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Lake County mother arrested on charges of child neglect

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A Lake County mother was arrested after deputies said her children missed more than a third of the school year and the family was living in a home with no electricity and little food.
 
Meagan Marconnet is facing two counts of child neglect after her children missed more than 30 days of school this year.
 
Marconnet was arrested last month on drug charges. Deputies said they returned to her home and found unsafe conditions. The Florida Department of Children and Families said she recently refused a drug test.
 
"The house was in disarray, there's very little food in the home (and) there was food on the floor," John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said.
 
Officials said the power had been shut off and Marconnet illegally reconnected it.
 
Marconnet's mother, who lives down the road, asked Channel 9 to leave the property and wouldn't provide her name.
 
"I'm a parent. Of course I have a reaction. I don't need to share that opinion with you, nor will I do so," Marconnet's mother said.
 
District officials said missing 10 days of school, for elementary and middle school students, is considered excessive. At that point, they said they try to work with the parent to come up with a way to get the child to school.
 
Officials said the children are staying with their grandmother.