A city that’s already tough on parents of chronically absent students just got a little tougher.Martinsville public schools and the city’s commonwealth’s attorney announced that parents can now be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, for cases of chronic absenteeism. The punishment comes with a fine of up to $2,500, along with potential jail time.The school division announced the change on Sept. 10. Previously, Martinsville truancy cases were tried as a Class 3 misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500. Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Hall said he hopes the change will encourage parents to make sure their children are regularly attending school.Though Martinsville’s absenteeism is lower than many other school divisions its size, it already refers far more cases to truancy court than like-sized school divisions in the state. How does Martinsville’s absenteeism compare?Students are considered chronically absent when they miss more than 10% of the school year, or about 18 days. Excused absences like those for illness are counted the same as unexcused absences and days missed for suspensions. Martinsville, which counts about 1,800 students across two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school, reported a chronic absenteeism rate of 28% for the 2021-2022 school year. The state average was 20%.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r