DISTURBING: Parents can be prosecuted for term-time holidays – Supreme Court (UK)

The Telegraph 6 April 2017
Family First Comment: A disturbing case in the UK. We’ll keep an eye on the issue in NZ.
“”The issue is no longer about term-time holidays,” he said. “It is about the state taking the rights of parents away from making decisions about their children.”
Parents who take their children out of school for term time holidays can be prosecuted, the Supreme Court has ruled as a “stubborn” father lost his landmark case on Thursday whilst appealing to parents not to follow his example.
Delivering their verdict, the judges ruled that Jon Platt, a businessman from the Isle of Wight who took his six-year-old daughter on a seven-day family trip in Florida in April 2015, should have paid a £120 fine for his daughter’s unauthorised absence.

The judges said he had shown a “blatant disregard of school rules” and that his approach had been a “slap in the face” to “obedient” parents who abide by the law.

Their ruling means that parents who take their children out of school on holiday – even if their child has regular attendance – can be prosecuted if they do not receive permission from the head teacher.
Speaking in Parliament Square after the ruling, Mr Platt apologised to his wife for his stubbornness, adding that he was “not at all surprised” by the verdict.
READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/04/06/term-time-holidays-supreme-court-rule-parents-can-legally-take/