JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of Florida parents could face jail time as part of a state crackdown on chronic student absenteeism.

Mug shots of some of the arrested parents.

In Duval County, at least 18 parents have been arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and charged with contributing to a delinquency of a minor or failure to comply with compulsory school attendance laws, First Coast News reports.

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“The truancy sweep is necessary to send a clear message to our parents that this behavior is not acceptable. Parents are responsible for the care and well-being of their children, which includes ensuring their children’s attendance at school,” State Attorney Angela Corey said in a statement.

The parents were arrested Oct. 16-19 and were among a total of 44 parents sought on similar charges. Officials told the Florida Times-Union the remainder are either at large or turning themselves in.

According to officials at the State Attorney’s Office’s Truancy Arbitration Program, the arrest warrants were issued for parents of students who have missed a combined total of 6,558 days over the last three years.

“One child, now 9, has missed 239 school days since 2011 and has been held back twice,” according to First Coast.

The contributing to a delinquency of a minor charge carries a sentence of up to a year in jail, while the failure to comply with compulsory school attendance laws is a potential 60-day sentence, according to the news site.

Alan Louder, head of the Truancy Arbitration Program, told the Times-Union parents are given numerous opportunities to work with schools and his agency, including services like counseling, financial help, parenting classes, and others to ensure their children make it to school before officials resort to arrests.

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Parents can provide medical documentation, and their supposed to sign a contract to get their kids back on track, and officials “have even gone to their houses” to resolve attendance problems. Thousands of students are truant, but the parents arrested this month are “the most egregious cases, Louder told the Times-Union.

“Those parents failed to show up for any meetings and then they got referred to us,” he said. “We left numerous letters and phone calls. We have so many parents who don’t show.”

Charlie Thorton, one of the parents arrested, told the Times-Union his 8- and 11-year-old daughters missed school for good reason, and officials are making “a lot of false accusations.”

The girls missed a month last school year with a skin disease, he said, and spent 80 of the previous year’s school days attending a Georgia school while living with their grandmother.

“I know my kids have never missed that many days and they have passed every year,” Thorton said. “ … They were with their grandmother and they were enrolled in Georgia, and they failed to transfer all the information back to Jacksonville. That has to be it. How can you miss that many days of school and still pass?”

Parent Lucius Corbitt III, who was arrested along with his wife Afton Nolan, agreed “it really is crap.”

Corbitt acknowledged that his daughter missed 40 school days over the last three years but said she had foot surgery and still made the honor roll. He said he tried to talk with school officials about her absences, but apparently it did no good.

“It is all BS. Maybe there are some kids whose parents didn’t want to send them to school, but when my child missed school my wife and I got makeup work and she passed,” Corbitt told the Times-Union. “… Most days she missed we had doctor’s documentation, but it is so hard to get someone on the School Board.”

Jackeya Davis said she also tried to talk with school officials about her children’s’ absences, which were for “family issues,” “but no one wanted to hear it.”

Regardless, “when I get off probation and pay my fine, I will be leaving, so that’s OK,” she said.