JON Platt has said there could be a surge in parents taking their children out of state-maintained schools if Supreme Court judges rule against him following yesterday’s (Tuesday) battle with the Isle of Wight Council and the Department for Education.
Mr Platt told the Isle of Wight County Press he was 'not confident’ of victory, despite having successfully won cases at magistrates court and the High Court, after refusing to pay a fine for taking his daughter on holiday during term time.
His legal team argued the use of the term 'regular attendance’ in education legislation, meant frequent, however lawyers for the DfE and Isle of Wight Council, said the term meant every day the school was open, as determined by the education authority and school governors.
Following the case, Mr Platt took to Facebook to make a direct appeal to parents.
"Gut instinct... I think we may have lost if I'm honest!
"The Justices asked a very pertinent question, 'why were we suggesting that the requirement of 100% attendance is ABSURD... What's wrong with requiring children to attend every day that the school requires it'. To me that seems ominous.
"If I'm right and this goes against us, it's going to have serious implications way beyond what the DfE understand.
"There were 12.8 million unauthorised absences last year. The actions of all those parents will have been CRIMINAL if we lose. Going forward I predict thousands of parents will opt to de-register their children from school and either put them in private education or home educate as these rules don't apply to private schools or children who are home educated.
"Headteachers will come under huge pressure to authorise absences. Parents will take their child to the GP for every minor ailment to avoid it being recorded as unauthorised.
"So what can we do. VOTE! Contact YOUR COUNTY COUNCILLOR TONIGHT. Ask them to give an undertaking that if you vote for them they will insist that the code of conduct in respect of unauthorised absence allows for a reasonable interpretation... that parents will not face fines or prosecution if their children have better than 90% attendance.
"Most COUNTY Council elections are decided by a few hundred votes. You can change policy in your area but only if you vote and make your views known to those standing for election."

The case was adjourned yesterday (Tuesday) for the five Supreme Court justices to consider their ruling.