998: Meeting at school regarding same daughter's 19 unexcused absences.
June 3, 1998: Year-end meeting. Daughter had missed 40 percent of the 180 school days. Viera is given written warning. She offers doctors' notes as excuses.
Dec. 8, 1998: Meeting at school district office after one daughter had 23 unexcused absences, the other 24.
May 11, 1999: Meeting after both daughters flunked because of absences.
June 23, 1999: Officials question authenticity of some of the doctors' notes presented as excuses.
Sept. 28, 1999: Daughters enroll in school a month late.
Jan. 24, 2000: Viera arrested, released.
Viera, 46, is the first Florida parent arrested in a growing crackdown on truancy, according to the Miami-Dade state attorney's office, which made the arrest Monday morning. She faces arraignment Feb. 10 for allegedly breaking state law after one of her teenage daughters missed school more than 100 times last year, the other almost as much.
``My office will provide accountability for those parents who deliberately fail to ensure that their children receive the fundamental education they so desperately need in order to avoid embarking on a path toward a life of crime,'' State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
According to Rundle's office, both daughters, 15 and 13, flunked at Citrus Grove Middle School last year after one was absent 101 times [74 unexcused] and the other was absent 79 times [63 unexcused]. Last fall they were not enrolled in school until Sept. 28, even though classes began on Aug. 30.
Viera, who described herself as a onetime gang member who has turned to Christianity, conceded that she has made some mistakes as a parent:
``I'm good to my children. I don't believe in spanking. Lots of times you don't hear from the schools, especially the middle schools, when your children are absent.
``My 13-year-old has asthma. She's been hospitalized three times. I don't have insurance. One of the doctor's notes had the wrong date. I changed it. . . . I guess they had to make an example of someone.''
STATE INTERVENES
After she was taken to jail, the Department of Children and Families temporarily took charge of Viera's daughters. Viera was released at 3:30 p.m. Monday, and her daughters were returned home later that day.
Viera, who has a full-time job, said Tuesday that the episode frightened her girls, one of whom pleaded with the arresting agents: ``Take me; it's not her fault.''
``One of my daughters couldn't sleep last night, afraid somebody would come banging on the door again,'' Viera said.
The formal misdemeanor charges against Viera included ``contributing to the delinquency/dependency of a child,'' refusal ``to comply with compulsory school attendance'' and ``false official statements.''
Rundle's spokesman, Don Ungareit, said Viera was released into a pretrial intervention program on these conditions: Her children must attend school unless excused, and she must receive a psychological assessment and an evaluation for substance abuse.
TIP'S GOALS
Ungareit said that arresting parents is not the goal of Miami-Dade's Truancy Intervention Program. TIP, a joint project of Rundle's office and the Miami-Dade Public Schools, began in 1994 as a pilot project in four schools and was expanded in 1998 to encompass all schools.
Under TIP, a computer triggers an investigation after a student has had five unexcused absences. Viera's arrest, Ungareit said, followed after numerous conferences and warnings had failed to improve the daughters' attendance.
In Broward, Sheriff Ken Jenne and State Attorney Michael Satz have also taken an aggressive approach to enforcing truancy laws. Jenne's deputies regularly conduct sweeps of truants' haunts, taking about 60 to 70 students a day to the Juvenile Intervention Facility.
EFFORTS PRAISED
During a visit to Fort Lauderdale in October, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary William Bankhead praised Jenne's efforts: ``The Broward County program sets the standard for the state.''
The South Florida crackdowns are part of a nationwide effort to reduce truancy. Law-enforcement officials cite statistics indicating that truancy is a strong predictor of a child's future involvement in juvenile delinquency and adult crime. They also blame truants for most daytime burglaries of homes.
CHRONOLOGY OF DEALINGS
Here is a chronology of the Truancy Intervention Program's dealings with Mindy Pearl Viera, arrested Monday because of her daughters' repeated absences from school:
Oct. 22, 1997: Meeting at school regarding one daughter's 13 unexcused absences.
April 29, 1998: Meeting at school regarding same daughter's 19 unexcused absences.
June 3, 1998: Year-end meeting. Daughter had missed 40 percent of the 180 school days. Viera is given written warning. She offers doctors' notes as excuses.
Dec. 8, 1998: Meeting at school district office after one daughter had 23 unexcused absences, the other 24.
May 11, 1999: Meeting after both daughters flunked because of absences.
June 23, 1999: Officials question authenticity of some of the doctors' notes presented as excuses.
Sept. 28, 1999: Daughters enroll in school a month late.
Jan. 24, 2000: Viera arrested, released.
Memo: see CHRONOLOGY OF DEALINGS at end; Correction ran on January 28, 2000; see end of text
Edition: Final
Section: Local
Page: 1B
Correction: In a story Wednesday about a mother arrested for her kids' truancy, the Miami-Dade state attorney's office erred in saying that Mindy Pearl Viera was the first Florida parent arrested on such charges; other arrests have occurred upstate. Also, Viera says she never was a gang member, but that she joined a church that ministers to former gang members.
Index Terms: SCHOOL TRUANCY MIAMI DADE CHRONOLOGY
Record Number: 0001270042
Copyright (c) 2000 The Miami Herald
Section: Local
Page: 1B
Correction: In a story Wednesday about a mother arrested for her kids' truancy, the Miami-Dade state attorney's office erred in saying that Mindy Pearl Viera was the first Florida parent arrested on such charges; other arrests have occurred upstate. Also, Viera says she never was a gang member, but that she joined a church that ministers to former gang members.
Index Terms: SCHOOL TRUANCY MIAMI DADE CHRONOLOGY
Record Number: 0001270042
Copyright (c) 2000 The Miami Herald
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