School fines help pls

[curlyk456]

We have a school fine come thru the post today. It was dated 10th December, it says fine must be paid within 21 days of receipt of the letter. Yet when we have gone to pay it, the fine has doubled. So it's not 21 days from the 10th, just from receipt of the letter.

There's no number to call on the letter, really don't know what to do. The letter just came in the post, didn't have to sign for it or anything. We had a huge bunch of post come thru at the same time- I'm assuming festive period delay?

Has this happened to anyone, I will pay it. Just not double because we didn't get it in the time they are stating

@Barbie222 I get what ure saying but it's ultimately the schools decision who gets fined and who doesn't , they pretty much told us that. Believe me iv been discriminated against many many times in life and unless u have been in this position u won't get it. I don't make a song and dance about it, I'm just saying how it is. Non-white, non- Christian's will know what I'm talking about. This isnt a discussion about that because unless you can relate- trust me- you can't.

Anyway my whole post was not about the school fine being fair or not, or that I'm appealing the fine. Someone asked why I'm not appealing the fine and I explained my story.

I just asked about delayed fines

@HamAndMustardSandwich and this is why it's dumb. Because if you give someone a time limit to pay within then it needs to show proof of when it was delivered etc so it can be fair to be able to pay in that time frame. Or else why bother giving a time frame at all.

I know thats just the way it is unfortunately, but make it make sense

All good points and I recall a note from the school recently about the rules changing and being more readily enforced (national changes to law).

Does this letter require a signature - I don’t think so? Legally my understanding (and please do correct me if I’m wrong) is that once mailed it is considered sent and received so it may be your word against theirs.

I get you feel it’s unfair but you have stated you were aware of the fine and expect to pay it. I would also suggest the council will have very little sympathy for your taking your kid out of school for a holiday.

Call the council but I wouldn’t expect a change. It’s out of your schools hands now.

But seriously, the council can’t profit off you for not doing anything wrong. Whether you like it or not you did take your kid out of school to go on a holiday and got a fine for it because legally they can fine you.

There is no scandal of the council profiting off people in this instance and just sounds like you weren’t happy they fined you and didn’t want to pay.

If you knew you were going to be fined why didn't you be more proactive and try to pay it in advance or at least sooner?

OP seriously. you want to make this a personal or discriminatory thing. You don’t know other circumstances, attendance records, ofsted reports saying they need to crack down, governors of schools needing to crack down, councils highlighting schools to start cracking down etc.

Its very simple. You took your kid out of school for a holiday which is against the law. You may not like it and may not agree with it but you did wrong. Take responsibility instead of comparing to others.

The worst that can happen is that OP could end up paying a lot more than the fine itself

@Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue I'm not appealing the fine (never said I was) and I'm going to pay it (and no I didn't know in advance I was gna be fined).
It's my opinion if it's fair or not. You don't know my background u don't know my history with the school, u don't know how they treat us or speak to us or look at us. Therefore my opinion will remain the same.

I just wanted to know how the council can say pay within a certain time limit from receipt of the letter but no proof of the time when letter was delivered. It doesn't make sense. But if that's just the way it is then that's the way it is. Il speak to them tmrw and see what they say

How could she pay it before she received it? They're all automated services which require you to enter the reference number on the letter, like any penalty charge notice

Oh sorry I assumed she would be able to phone the council and say sorry I took my kid out here's your silly fine

OP I would call and try to speak to them tomorrow. I think the argument on their side will be that the fine doesn't 'double' - it's 'halved' if paid within 21 days. Not saying that it's fair as obviously the postal system isn't within your control but hopefully you get to speak to someone reasonable.

You make my point for me. You’re right I don’t know - the same way you don’t know other circumstances of other people or other schools.

@Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue and this is why I was comparing to friends in the same school/class. I know exactly their circumstances and reasons and how and when and how long they went for. And how they haven't been fined. I wasn't comparing diff schools even though I have heard from them too. Hence why I said it isn't a fair system

Oh sorry I didn’t realise you had attendance records for all the other students, were privy to internal meetings and notices about potential change in policy to crack down more, internal
communications from the council to enforce the new changes to the law and overall governors meeting me where this may have been discussed.

You broke the law and have to pay a fine. Again you may not like it or think it’s fair but since you admit you did it, what others have done or not done has absolutely no bearing on you. That is where sympathy wanes.

@Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue I'm comparing to my friends who I know all about. Which iv just said so what are u going on about.

Never asked for sympathy actually. Just gave MY opinion because someone asked why I WASNT appealing the fine. I asked for people's experience re the letter and time frame, because it's nonsensical.

Please respectfully go away, ure giving me a headache. I'm not explaining myself anymore.

Please respectfully don’t break the law and then suggest it’s unfair because the punishment hasn’t applied to everyone.

Please respectfully don’t continue to explain yourself as it isn’t valid.

For your headache, (which has unfortunately been brought on by a couple of posts) I would suggest legally purchased medication from a pharmacy. Take the required dosage, then no further issues will occur. Simple isn’t it?

I think it is disrespectful to the school and arrogant to take your children out during term time.

You know my background? Are you stalking me?

@BigCheese24

"What's the worst that could happen? Honestly don't let it ruin your Friday night.

I'll be damned if anyone charges me for taking MY child wherever I want to.

When the school issued me a fine, I sent in a strongly worded letter assuring them I wouldn't be paying it and my reasons why.

I never heard back from the school, I did get the fine in the post. I just binned it. My son's in his final year of school now and it's never been mentioned again!"

You were lucky, they can take you to court and some local authorities do.