Additional reporting by Jasmin Sandhar A head teacher says fines for unauthorised absences are becoming part of the cost of the holiday, rather than acting as a deterrent. David Jones, who runs Valley Park School in Maidstone, was reacting to statistics which revealed the number of fines issued to parents has nearly doubled. According to data from the Department of Education, the number of penalty notices issued in Kent and Medway was 13,126 between 2022-2023. In the previous year between 2021-2022, 7,690 were given out in the county. In more than three-quarters of cases, the reason was due to…
