Canton mom sent to jail after children miss hundreds of hours of school

CANTON, Ohio (WOIO) - A Canton mom was sentenced to 10 days in jail after three of her children missed hundreds of hours of school in just six months.

According to the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office, Diamond Street was sentenced for chronic truancy.

Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Stone says Diamond’s 13-year-old missed 200 hours of class, about a month’s worth of school.

Her 7-year-old and 6-year-old each missed 112 hours.

The absences were reported by an attendance officer with the Canton School District.

After several failed attempts to contact Diamond and assist her, the prosecutor’s office was called.

“We have a specific prosecutor assigned that all she does is handle truancy,” said Stone. “Even so, our family court is still willing to work with parents; however, if they are unwilling to put in the effort or attend necessary meetings, the situation may end up like this case.”

Stone says truancy is something they take extremely seriously in Stark County, and this is one of the more extreme cases he has seen.

“We just want parents to send their kids to school. This is not a you-as-a-parent problem; this is a community problem because if kids are not in school, they are in trouble, and kids being in trouble is something that affects all of us,” says Stone.

19 News asked Stone who is watching Diamond’s kids while she is in Stark County Jail. He told us that another family member is watching after them.