JUDGE SAYS RULING WILL BE SPEEDY
JUDGE SAYS RULING WILL BE SPEEDY
July 8, 1995
Janice Haidet
Dayton Daily News
A judge says he expects to decide by early August whether to order two disabled Carroll family youngsters to continue in public school, rather than allowing them to be home-schooled by their parents.
Visiting Judge Richard T. Cole on Friday heard a full day of testimony on both sides of the hotly contested issue, then set a July 28 deadline for the case's seven lawyers to file written arguments. Cole said he expects to make a decision within a week of that deadline.
The action is the latest involving the Cedarville family of Kathleen and Timothy Carroll, which came under scrutiny after four of their 10 adopted ``special needs'' children died without explanation in 1992 and 1993.
``People keep saying to me, `When is this case going to be over?' '' Greene County Prosecutor William F. Schenck said. ``I expect that there's really no end in sight for some aspects of this case.''
The Carrolls' remaining children were removed and placed in foster care and public schools after the death of Josiah Carroll, 12, in June 1993. That death was ruled a homicide. No one has been prosecuted in that open but inactive case.
Two disabled youngsters, Isaiah, 12, and Samuel, 7, were returned to the Carrolls' custody in February. But schooling remained an unresolved issue between the Carrolls and the prosecutor's office, which represents the county Children Services Board.
Mrs. Carroll testified Friday that she knows how to provide proper care and education for the youngsters. She also said she objects to public schooling for religious reasons, and because ``a lot of the socialization that goes on in school is not positive.''
Schenck, however, argues the youngsters progressed more with the help of licensed professionals than they did in the Carroll home. Schenck also pointed to the children's high absenteeism from school after the Carrolls regained custody, despite a court order requiring the youths to continue in public school.