Need to vent! School Days Missed

[Brook1099]

daisyduck123 I hope your daughter is feeling well soon.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Go ahead & vent away.

I am here in the hospital with my poor DD16 (a senior). She has already missed more than 10 school days this year due to her illness & being hospitalized. How I wish I could just take her to WDW right now (I have always pulled mine out every year with NO regrets).

You only live once & have no idea what the future will bring.

Wishing you an awesome trip!

Totally agree! Once you have a child inthe hospital your outlook on everything changes.

 

[dvczerfs]

we are allowed 5 in our district. we have to sign an affidavit and have it noterized. she misses about 9 every year to go to wdw. on the sixth day they can press charges.(come get me) our dd is a sr. in hs and is on the honor roll. never had a problem. she gets the work before we leave and takes any test she missed when we get back. usually she ahead of the class. (i love this topic on here. hey,who did you vote for in the last pres. election?) IM JUST KIDDING!!!!!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Daisyduck, I hope your DD gets better soon, and take care of yourself (even though I know how hard that is!)

We take our kids out for 5 days every other year. Our oldest is a junior. I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little nervous this year. I did tell her that if at any point she felt she couldn't handle missing the days we would work something out, but she says she feels she will be fine. Our others are in 6th and 3rd grade. We have never had an issue though their absences are always marked unexcused. I don't like it, but it is what we hvae to do as DH is not allowed to take vacations anytime the kids are out of school. (Unfortunate, his old job he could and we didn't need to, now he can't when we'd like to.) But while I know and have heard that you don't need Disney to make memories and I agree, I'll be honest, I want to go and so we do. But, as thei mom it is my choice to make.

The only thing I would say is if the principal asked to see you I'd make every effort to go. I really can't stand our principal and avoid him as much as I can, but if he called to talk to me I'd go. Just my thoughts. Only because it seems a little confrontational not to. I may be wrong, but he/she might see it that way.

As far as homework, it varies by teacher, some will give it ahead of time and that is great cause we have a 21+ hour drive each way so they can do it. Some won't till we get back. Now that DD16 is in HS all of the assignments are online so she will have access to everything.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

You certainly can go, but I would never expect teachers to have to go through all the trouble giving you 10 days of work! At our school, you make it up when you get back. And although you have the right to take them, the teachers do not have to give them the chance to make up the work, so they could end up with a lot of zeros. I'm guessing your children are pretty young if you are planning to take them out for 10 days in a row - that would mean failure in our JH/HS. How do your kids feel? They're the ones who will be struggling when you get back.

In our school district the teachers do HAVE to give the kids a chance to make up the work. The kids have 2 days for each day they missed to make it up. It starts when they get back. It is in our handbook.

 

[ccgirl]

Have you already booked it? The reason I ask is that is the week I am going and there is not of availability left. Personally, I would not chance it. You can make happy family memories as staycations too. You don't have to go to Disney. That policy seems very strict though. Is it 10 cumulative days total or 10 unexcused? In my DD's school they are all unexcused unless accompanied by a dr's note.

Good luck with your decision.

ccgirl- Thanks for your reply! The policy sounds similar to your DD's school. They are all unexcused unless accompanies by a DR. note, the doctor's office wouldn't let my daughter come in because of the pink eye, and diagnosed her over the phone and called in the prescription. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't ask for a note. I suppose I could call retroactively and get one though. We haven't booked yet, still searching for airfare.. sounds like my decision may be made now though if there's no availablitiy at the resorts for that week. Oh well, I just wish absences could be made case by case as my child has wonderful grades and behavior. It will work out I'm sure. Thanks again!

I would definitely call them to get that note. You never know how close you might come. My DD is in a private school so they are more serious about the days missed. Although, the handbook is more lenient than the public school as far as how many days you can miss. I think it is so strange how these policies can vary district to district. Look on line for availability. I was looking for the discounted rooms. Pop Warner is at the values so they may be full. If that is when you really want to go, and don't mind staying off site there is always the Swan/Dolphin or other off site places. We are really excited to go and look at all of the Christmas stuff.

Edited to add: I just checked and although there were no value rooms left. There were rooms at moderate and deluxe resorts. I know Airtran was having a big sale if they fly out of an airport near you.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Wow! 30 days is lenient!

Last year Lainey missed 14 days due to sickness and a business trip. This year, she will miss 6 planned days due to the business trip and a wedding. So we have had to plan our Disney trip during her spring break, which is in the middle of March. At this point last year she had missed 5 or 6 days of school, thus far she hasn't missed any, so I'm hopeful that she won't have too many sick days. Our school starts sending letters home about appearing before a judge and possibly holding the child back at 10 absences, no matter the reason.

Out of curiosity, are you in OK? And if so, in what district are you?

 

[C.Ann]

Also keep in mind that they don't receive the financial aid for students who not are in class, so this could be the reason that more schools are cracking down on this..

Hope it works out okay for you..

 

[sam_gordon]

I hope it goes ok. Try to enjoy your trip with your family
However, I could also use some advice: I am in a similar situation and we don't know what to do. We own our business and winter is typically the only time to travel. We don't want to face the crowds and price increase at Christmas, so are considering the beginning of Dec. for our annual WDW trip. DD is in 3rd grade and missed 2 days for pink eye earlier this month(not allowed to attend anyway due to contagiousness). Last year she had perfect attendance! But, the school has a ten day (cummulative) absence policy. We don't want to get in "trouble" but also value our family vacation time. If we missed 5 days for vacation, basically she can't get sick for the rest of the year Not sure what to do. Any (flameless) advice would be appreciated.

Wait, math check...
kids allowed 10 absences.
Your DD missed 2 for pink eye.
DD will miss 5 for vacation.
And you think she can't get sick the rest of the year? I've got her as having 3 days left.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... attendance policies vary by DISTRICT! Just because someone is in the same state (or possibly even in the same country) doesn't mean the policies are the same. A district may be even stricter than state laws. You MUST find out what YOUR district's policy is. It is certainly your right as a parent to take the kids out for anything, but if you violate the policy, be prepared to suffer the consequences (which might be nothing more than a meeting with the teacher/principal).

 

[nchulka]

I'm feeling very fortunate. When I told my kids school that they were going to miss 2 1/2 weeks in Sept. (12 school days) they could not have been nicer. We started talking about Disney and the office lady told me about her familys most recent visit. We had no problems with the teachers either, they both worked with us. Sorry to hear some districts try to get into families business.

 

[mjkacmom]

In our school district the teachers do HAVE to give the kids a chance to make up the work. The kids have 2 days for each day they missed to make it up. It starts when they get back. It is in our handbook.

Our does, too, provided it's an excused absence. In HS, if they miss more than 19 days (excused and unexcused), it's an automatic failure of the course, and it has to be repeated.

 

[VirataMama4]

First off, I take my kids out of school when I want to... I believe family time/vacation is just as important as school, if not more so. They are only young once and we are a Military family, so we take the time when we can get it. That being said they are honor roll students and put in the time and effort before, during and after school to keep those grades up.

We will be going to FL/Disney World for 2 weeks starting a few days before Thanksgiving, she'll be missing 6 days of school. I'll be letting the school know 30 days out and then again at parent/teacher conferences which are about 2 weeks out from our trip.

The absences will be "unexcused" according to the school's attendance policy, but it is up to the teachers if they will give her the work to make up. Of course, I hope that they give her the make up work, but if they don't she will be doing "work" I give her, like a report on Florida, math worksheets and reading at least 30 minutes a day... She'll be doing this or her school work during "nap time" at the hotel.

 

[Hannathy]

I don't know about any of you BUT if my 10 yr old could miss 10 days of school, come back and have no trouble jumping in where they are at in class and do OK and make up all the past homework. I would be having my butt down to that school seeing why my child was not being challenged or given work at their level.

Seriously if a child in upper elementary can miss 10 days straight without a problem they are not being challenged!!!!! And that would have me extremely worried. A child if they are pushing and learning new things at the upper level of their ability should not be able to walk away from 2 weeks of school and not be lost.

 

[mom2val]

[
School absence policy: A child absent must present a written excuse, signed by the parent/guardian, stating the reason for the absence. A student that accumulates (30) thirty unexcused absenses may be retained as per policy #5410[/QUOTE]



Just curious about how long is your school year? We start on August 23 and end the first week in June. 30 days is alot- so I thought maybe y'all have a longer school year. We get 20 days.

 

[MegaDisney]

I don't know about any of you BUT if my 10 yr old could miss 10 days of school, come back and have no trouble jumping in where they are at in class and do OK and make up all the past homework. I would be having my butt down to that school seeing why my child was not being challenged or given work at their level.

Seriously if a child in upper elementary can miss 10 days straight without a problem they are not being challenged!!!!! And that would have me extremely worried. A child if they are pushing and learning new things at the upper level of their ability should not be able to walk away from 2 weeks of school and not be lost.

Completely agree! Heck, I have a 7 year-old in 2nd grade and if he were to miss 10 days it would be a huge deal. I can't imagine what it must be like for 4th or 5th graders to miss that much time. At least in our school district- maybe not such a big deal in others.

 

[MM27]

I would never sit and prepare 10 days of work for a child going on vacation.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would never sit and prepare 10 days of work for a child going on vacation.

Teachers should not be expected to go out of their way to prepare things for kids taking time off.

How about the kids telephoning their friends and having assignments faxed down?

How about the parents making up the lesson plan and the teachers just eyeball it and ratify it?

 

[npcougar]

Our school system would not allow you to make up work for those days. You would also get turned into CPS because that would be too many unexcused absences in a semester.

 

[Marionnette]

Also keep in mind that they don't receive the financial aid for students who not are in class, so this could be the reason that more schools are cracking down on this..

Hope it works out okay for you..

^^ This. The principals hands could be tied on this one. Our schools permit a total of ten absences during the entire year. To have ten consecutive unexcused days would send any of our principals into apoplectic shock. But these are your kids and you have the right to take them out of school if you want. Just be prepared to defend your choice if push comes to shove b/c schools have gone as far as to prosecute parents in our area for chronic truancy.

 

[eeyoremum]

Hope it works out for you. I agree that you don't need to "go in" and have a meeting especially if you are not intending to change your mind. I pull my kids out, grade 6 and grade 11 at least once a year. I don't make excuses, I don't ask permission, my kids, my rules. When ds was in grade 9 the school said I had to sign some for so I said yeah I get right on that and never bothered nor do I intend to bother EVER.

Have a great trip. Learning can happen anywhere not just in a school building.

Oh should add. I am Canadian and our rules seem to be different.