FLORENCE — A proposed ordinance that would ban children from roaming public areas in Florence during school hours was put before the community during a meeting at Poynor Adult/Community Education Center on Tuesday night.
A small crowd heard details from Florence City Councilman Ed Robinson about the ordinance that would establish a daytime curfew for juveniles 6 to 16 years old between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on any school day.
Robinson said he and a curfew committee have been working on the ordinance for almost two years and feel it is needed to keep children in school so they can obtain an education.
The committee decided during a work session in November that public hearings must be conducted on the matter before any further action is taken on the ordinance.
“We want to make it miserable for them,” Robinson said of truant children. “If you want to cut schoo,l you’re going to have a hard time.”
The councilman said he agrees that rearing children is the responsibility of parents, but if the parents can’t control their children, the community should step in and not let the child perish.
Uneducated people usually aren’t qualified for jobs, Robinson said.
And, he said, making sure children are educated will ultimately attract industry to Florence.
Any parent or guardian who violates the ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor and will be given a written warning on the first offense. The second and subsequent offenses will result in a $100 fine for each. Parents and guardians wouldn’t be subject to arrest, but would be issued a summons to appear in municipal court.
Parents won’t be held responsible for a child violating the ordinance if some prior action has been taken in family court that would relieve the parent of his or her responsibility, under the proposed ordinance.
School-age children would be exempt from ordinance if they are emancipated by state law; home schooled; attend a private school that has attendance requirements differing from those of public school; with a parent legal guardian or responsible adult selected by the parent; or employed.
Robinson said the ordinance has many opponents and has had to undergo some changes to make it more acceptable.
Florence City Attorney Jim Peterson told those who attended Tuesday’s night’s meeting he sought the opinion of a Columbia attorney who raised several questions about the ordinance.
The methodology of the ordinance may have to be changed before it is brought before council again in March, Peterson said.
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