*UPDATE* Strange School Attendance Policy...

[mrsHerbie53]

**See my latest post (9/20) for the updated information from our interaction with the School Board!! ****

Please let me know if any of you know if your local school board's attendance policy has this little twist in it.

Just added last year, if a student is absent for more than 10 excused absences or 3 unexcused absences in the last 9 school months family educational trips will be marked unexcused.

Now this includes going back 9 school months at any point. So for a request for a trip in Oct, they school would look at LAST year's attendance!!! This also includes medically excused absences!

So my son who missed 14 days of school because he had a surgery that required he must stay home for 10 days, will have unexcused absences for our Oct. trip.

I plan to write a letter to the school board this week and attend the school board meeting with 2 things on my agenda: 1. ask the school board to grant permission for his educational trip to be excused and 2. to revise the wording of their policy.

Their policy is quite harsh on students that have a medical reason for some absences without taking into consideration their grades weren't tarnished during their absence. Also their policy allows for a student to have 2 BLATANT unexcused absences (shopping or whatever) and they would have excused absences.

I totally understand the need for attendance policies and that some funding is dependant on attendance averages. In our state the school boards can limit educational trips, but this is the first I have heard of schools going back to LAST YEAR's attendance!!

If you have a similar board policy or one that has particularly good wording, could you let me know. Maybe you could PM me a link.

THANKS for any thoughts or ideas!

[IloveDisney71]

I would agree that this policy is going just a bit too far!!!
Our school system just did a new policy for High School students:
they can only have 3 excuses from parents (for illnesses) and then the rest have to be Doctor's excuses. If they reach 5 "unexcused" absences they will not receive credit for that class. Now I don't know about you, but I don't take my kids to the doctor for every "stomach" bug that goes around because there is no need for it! But I guess now I'll have too! :mad::mad::mad:

[mrsHerbie53]

IloveDisney71, I agree with you! I am going to add a part to my letter that states that with this kind of wording in the policy, they will likely have more sick kids in school infecting others especially if they are going to be cutting it close for a vacation.

Our policy is for elementary and high school!! My son is 8 and doesn't understand what he did wrong. I have explained he did everything right. He had surgery and kept up with his school work and brought his only B up to an A for all A's. But that isn't even considered.

The thing is this kind of policy only penalizes the one's following the rules already. Those true truancy cases will find ways to be absent and not do their work.

[glenpreece]

This is really strange. I've never heard of this my Dad is a teacher and has worked for several boards and never heard of anything like this before.

[Ian]

I honestly wish school boards or teachers or administrators or whomever is doing this would stop focusing on the quantity of education and start focusing instead on the quality of that education.

I, for one, see more value in taking my kids on a trip to spend quality family time in an educational environment than I do in them wasting away in a classroom learning things that will be of no use to them 5 years down the road.

[tink'72]

That is crazy. Our school's policy is 5 or more absences per semester and you fail that semester. If you are sick for numerous days and have a doctors note they only count the time as 1 day. Once the semester ends and a new one starts it is a clean slate.

[DizneyRox]

This probably belongs in the Water Cooler, not Vacation Planning... Hopefully a mod will come around and move this one over.

[MickeyandTink]

I honestly wish school boards or teachers or administrators or whomever is doing this would stop focusing on the quantity of education and start focusing instead on the quality of that education.

I, for one, see more value in taking my kids on a trip to spend quality family time in an educational environment than I do in them wasting away in a classroom learning things that will be of no use to them 5 years down the road.

I see the value in being present in class, but I agree there has to be some balance. Some of the greatest and most memorable educational experiences I had took place outside the classroom, often on school sponsored trips(going to San Antonio to the riverwalk and the zoo, spending a week in Monterrey, Mexico) or with family (Trips to Boston to see museums and historical sites during the school year).

Being out of school to watch TV all day or just screw around at the mall is not a good reason. Travelling with family to experience WDW, see historical sites, Washington, DC, etc. certainly can be a much more valuable experience than spending three or four more days (out of ~200 days each year) learning the 3R's.

[krose78]

Here kids can only have 3 unexcused absences with a total of five absences and if a child has too many unexcused absences the parents face a fine of $50 or up to thirty days in jail. Now tell me that isn't harsh.:thedolls:

[momef3grls]

from our asst principal in the high school. Educational trips are not to exceed 5 consecutive days, any days over that will be illegal absences and subject to legal action. I know this has to do with the no child left behind legislation but it is not fair. My 3 daughters are straight A students who in thier total years of schooling have missed a grand total of 20 days...combined!!!!! I was so upset when I got off the phone, if they want legal action they better come loaded for bear because I am going to fight them tooth and nail. We chose to go for 9 days and that would put the girls 2 days over the limit, I wish they could rewrite this policy to make a notation that it would be pattern or excessive based rather than penalize everyone.:mad: :mad:

[PrincessEmmasMommy]

You may also want to consult your state laws to see what they say about this It seems a bit much. In NJ, we have to drop a child after missing 10 unexcused days. Other than that, if they miss 18 days unexcused in a school year, we have to reccommend retention, but parents have final say. That is it for our state laws. Good luck!
Jen

[mttafire]

I honestly wish school boards or teachers or administrators or whomever is doing this would stop focusing on the quantity of education and start focusing instead on the quality of that education.

I, for one, see more value in taking my kids on a trip to spend quality family time in an educational environment than I do in them wasting away in a classroom learning things that will be of no use to them 5 years down the road.
Yep...Thats what i was thinking.
QUALITY over quantity.
Great point.

[gueli]

No child left behind ???
some of these Policy's are for the birds.
As far as fining parents - what is considered an excused absences and unexcused ?
I would think that there is a legal challenge in here somewhere...
Also who in the school is given the final authoritative right, parents or administrators ?
Makes me consider home schooling more & more...

[baldburke]

Welcome to the public school system. You can thank those that came before for abusing the system. I do not blame them. Zero tolerance should be the rule. That is the problem with America. Someone is always trying to bend the rules and push the limits.

[BigRedDad]

This is in all likelihood due to the No Child Left Behind law. Counties and schools lose Federal funding based on attendance. The schools or County cannot afford to lose part of the Federal funding. This is why policies like this exist.

This is another feeble attempt at the Federal Gov't (read George Bush the idiot :soapbox:) trying to artificially increasing the aptitude of the students in US Schools. All this has done is given the schools and teachers the only viable option: give all kids that fail a class a D. The paperwork, time, meetings, and approvals to fail a kid is too much work. It is easier to pass them along.

My recommendation is to talk with the Principal at your son's school. Detail the plans and what is being done. Discuss how he stands relative to the rest of the class. Make an informed decision with the principal that being out will not affect his overall performance.

[mrsHerbie53]

My recommendation is to talk with the Principal at your son's school. Detail the plans and what is being done. Discuss how he stands relative to the rest of the class. Make an informed decision with the principal that being out will not affect his overall performance.

Thanks BigRedDad! One thing I left out of the original post is that as soon as I knew we were going to Disney I put notice in. I couldn't just go to the principal, but the Superintendent of the school district because he would miss 5 days (under 4 days can go to the principal). His answer to my letter was the days would be unexcused as per board policy and he couldn't override the board. His principal said by all means go to the board and ask them to approve it.

We decided over the summer to go to Disney,. Think of other parents that might plan farther ahead for a Disney trip have it paid for a year ahead and then DS or DD have to have their appendics out or their tonsils. All of a sudden their excused educational trip is unexcused despite pre-planning.
Sorry if this should be in the Water Cooler. I saw another vacation vs school post and it prompted me to enter my situation. I forgot which part of the forum I was in.

[PirateLover]

This is another feeble attempt at the Federal Gov't (read George Bush the idiot :soapbox:) trying to artificially increasing the aptitude of the students in US Schools.
Just an FYI, Intercot asks us to refrain from posting heated political opinion.

For the OP, Definitely fight this. I wonder how many parents realize this law is on the books. It seems pretty ridiculous to go back to last years absences. A new year is a new year. Your son should not be penalized a year later for having an illness that landed him in the hospital.

[Tink&Goofy]

Actually, I never really thought about the attendence policy - and I don't know specifically what it is. My kids miss school when they are sick, or have Dr.or dentist appts, but nothing else. I think we may have pulled them out midday on a friday for a trip in all these years. Of course, I look at it slightly different since DD12 has some special needs, and needs all of the classtime she can get. On the other hand, the oldest could easily miss and have no issues, but we haven't done it because of her sis. I am, however considering pulling them out for a day or two around next spring break. I guess I never really thought about asking "permission" from the school - I just assumed I would let the teachers know, and send a note on our return. Do you actually ask permission?

[vizsla]

I was at an "Open House" last night at DD's new school. There were 5 school closings and all consolidated into one new school. We went to speak to her new teacher and principle to ask what the policy was for taken children out of school for family vacations. They said the rules are going to change from what they were in the past which was fine to take your child out of school as long as their grades were good. Although still not set in stone as a policy, they are considering not allowing absences for vacations. I already told them whatever policy they came up with that we are taking our DD out of school for 2-weeks for a family vacation. We got in a little arguement over the issue because the school closings and consolidation was announced in Nov. 2007 and here we are beginning the new school year and they have not decided or written any type of policys as of yet, So I quess they expect everyones life to be put on hold until they make some decisions.

[MNNHFLTX]

I have never heard of a school district's attendance tally going back to the previous school year--that does seem harsh.

Our old school district in Florida only allowed 9 absences in a semester or the child might be held back. Originally this even included absences due to illness, but later that was changed so that if a child had a doctor's note documenting an illness it was exempt from the attendance requirement. Absences due to family vacations were most definitely unexcused and so we rarely took our son out of school for vacations; if we did it was only for 1 or 2 days.

Now that we live in Texas the attendance policy is potentially even stricter, as the student has attend at least 90% of his classes to pass and parents could also be held accountable legally. Fortunately it does not included illnesses or other extenuating circumstances, but still leaves very little wiggle room for family trips.

[January-2007]

And the list continues on reasons why we plan to homeschool....

[disneyfan328]

I just sent in our letter to the school principal as well as our 2 youngests teachers yesterday for our upcoming trip. Oldest is in freshman year of college and has told all of her instructors about her absences and they have been more than willing to give her assignments and let her know what needs done and turned in before she goes so that her grades aren't affected.

I am not going to get into the whether or not to pull kids out for vacations as that has enough threads and we all know that everyone is entitled to their opinion.

As far as school absences go - I have an issue with some of the school's policies on abscenses and here is my personal situatuation. 2 of my children have ongoing medical conditions (as do I) Both of them have Asthma and one is also prone to migraines. They are both currently taking ongoing preventative mediciations to try and prevent flare ups which I already have to take them to the dr's for every couple of months. My health insurance is not the best and I pay a fortune for it. I also have copays and mediciation co pays that have to be paid in order to keep them on these regemented medicines. Now I have their scripts and noted all of their issues on their emergency care cards, and have filled out all of the mountains of paperwork that they keep sending home to allow them to carry their inhalers for their asthma with them at all times (if they have an attack they can't be running to the office to get it since they won't be able to breath duh) Anyway - Our school has institued one of these policies that after so many days of my sending in excuses through the year that they can at any time tell me that from that point on the kids must have a dr's excuse if they miss any days. I think its after 4 or 5 missed days with my excuses being written.

I am going to the school board about this, and here are the reasons why:
1.) If my child is sick with their asthma today and I call the dr, they usually ask me what all I am doing and what medicines ect and they usually tell me to make the following adj. and if they aren't any better in a day or two we end up in the dr's office or ER. HOWEVER our dr's office will only write an excuse for the day they are seen(and any additional days that they feel necessary - not the preceeding days that they have missed.

2.) I cannot afford a copay every time they have a sniffle or cough. I have been dealing with their illnesses long enough and I know them like a book. I know what they need and when they need it and I am NOT going to spend more money just because the school wants some piece of paper.

3.) One of my children can no longer be seen by our pediatrician. She is now being seen by our wonderful PCP who never has sick appts open when you are sick. He can see you in a day or two - again you can't get an excuse for anything other than they day you are seen, and maybe days after that but not preceeding.

So where is the logic in it all. They will end up missing more days waiting to see a dr in the end to tell them that they have the flu and nothing can be done or to keep doing what you are doing and they will be better in a few days???

And people wonder why the cost of health care if so out of control???? This is one of the exact reasons.

Please remember this is my two cents - you may agree and you may not, but I make sure that my kids get the care they need when they need it, and not according to what anyone else is going to try and tell me I should or shouldn't do. I am more in tune with their needs than any doctor ever could be and I have been told that by their doctors. I think that most moms and dads would feel the same.

Regardless I am still taking them out for a weeks vacation as quality family time is just as important as their education and whatever happens I will fight it.

[Tink&Goofy]

Seems like the school districts need to use a little more logic. I understand the funding/attendance issue, but whats the bottom line? The whole objective is to get kids to learn. If they keep their grades up, and make up all the missed work, they are obviously fulfilling the grade level requirements. I understand the whole unexcused absence thing - since in High School especially, this could be a huge abuse - however, why are they so concerned about excused absenses as long as a child is meeting the education requirements? What about kids with chronic conditions, or who have a serious illness during the year? As long as the work is made up and they have completed everything, should they be punished for being sick? I can see where a child misses so much that the work just cannot be made up, but there needs to be some logic and exceptions to every attendance rule. One size does not fit all.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Here is the attendance policy I just received from my kids Elementary school yesterday...

"Consistent attendance is extremely important. If your child is ill, and unable to come to school, you are required by NYSED Law to send a note of explanation. Encourage your child to keep up with his/her homework assigments daily. During a lengthy absence, please check with your child's teacher about the best way to retrieve and turn in assigments.

When sickness (or and important family obligation) neccessitates an absence, parents must call the School Nurses, Mrs.XXXXX during the morning of the child's absence. On the first day of school following an absence, a written excuse signed by a parent or guardian must be given to the classroom teacher. Students may miss no more than seven (7) sessions of class instruction each marking period and no more than 28 days the entire school year. Mrs. XXXXX or the attendance officer, Mrs. XXXX will notify parents/guardians of students in danger of exceeding the number of absences and a meeting will be conducted with the students and his/her parents and the Principal to develop corrective strategies. Letters will be generated on a quarterly basis and serve as notification."

We do not have any excused or unexcused absences in our school. We just have to be under the numbers specified above. My kids have always been well under the amount (One had 10 last year with our trip to Disney and a case of Strep, the other had 9, 6 with Disney, 3 with bronchitis right before a school vacation).
That policy is cut and dry. There is nothing, inluding a Dr's note, that will make any absence excused. They do require a note from the parent as it says, but a Dr's note will not make an absence "not count" so to speak, against the number they are allowed to be out. You have to be under those numbers whether is is a vacation, illness or otherwise.
I guess after reading some of the other policies, ours is a good one. I don't have to worry about being fines, etc, if my kids have 10 absences in a year.

Now...if they backtracked to the following year for 9 months like the OP said, we would still be okay since our vacation is early in the year, but I would be miffed. There has to be room for prolonged illnesses, etc, and going back 9 months could really cause problems for a lot of parents.

[DizneeRX]

You are definitely doing the right thing by writing in a request and attending the meeting. I would imagine that your school board would be more than accommodating to your needs, especially when medically legitimate reasons are involved. Sometimes these policies need time to evolve. By being involved and pointing out where the policy may be lacking, you’re doing your part as a parent to rectify such situations. You will also be setting such an excellent example for your son. He’ll see that if you have a grievance with a policy, you should put forth an educated, well-supported request for change. I wouldn’t doubt there’s other parents at your school who feel the same way and will support you. Best of luck with your efforts!!!

Attendance policies can cause some unintentional snags when individual circumstances aren’t taken into account. However, I do believe they serve their purpose. The sole purpose of an attendance policy is not to make sure kids gets a certain quantity of education. Attendance policies are a good tool for teaching structure, responsibility and routine. It teaches kids that they are expected to be at school and must be there… they have a responsibility to be there. Furthermore, if the kids are not at school, then there are consequences for their actions. We can’t just pick and choose which rules to follow based on our wants. That’s incredibly irresponsible.

All lessons from school aren’t taught in books or from the teacher. It’s the whole organization and structure of school that also teaches kids. Attendance policies at school have real, practical application in the outside world. I can’t take off from my job whenever I feel like it (even more so because I have children and have to limit my time off to make sure I am able to take off when they get sick). I’m given a certain amount of time – sick, vacation, personal time off and I have to abide by that or face the consequences of my actions. If I take too much time off, I risk losing my job, plain and simple. People can have a tendency to take advantage of situations. Such policies are meant to keep us all in check with our actions.

[baldburke]

All lessons from school aren’t taught in books or from the teacher. It’s the whole organization and structure of school that also teaches kids. Attendance policies at school have real, practical application in the outside world. I can’t take off from my job whenever I feel like it (even more so because I have children and have to limit my time off to make sure I am able to take off when they get sick). I’m given a certain amount of time – sick, vacation, personal time off and I have to abide by that or face the consequences of my actions. If I take too much time off, I risk losing my job, plain and simple. People can have a tendency to take advantage of situations. Such policies are meant to keep us all in check with our actions.

You raise excellent points with this comment. If I simply do not show up to work for three days without notice, I could be fired. But even there notice I say could be. The powers that be have the ability to assess the situation and make judgment calls. I guess the good thing for my office is that they do not need to publicly disclose decisions such as these whereas a public school board may be obliged since tax payer dollars are at work. Good luck!

[disneydeb]

Have it declared a field trip.;) :D

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I don't have any kids but I grew up having several medical conditions (seizures and kidney disease to name a few). My mom was always taking my sister and I to doctors and it was extremely costly to them. They have had to have spent nearly a million between the two of us. I think schools need exceptions to the doctors note rule for sick children. I understand that they don't want children to just stay home from school because they don't want to go. But this is causes a problem for the parents of sick children. A solution would be for the school system to allow a doctors note at the beginning of the school year that states the medical conditions of the child. This would allow the parents to call the child out of school for an illness with out a doctors note for that particular day. This would be the best way to deal with attendance.

[A Big Kid]

. I do not blame them. Zero tolerance should be the rule. That is the problem with America. Someone is always trying to bend the rules and push the limits.

Negative. This is all about money. The school gets money based on the daily attendance. The more kids in school, the more money they get. Hence, they want to cut down on absences.

[A Big Kid]

.

This is another feeble attempt at the Federal Gov't (read George Bush the idiot :soapbox:)

Was that really necessary?

[Tiggerdog]

The school gets money based on the daily attendance. The more kids in school, the more money they get. Hence, they want to cut down on absences.

This is not true in all states. School funding varies from state to state. While some states count day-to-day attendance numbers for funding, others do not. Colorado, for example, has what we call October count. For one week in October, each school counts the amount of student present in the classrooms. The state then takes the average for that week to decide the funding. If we get 50 more kids the week after October count, the school does not receive additional funds. If we loes 50 kids, we don't lose the money. So while attendance does count in school fudning, it is only a 5 day attendance number that is used, not a daily average.

Study after study shows that the one way to increase student achievemnent is though attendance.

As a teacher I have no problem with students missing school due to family vactions. However, the attendance rules were not put in place by the teachers or even the school principal. The ones who make the attendance laws are the exact people who were elected onto the school board or your state legislation.

I see on a daily basis why such attendance rules are necessary. I have students have to stay home to babysit younger siblings 2 or 3 days a week. When they do come to school they are so overwhelmed that they decide why bother. One of my students will get a paper cut and miss a week of school. I am not joking about that! There is no medical reason for him to miss, he just has to milk his injury for all it's worth and his parents buy into it. Heaven forbid if he sneezes. It is the parents who excuse their children from school because the child is too tired from staying up all night playing video games or because the child wants to go shopping that has forced the law makers to enforce strict attendance rules.

It makes me angry that the schools have to make these rules encompass all of the children. However, I still have to report excessive absences when a great kid goes on vacation, even when I gave the child money for a Mickey Bar!

BTW, if your child has to miss school for an illness or surgery, request a meeting with the school administration. In the meeting request your child be put on a 504 plan due to their medical needs. You can also request a home-bound tutor paid for by the district. These absences will not count against them because they are still being educated by the district. The time missed from school that is eligible for home-bound tutoring varies from district to district, but it never hurts to ask!

[Donald A]

BTW, if your child has to miss school for an illness or surgery, request a meeting with the school administration. In the meeting request your child be put on a 504 plan due to their medical needs. You can also request a home-bound tutor paid for by the district. These absences will not count against them because they are still being educated by the district. The time missed from school that is eligible for home-bound tutoring varies from district to district, but it never hurts to ask!

As with most everything else, $$$$$ is the reason for these policies. I agree that you need to try to "make nice" with the school board and administration first. However, if you don't get anywhere with this and are faced with canceling your trip think about two things:
1) If the law allows, dis-enroll your child and re-enroll your child after the trip. Public school gets state and federal funding per child. Don't think that they won't take your child back. They need that funding!
2) Inform the school in writing that the next time a lengthy abscence is needed by your child you will demand private tutoring be paid for by the school. I have a co-worker who's daughter has medical problems and needs this. The school DOES NOT want to pay. Let the school know that if they are going to come up with all these attendance rules (that they say is for the good of the student but really just good for keeping $$$$$) you will hold them accountable too.

[Stu29573]

Seems like the school districts need to use a little more logic. I understand the funding/attendance issue, but whats the bottom line?

Having worked in public schools for 15 years I can tell you the bottom line is simple....money and test scores. It's nice to think that the school administrations are doing everything "In the Best Intrest of the Children," but often, although that's the battle cry, it's not at all the case. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble but taking "educational trips" is going to become more and more difficult.....:(

[mrsHerbie53]

I definitely have a smiley face now!

I wrote my letter to the school board and explained our situation and requested they approve my son's upcoming absence as excused. We then got the letter to the Board 1 week prior to the meeting and asked to be placed on the agenda. I presented our case and thanked them for their time. I really didn't know whether or not they were going to make any decision when we left that evening. The next day the superintendent called to let me know the board DID APPROVE the trip and the absences will be excused. They aren't amending their policy and will continue to handle cases like this on a case-by-case basis, which does seem very fair. It limits the abusers, while giving those with a good case the opportunity to be heard.
We actually took DS to the board meeting and it was a very educational process itself!! It was good for him to see how a community member appropriately raises his/her voice to question a rule.

So when you have a legitimate question or case, don't be afraid to go through the proper channels and go to a school board meeting. You will have to find out their guidelines and timeframes (they may need time to act on their part). In the end, I would have felt really good about trying even if it wouldn't have been approved. Our family had a great experience learning the process and trying to do the right thing.

[DizneeRX]

My apologies for such a late response, I must have missed your post, but .....

Fantastic! That's so great. I'm reallyl happy things worked out so well for you. You really took an unfortunate situation and turned it around. Kudos to you and your whole attitude about it!!