When DeKalb County authorities conducted their first “sweep” last week to crack down on school truancy, they got the attention of the 10 parents they arrested and charged with education neglect and possibly the 49 other parents with outstanding education neglect warrants.

Officials of other metro Atlanta school districts also took note, but they indicated they were unlikely to follow DeKalb’s example. Though they stopped short of outright criticizing DeKalb, they were quick to point out they are not in the business of enforcing the law.

“We’re not throwing parents in jail,” said Susan Hale, a spokeswoman for the 88,500-student Fulton County school district. “That’s not our job. We’re here to teach kids how to add.”

Under Georgia law, a student is considered truant after five unexcused absences.

At that point, the school district must send letters to the child’s parent warning of possible revocation of the student’s driver’s license and other penalties. At the same time, school officials are required to report the parents to a court of law or police agency.

Usually, the court will appoint someone to investigate why the child is chronically absent. School districts often assign a social worker to look into the problem. Where parental neglect is found, the courts usually issue a warning first, followed by a fine.

Rarely are parents thrown in jail, as nine were in DeKalb Tuesday and another the following day. After a night in custody, each appeared in court in orange jail jump suits. Multiple attempts to reach the parents were unsuccessful.

DeKalb officials have said they offer a diversion program for parents and typically do not take a parent to court until there’s at least 12 unexecused absenses in a single 180-day school year. Most of the parents facing arrest in DeKalb have children who have missed 40 to 50 days of school.

“If children are not in school, teachers cannot teach,” said Robert James, the county’s solicitor general.

Earlier, 39 DeKalb parents took advantage of an amnesty period to start resolving their cases. At least 49 other parents still face arrest warrants.

Educational neglect is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Since school started Aug. 11, Fulton has reported 74 parents to the court system. Several have been reported more than once. Hale said she didn’t know the last time a parent was arrested for education neglect.

Gwinnett County school officials say penalties and interventions are helping to curb the truancy problem. It’s been years since the school has had to use the legal system to punish parents for failing to enforce the attendance policy, said district spokeswoman Sloan Roach.

“It’s rare that we get to that point,” Roach said.

In Cobb County, the school district tries to educate parents about truancy before going to court.

“Truancy is a predictor of delinquent behavior,” said Paul Pursell, Cobb truancy court coordinator. “I tell parents we don’t want to paint a gloomy picture, but we have to be truthful. If your child is truant, they may be doing something you don’t know about.”

Atlanta public schools have not jailed a parent in a truancy related case in recent memory, said spokesman Joe Manguno.

“We don’t arrest people,” he said. “We’ve never even discussed doing anything nearly as drastic as DeKalb did.”

The district has several administrators at the county office who go to the homes of students who miss school two or three days in a row.

“If they need a ride, we take them. If they woke up and had no breakfast, we buy it for them,” Manguno said. “More often than not, the kids aren’t missing because they simply don’t want to go to school.”

Jail should only be used as a last resort, and even then it raises serious concerns, such as disrupting the home by removing a parent for the night, said Paula Hall, a case manager with the Truancy Intervention Project, an Atlanta-based non-profit aimed at keeping kids in school.

“We try to work with parents and students to see what resources they need” before court action is required, Hall said. “Locking up parents is generally not good for students or anyone else.”

– Staff writers Aileen Dodd, Donna Lewis, David Simpson and Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.