Parents say Loudoun officials reaching too far to stop school tardies

Shoes get lost, knees get scraped, backpacks get spilled. So on some days, members of the Denicore family get to school a minute or two late.

That’s not ideal, Mark and Amy Denicore admit. But, they wonder, is it a crime?

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Last Tuesday evening, as the Denicore kids sat down to do homework, a Loudoun County sheriff’s deputy appeared on their doorstep, court summons in hand. The charge: Too many school tardies, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Arraignment is scheduled for Monday morning.

“This is against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of the Virginia,” the summons says.

Mark Denicore has a different take: “This is the nanny state gone wild.”

Virginia law clearly spells out a school system’s responsibility when a child is chronically absent. But it doesn’t explicitly deal with tardiness.

The Denicores are among a growing number of Loudoun parents who argue that county bureaucrats have reached beyond the scope of state statutes — not to mention common sense — in their effort to rein in late arrivals.

Loudoun officials, meanwhile, say they’re simply doing what’s necessary to protect kids.

“It’s not just trying to meddle in someone’s affairs or dictate how someone raises their child,” said Wayde Byard, spokesman for Loudoun County Public Schools. “It’s a child welfare issue, basically.”

The school system isn’t cracking down on attendance, Byard said — just following its long-standing policies. According to the sheriff’s office, the Denicores are among dozens of Loudoun families who are summoned to court each year for attendance violations. Most other area school systems deal with lateness internally and save court action for cases of chronic absences.

Scrambling to beat the bell

On a recent weekday, the three Denicore kids — ages 6, 7 and 9 — finished breakfast as their 13-year-old doe-eyed dog padded around the house.

Amy Denicore shepherds the kids to school by herself each morning after her husband leaves for an early commute to the District, where the lawyer and engineer has his own firm. Mark Denicore also runs a charity for Haitian earthquake victims that he founded.

As mom braided Daisy’s hair and helped Dahlia practice spelling words for the day’s coming quiz, Tucker entertained himself with a remote-control helicopter.

They then piled into the family minivan at 7:41 for a two-minute trip to Waterford Elementary, where — on this day — they beat the 7:50 bell.

“Punctuality is important, but it’s not the end-all be-all,” said Amy Denicore, a room mother and regular volunteer at the school. “It’s not my goal that the kids are late, but my goal is that they arrive to school well-fed, ready to learn and comfortable in their skin.”

It seems there’s often a last-minute delay that costs them a few crucial minutes in the morning — one child dallies over breakfast, another goes off to brush her teeth and disappears.

Getting the kids up 15 minutes earlier and setting the house clocks ahead hasn’t helped much. The Denicores have been been late almost 30 times since September, or about one out of every three school days. Most of those tardies were for three minutes or less, according to school records.