(a) No child between the ages of six and seventeen, inclusive, and including a child that has been suspended or expelled from school, other than a child who is registered with the Ashtabula Area City Schools as a home schooled/home tutored student, shall be at any place within the corporate limits of the City except in attendance during normal school hours during any school day or at said child’s place of residence or abode, unless the child has written proof from school authorities or his/her parent or guardian excusing him or her from attending school at that particular time, for non-disciplinary reasons, or unless the child is accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, or a responsible adult selected by the parent or legal guardian to supervise the child.
(b) Each parent or legal guardian of a child between the ages of six and seventeen, inclusive, shall have a duty to prohibit the child from behaving contrary to subsection (a) hereof. No person shall negligently fail to fulfill the duty imposed by this subsection.
(c) It shall be an affirmative defense to subsection (b) hereof that the child, at the time he or she was found at a place other than in school, was not required by law to be in attendance at school for non-disciplinary reasons.
(d) It shall be an affirmative defense to subsection (b) hereof that the parent or legal guardian initiated the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court against the child prior to the time that the child was found violating subsection (a) hereof.
(e) A police officer or school attendance officer may transport any child found violating subsection (a) hereof to the child's residence and may release the child into the care of a parent or legal guardian, to the school the child usually attends, or to any location designated by the school authorities as a receiving center for such children, the choice of destination to be made at the discretion of the police officer or school attendance officer based on proximity of the destination and other relevant factors, and subject to the need to respond to emergency or priority calls.
(f) Any child who violates subsection (a) hereof is an unruly child and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court.
(g) Whoever violates subsection (b) hereof shall be charged with failure to send the child to school in violation of Ohio R.C. 3321.38 et al.
(Ord.2000-49. Passed 5-15-00.)