British Father Faces $2K Fine, For Taking Daughter To Disneyland During School Year

Keep Note, Always Follows The Rules

It is a rule in UK schools that before taking a leave for any reason parents have to take permission from the school board. Same goes if the parents want to take their children on holidays, they have to inform the school officials beforehand otherwise they have to pay a hefty fine.

Fighting Against The Law

Jon Platt from the Isle Of Wight was found guilty and charged with $2K fine for taking daughter on an unauthorized trip in 2015. However, Platt decided to fight against this absurd rule and he won the fine appeal against the fine in the High Court ruling. However, the Isle Of Wight asked to overturn the decision.

Platt finally lost the battle in the court on April 2017.

Lesson For All, Do not Take Your Kids On Unauthorized Trips

The decision was overturned on the basis of 1996 Education Act that states that regular attendance is an important rule of Schools that must be followed. The decision taken plays an important lesson for the parents so that they do not take their children on unauthorized trips without informing the School.

Fixed Penalty Notice

Following the decision, parents are also hoping to be informed on how much School days are allowed to be missed by the children to avoid a fine. Platt’s lawyer, Paul Greatorex said that his client was not informed that he would face a fixed penalty notice and will be prosecuted if he didn't pay. According to Paul, the School documents were completely vague.

However, at the same time, Platt's lawyer has argued that the continued prosecution is unfair to the law have also appealed for the case to be thrown out.

Initial Fine Was Only $77

Platt's verdict was that he didn't choose the date because it saved money but instead the dates worked out for his family schedule. Platt was prosecuted after he refused to pay $77 penalty in the initial stage.