For those taking their kids out of school for Disney, how did you get around....

[disney4us2002]

the attendance, 'lawful' absence guidelines? We were considering changing our trip from the 2nd wk of June to the 3rd wk of May, but in discussing this with our boys' schools (one is in 3rd and the older is in 7th) we were basically told, "no way". Vacation days are considered 'unlawful' absences and no homework, classwork, or tests may be made up from unexcused absences. We were also told that 5 unexcused absences (M-F would be 5) in one marking period would result in failure of all subjects. Huh??? Okay, I'm not crazy; I've read all the posts here about so many of you pulling your kids and I tried the same argument with the school as far as Disney being such an educational experience, blah, blah, blah, and again was shot down by Pupil Services at our local Bd of Educ. What the director of Pupil Serv. said to me was "nice try".

Needless to say, we are leaving our trip the 2nd wk of June and will fight the crowds and heat because now the school system definitely knows if the kids miss a week in May that it is not because they are sick. I guess my question is this: has anyone else experienced this? Do you send a note in that the kids have been ill or some other falsehood? How are the rest of you able to take these October (or whenever there is no school breaks) trips?

Carla

[addicted_to_WDW]

Carla, where are you in Maryland? I basically send a note in the week before we are going and ask for assignments. They send them, and it's never been an issue. For the past 2 years, the only days my son has missed at school has been my Disney trips, and they can kiss my A$$ if they think they can tell me when my family can travel.

In this day and age, people can homeschool and teach their kids whatever they want, whenever they want. If I want my kid to miss 5 days of school to spend quality time with his family, then so be it. He is in 2nd grade, and has had perfect marks on every report card he has received (yes, I'm a proud mama). If he was struggling, I wouldn't pull him out of school.

I'm in Montgomery County, by the way.

[nurse metal]

I hate that your school is giving you this bull.. I guess each state and even each district may be different be I looked in our handbook and we are allowed 8 days per semester as they must have so many hrs of teacher/student conntact ect.. we leave in 24 days and I told my daughters teacher last week when school started and she said no problem. I ask that she provide 1/2 of my daughters work so we can do it before hand and she was fine with it.
Either way I resent that schools would be allowed to veto a family vacation. I could see it only if the kids were failing or having diffculties ect..
If my kids are getting good grades and doing well than I will be taking them out whenever I deem it necessaryas It should be left up to the parent
good luck. Lisa

[sha_lyn]

we have a very similar policy where we live. I'm have know people to lie about the absenses and in either case (when vacations are allowed or not) parents who took the kids out too long and then the kid is sent to school sick to keep from failing. Personally I could see takign a child out maybe the MT before the 3 days off for thanksgiving or making a 4 day holiday weekend a little longer. I jsut think it would be too hard to make up a week or 2 weeks worth of school work. Family time at WDW can be done when they are out of school.

[addicted_to_WDW]

I agree with trying to stretch holidays. We're doing that for our Sept trip. We are leaving after school on Wednesday. That Thursday is Yom Kippur (our county has Jewish hoildays off) and DS will miss Friday and Monday.

I disagree that a child (especially a young one) can't make up a week of work. DS does work on the plane both ways, and does an hour of work each night. He is 100% caught up when he returns to school.

It would be different for a high schooler.

[LKS]

Many school districts are not as strict as yours. Down here, they can miss 10 days per semester unexcused, which I guess means that they can have an unlimited number excused with a doctor's note. Days where a child is sent home ill are considered excused. I don't think teachers are REQUIRED to give make-up work for unexcused absences, but most do. My kids do not always go to the doctor when they are sick, so technically, those absences are unexcused and I have always been given make-up work. I can't imagine that people can lie about a Disney vacation - don't think the kids could pull that one off!

I guess I am on my own here, but I have to say that I would not pull my kids out of school for a vacation. I don't have any desire to do that even though my kids are A students, wouldn't be hurt academically and my school system permits it. They can't veto my family vacation, but I choose to work around the school schedule so that my kids will get all school has to offer AND a wonderful family vaction.

I have a few reasons for my views although those who pull their kids will think these are silly reasons to vacation during holidays. My kids think it is neat to strive for perfect attendance each 9 weeks - I'm even happy when they make it. I know that the schools are rated by the state on teacher and student absences and we like our school to look good. Especially at the beginning of the year, funding is based upon the number of students who actually attend. When I was a teenager looking for my first real job, I was hired above 50 applicants because I had perfect attendance. What can I say, my husband and I don't even use our sick days at work unless we are really, really sick, and that is rare.

As I read the boards, I get the impression that it is weighted towards those who DO pull their kids out, giving the impression that most people do it. If you surveyed the school population, I think you would find that most people do not pull their kids out for week-long vacations. That's why summer, spring break and Christmas are busier vacation periods. So, you're in good company and I'm sure you will have a wonderful vacation in June.

[Pluto4President]

I too have young kids. One 3rd grader, another starting kindergarten. For now, I will pull them out when I want. Maybe as they get older, I'll think about it a little more. But I agree, who are they to tell me how to spend time with my children. Taking them out 1 day before Thanksgiving recess and the whole week after this year :)

[sha_lyn]

I'm wondering if my district in in the minority here since I keep hearing so much about "who are they to tell us how spend time with our kids". We have to read the student parent hand book and sign a contract in the back of it stating we will abide by all the school rules. Taking a child out for vacation would be breaking a contract with the school system. I really don't want to turn this into a debate or make a big argument over it but I really feel I need to say this.....
I know one one thread someone said that 75% of the people in their school took their kids out for vacations. Think about it for a min. how much time this takes away from the classroom. Say there are 25 kids in the class, for app. 18 kids sometime during the yr the teacher has to give out lessons ahead of time and when that child returns they usuallu have to take classroom time to explain things that were either covered in class or things that took place while the student was gone. Sure for 1 or 2 students a yr that won't add up to a lot of when when you are talking about most of the class that is a lot of time wasted. I think it is just a symptom of a bigger problem where children are not expected to make a comitment to school, teams etc. I don't know how many times I have seem sports teams have to forfeit games because after putting their child on a team the parents pull them from a game or games to do something else. My DS's baseball team did not get to play in the finals this yr because too many parents went out of town right after school got out. I'm sorry but I am really sick of hearing "but our family is more important". School scheduals are usually avalable at least a yr in advance, coaches can tell you when a sports season ends before you sign up. Please if you are going ot make a comitment to a school or a team cosider how your actions will affect the other kids in the class or on the team. OK I'll get off my high horse now. I really don not want what I said to offend anyone. This in only my opinion, and I had hoped to shead some light on why I (and perhaps others) feel the way I do.

[jel0511]

I don't want to start a debate, but I just had to post my feelings.... I don't think it's approprite to take kids out of school to go on vacation. Now I don't want to be flamed for telling people how to spend their family time, but I think going to school teaches responsibility. My daughter is starting preschool next week and we are now planning all future vacation around her school schedule. I have 4 teachers in my family and I know what a pain it is to prepare lessons for children, as well as help them catch up when they return, who are going on vacation during the school year, I get the complaints often. This is another reason I chose not to pull my child out since I know what it does to the teacher.

[Kallison]

Our school district allows 10 days for travel.

[disney4us2002]

We, like someone else mentioned, must sign a contract that is in the student-parent-bd of educ handbook, so I have read it many times. I find it interesting that the first response was from another family in Maryland where apparently that school district doesn't enforce the 'state regulations', at least in our handbook, it lists attendance as a state-mandated and enforced policy. I sort of expected this type of response from my school district as it is also an established and practiced policy NOT to give out work assignments ahead of time. My neighbor's son, who was in school with my oldest son, broke his leg and arm in a skiing accident and couldn't really use crutches or push himself in a wheelchair, so for 4 wks he had to remain home and the school refused to send home any of his work claiming that all work must be completed following the child's return to school. So he basically had to veg for 4 wks and his mom (who was PTA president, active volunteer at the school, well-known and liked) went around and around with the school board. He ended up having some of his work just disregarded and still needed a tutor for a month after he returned to school. This policy just makes no sense to me, but we know we have some sticklers down here so we work around it.

We're okay with sticking to June anyway as we already have so much booked and I don't want the kids to feel that breaking the contract is something trivial; I do worry though about what kind of response we would get if the kids really did have a serious illness and missed a lot of school. I just don't feel like they would be particularly helpful or accomodating.

Thanks for so many replies and thoughts!

Carla

[Barb D]

I have mixed feelings about this. My initial reaction was, "They're your kids; you should be able to pull them out whenever you want to." Basically, you're hiring the school through your tax dollars or tuition to HELP you educate your child. They don't own your child.

But then, I guess if you choose to put your kids in a certain school, you have to abide by their rules even if they do have a stricter interpretation of state law than another school in the same state.

We home school in Maryland. State law tells us that we have to cover certain subjects, but it doesn't tell us how many days we have to do school or exactly what topics we have to cover when.

BTW, Carla, we're in Columbia. My kids will be going to a 2-day-a-week "school" for homeschoolers this year. They'll get some subjects at school and some at home. They'll do school assignments on home days, too. The handbook says that they'll gladly cooperate with family vacations. (We're going to WDW at the end of September.) E-mail me if you're interested in more information. (There's another school like it in Gambrills, and one starting next year in Annapolis.)

[sha_lyn]

disney4us2002...I'm suprised your school does't offer some thype of home assitance for log tern reccovery form illness or injury. Here we have had it since I was in school and beleive it or not I found out a couple of years ago that even pregnancy recovery or if the baby has health problems the mohter can get a home bound teacher to come to her home.

[Mom B]

I would...and we HAVE...taken the kids out of school for Disney.
For one thing, we only go every 4 or 5 YEARS and I really DO
feel that the knowledge gained (about history, geography,
government, zoology, to name a few) can make up for a lot of
the "lost time" that they would have spent in school (they
probably pay MORE attention at Disney, anyway). And my
kids miss school so rarely that it's really not a big issue. To me,
it's worth it to avoid "peak" times and have a little less stressful
family time. We haven't run into any problems with the school
district yet...its' always possible to make up work, although it's
best if the arrangements are made ahead of time.:cool:

[year2late]

I was honest with my son's teacher well in advance. I did not make reservations until I got the all clear. We filled out a form, agreed to do whatever assignments given and to do a special assignment. He did a photojournal as well as many lessons. I must say, if the school or his teacher even slightly wavered, we would have not made the plans. If he had alot of absences we would not have done it either. As it was, we all had a great time (WDW offseason is the only way to go) and he learned alot.

[lvs_eeyore]

Our school system is very tough on absences and we have to sign a contract. Here if you miss five days unexcused....which the way Im reading the rules includes vacations....the State Attorney's office is notified! The rules state that under exceptional family circumstances travel absences will be excused. I just somehow dont quite believe this would include a vacation. We choose not to pull our son during school both for this reason and because I feel for us its just not a right thing to do. My son is gifted and way ahead of his class so making up work etc...would be easy for him. We have pulled him one day before a school vacation with the teacher's knowledge and consent and may do that again this year if it is cleared through his new teacher.

[Planogirl]

Our district is the same way with more than 5 unexcused absences breaking the contract. They can even bring legal charges if they choose! I would never go against the system because I do sign the contract and a vacation when I choose isn't worth all of the headaches IMO.

We do get a winter break in October though which helps a lot. :)

[Barb D]

I'm curious about the contract that many of you have signed. What would happen if you refused to sign it? Would they refuse to admit your child to that public school? What if you signed it after crossing off words and making and initialling changes?

Does the school (or school board) have a legal right to make these demands, or are they "getting away with it" because everyone is going along?

I realize that there are mandatory attendance laws, but I'm wondering if this extreme enforcement is going beyond the law's requirements.

[lvs_eeyore]

In the case of our school system it is a partnership between the State Attorneys office and the school system. If you break it they can go as far as bringing criminal charges and calling Child Protective Services on you. For all intents and purposes it is a law. If you choose not to sign they could report you for child neglect because as far as they are concerned, not that its true, that you have no regard for your childs schooling and are therefore guilty of neglecting your child. They will try other routes such as assigning a social worker to you first but ultimately if the papers are not signed they can report you if they choose to. This comes from reading the paperwork we got when my eldest started school on Monday. The absence portion of the contract is just PART of it though. The rest is conduct, rights, responsibilities, dress code etc... so there is more to this contract than just agreeing to the absence policy. I also dont think it matters whether or not you agree to what is said....its the policy and you either abide by it or get into serious trouble with the State Attorney and Child Protective Services. Im not sure why our county has gotten so tough but they have. They have even gone so far as to demand that the parent CALL the school for an absence when the child is in highschool. They will under no circumstances accept a note from the parent. My guy is in elementary school but I have always made it a habit to call the school and write a note when he has had to be out ill.

[6_Time_Momma]

Wow. I have never heard of a "contract" that you have to sign! That, to me, is scary!

[Katd52]

My son just started first grade yesterday. Today they sent the handbook home and we had to sign one page and return it to the school. I never even thought about my son missing school when I booked our vacation so this post really scared me. I just looked up our attendence policy and they are allowed 15 absences. Sixteen absences is considered excessive and they could keep the child back. My son will be missing 6 days and now I'm kind of worried. I wish I knew all this before I booked my trip so long ago! I might have made it a little shorter. Oh well, not much I can do about it now except make sure he doesn't miss any more days!!!!!

[Jillybee]

I've read each of your replies with much interest. I too will be taking my DS's out of school for a week in Feb. (8th and 5th grades). This will be the first time my children have ever missed school unrelated to illness (my 8th grader missed one day in 5th grade due to a friend's death), but that is it.

I really thought about it. This is our family's first trip to Disney and we will be going for 12 days. Due to my husbands job, he is unable to take more than a day or two off during the summer. Feb. works out much better for him.

I know kids who miss school for sports, some go away for 2-3 days at a time, and I don't hear of any of them having any problems. I plan to let the teachers know when they go back to school after the holidays (hopefully all being completely rested and in good holiday spirits still ;) ) I don't know our school's policy regarding unexcused absences, but I am hoping my older son doesn't "pay the price" for my family deciding to take our first trip to Disney.

Regardless, we will have a wonderful time!

[disney4us2002]

Just like another poster stated, it is a school policy handbook that covers all aspects of school in addition to attendance laws. The paper that I had to sign and return wasn't a 'contract'; it is an acknowledgement form stating that you have read and understand the laws and policies regarding your child's participation in the public school system. Our acknowledgement form states that the penalties listed in the manual will be applied to all children attending public school regardless of whether a parent "agrees with, is aware of, or signs and returns" the acknowledgement form. I think they've gone thru many lawyers and legal advisors to get the wording just so. In any event, I am not planning to test those waters.

As a sidebar here I'd like to add that I worked in Child Protective Services for 11 years and not even ONCE did we remove a child from his parent's home for failing to attend school. In our county that was considered an educational and legal matter, not neglect. I wonder if that threat is just that--a threat??

Carla

[sha_lyn]

wouldn't you call a form that you signed agreeing to abide by policies a contract?

[skeezixspud]

If indeed it is supposed to be a 'contract', then the district is blowing smoke. The states all have laws mandating education for children of a certain age range, and in every state all children are guaranteed access to public education. There is no way you could be penalized for refusing to sign a contract which has no consideration for the parent; the benefit is all on the district's side; they are giving you nothing that you are not already entitled to under law. Any contract which gives benefit only to one of the parties is unenforceable. If it were a special-type school with selective admission they might have some ground to stand on, but not if it is a public school open to all children who reside in the area.

As to compulsory attendance laws, those are designed to combat habitual truancy. Five days out of an entire school year (with notice given in advance) hardly qualifies as habitual truancy. State attorneys and DFS have MUCH more important things to do with their time and limited funding than harassing people who take their children on a one-week family vacation. Charge parents with neglect because they want to take their kids to Disney for 5 days? I can already hear the laughter echoing down the courthouse halls.

IMO, a principal's refusal to excuse such an absence once in a school year for a good student, is much more about money than it is about the continuity of a child's education. They want the government funding they receive for each day of each student's attendance. If a parent were willing to make up the difference in funds, then I can't see maintaining that objection in the face of a parent submitting a full plan of independent assignments to make up academically for the class time missed.

[BethR]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU... ...for not allowing this thread to become ugly and judgemental. You all are exchanging information in an friendly way. THAT is the DIS way!

THANK YOU!

[*Fantasia*]

My son is only in pre-kinder and here I am worrying about taking him out of school for about a week and a half! I think his school is very strict comparing to Catholic school when he was in preschool.

This is what is says in the handbook: (If you see LETTERS CAPITALIZE, it is because it is CAPITALIZE in the book. I just typed what was important here).

Extended Absence from School (Three Days TO Several Weeks)

We believe that good attendance is vital to a student's achievement and do NOT recommend that parents remove students from school for an extended period of time (three days or mroe). While we recognize the value of travel, vacation and association with parents, we feel that our school calendar provides several opportunities for these activieties, and absence beyond the time allotted in the calendar may be detrimental to the student.

....Any extended period of absence may result in a corresponding drop ina a student's grade.
....The principal will indicate whether the request has been approved. A PARENT'S SIGNATURE IS NECESSARY TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL PROBELMS, AND ALSO TO INDICATE YOUR AWARENESS OF THE SCHOOL'S RECOMMENDATION OF THE ANTICIPATED ABSENCE. THE FINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL WORK MISSED AND ITS EFFECT ON THE STUDEN'TS GRADE LIES WITH THE PARENTS AND THE STUDENT.

It sounds to me that this school is pretty strict! We are planning to go during my daughter's 3rd birthday and my husband's 33rd birthday in Febuary to WDW. I want this to be a special trip since we never got the chance to give my daughter her 2nd bday party. Going to WDW is just one way to make it up. I will have my husband talk to the principal to get a permission for my pre-kinder son to go. I just can't see how they will not let him go...my goodness he is only in pre-K! But I am still worried though!

[Planogirl]

This is what our school code says:

"COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE
Students who are at least six years of age, or who have been previously enrolled in first grade, and who have not yet reached their eighteenth birthday shall attend school for the entire period the program is offered, unless exempted as indicated below. Students enrolled in prekindergarten or kindergarten shall attend school.
A person who voluntarily enrolls in school or voluntarily attends school after the person's eighteenth birthday shall attend school each school day for the entire period the program of instruction is offered. The District may revoke such a person's enrollment if the person has more than five unexcused absences in a semester. A person whose enrollment is revoked for exceeding this limit may be considered an unauthorized person on school grounds for the purposes of Education Code 37.107 regarding trespassing."

These exemptions follow. They are long and include illness, religious holidays, home school, expulsion or special education courses but NOT vacation of any kind.

It also says this:

"PARENT LIABILITY
If any parent of or person standing in parental relation to a child who is required to attend school fails to require the child to attend school, the attendance officer shall warn the parent in writing that attendance is immediately required. [See FDE(LEGAL)]
If, after this warning, a parent or person standing in parental relation with criminal negligence fails to comply and if the child has unexcused voluntary absences for the amount of time specified under Family Code 51.03(b)(2), the attendance officer [see FDE(LEGAL)] shall file a complaint against him or her in an appropriate court, as permitted under Education Code 25.093. In addition, if the child has been referred to the juvenile court for engaging in conduct in need of supervision, the attendance officer shall also file a complaint against the parent in that court. If no referral has been made, the attendance officer shall refer the child to the county juvenile probation department for action as engaging in conduct indicating a need for supervision"

Sorry that this is so long but all of this tends to make a person nervous. :) There IS a section about possible extra exceptions as approved by teachers and principal but this is so vaguely worded that I'm not sure what they're trying to say.

[Toby'sFriend]

Fantasia -

Do they even give grades in your Pre-K? Sorry - but I just got an image of a teacher trying to explain to a 4 year old that he's flunking colors and shapes because he went to see Mickey Mouse for a week.

If you talk to the teacher I imagine she'll be thrilled that you're going. I have a feeling that those paragraphs in your handbook are geared for the older grades.
:D

Planogirl -
We used to live in Amarillo and I guess we were following the same guidelines. My son would play in baseball tournaments in Oklahoma City. Most of the time we would leave after school and work on Friday afternoons which meant that we would get to OKC at about midnight. One time I found out that the Friday was going to be school track meet day - so I sent a note in saying that my son wouldn't be in on Friday so we could travel to the tournament. I got a really nasty call from the Principal saying that she wouldn't approve the absence and it would be unexcused and he would "flunk" everything for the day. I said "So he's going to flunk the school track meet?" Regardless - we never tried a Disney trip with her!

[skeezixspud]

... is that they call for a parent to have to lay out the reasons for a child's absence, and hope that the principal accepts that the reason is valid enough to warrant excusing the absence.
Why does everyone seem so willing to accept that kind of invasion of privacy?

If you meet with a principal and tell him/her that your child will not be attending school on days x,y and z, and that you wish to propose independent make-up study to compensate; why is it any of the school's business WHERE your child is going to be? IMO, it is enough to simply state that you require your child to be with you on those days, details are irrelevant to the issue of the child making up schoolwork.

[mad_cheshire_cat]

I live in Delaware and I go to the office, in school(I am in 8th grade) with a note saying I am going to Disney. They give me a sheet to get all me teachers to sign and the last 2 days I get my work I will be missing. Sometimes they won't let a child go because of the grades or how many absences the child has had. Everyone know it is a stinky rule:p

[sha_lyn]

I really don't see how you can call it an invasion of privacy. When you agree to send a child to a school you agree to meet certain rules. They lose federal funding (and sometimes state funding) each time a child is our so of course they want to minimize the amount of absents.

If indeed it is supposed to be a 'contract', then the district is blowing smoke. The states all have laws mandating education for children of a certain age range, and in every state all children are guaranteed access to public education. There is no way you could be penalized for refusing to sign a contract which has no consideration for the parent; the benefit is all on the district's side; they are giving you nothing that you are not already entitled to under law. Any contract which gives benefit only to one of the parties is unenforceable. If it were a special-type school with selective admission they might have some ground to stand on, but not if it is a public school open to all children who reside in the area.
Actually the benifit to the parents is the child gets (or is suppose to get ) an education. Certainly the public schools are open to the students in the area but not without meeting conditions. ie parents must submit a vaccination record or sign a document stating it is against their religious beliefs, or have something form the Dr stating it would be dangeroous to the childs health. You can not just demand a child attend with out meeting this requirement. Children can not go to school and break weapons, drug or no smoking rules and a parent demand that the child still attend class. It is not a one sided invalid contract.

[Chipmunk]

In many school districts a child can not be marked absent until they show up for at least one day. So.........plan your vacation the first week of school. Also my district has a rule that a child can miss the last three weeks of school without penalty. I don't know why they have this rule. It isn't publicized so most people don't know about it. Ask your child's teacher discretly if your district has these rules.

[disney4us2002]

According to the handbook it claims to be a state mandate that all children in public education be required to attend school a minimum number of days (I think it's 180) which is why school is lengthened in June if there have been snow days and such that caused school to close. I can't imagine sending my child to school with a note basically saying that I kept my child home for my own personal reasons that I do not care to share with you. I certainly could and the absence would be listed as 'unexcused'. I look at it like a job; if you call your boss one morning and say "I'm not coming in today", I'm sure s/he is going to ask why. Same kind of thing you can say for your own reasons but if the boss so chooses you could lose that day's pay. Yes, the decision is mine to make but the consequences are not.

I would never have even considered taking the trip (or bringing up this subject for that matter) if I hadn't been considering May. Several years ago we took the kids out of school in late September for Disney (my oldest was in 3rd grade) and he basically began the year with 5 absences and then he had Strep throat repeatedly then at the end of the year in May we found out he had mono. That school year he missed 22 days of school and all but those first five were excused and we still had to have a review hearing at the bd of educ for a waiver to send him to the fourth grade. It was bad and I realize also just a fluke that all of that would happen in one year, but I wouldn't consider a vacation now before the majority of the school year is over for this very reason. We have a pretty high percentage of homeschoolers where I live, perhaps this is one of the issues that led to the decision against public education.

[disney4us2002]

The week preceeding Memorial Day here is our finals' week. Don't kids in Virginia have finals? And if they take final exams before the last three weeks, what else are they learning during those final weeks?? Makes one wonder doesn't it?

[cboudre1]

The danger with planning to take your kids out far in advance is that local and state laws about school attendance are changing all the time. The City of Saratoga this year will be sending letters out when your child has been absent for 10 days. They ask the parents to come in and meet with the principal. At 20 days it is refered to the District Attorney's office. At 30 days the parents can be charged with endangering the welfare of a child. (Up to 1 year in jail) This is a new policy for Saratoga. It was on the news the first day of school.

[kbausch]

We have 2 in high school. We feel it can be harmful, taking them out of school but, they grow so fast and will be gone starting their own lives soon. We all enjoy WDW and REALLY look forward to our trip. The kids have to have a approval from each teacher and they take work with them. Can't wait till January 2002.:smooth:

[Planogirl]

I just received a form this week from the district titled "Truancy Warning Notice". This form states ages of children who must attend school, when a parent can get in trouble for not seeing that the children go to school and allowable absences. One paragraph (with their puctuation) states:

"Absences such as vacations and trips (except those excused by the principal for unusual circumstances), babysitting, working (including modeling), and nonschool-sponsored athletic events and programs shall be considered unexcused."

Another section states:

"A parent/guardian commits an offense of thwarting compulsory attendance under Education Code 25.093, if after having been warned in writing, a child has unexcused voluntary absences on 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6-month period or 3 or more days or parts of days within a 4-week period from school (tardies are considered parts of days). An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $500."

Sorry to quote so much stuff but I think that this illustrates real well what some of us are up against. Our school asks that I sign the bottom of the form, detach and return to the school but I've decided not to. I dislike the tone of this whole thing and I'm not thrilled with the thought of signing something that basically says that I agree to be fined if my son is even late 3 times in 4 weeks. :mad:

[Krisj]

We had to fill out a form here stating what the reason was and then the principal had to approve it. If it got approved(all 3 for my kids did) then the absence was excused, although they say you can only have 5 vacation days a year like that.
I would see if you put something in writing what would happen.
Good luck.

[tinkerbell1967]

I'm in PA and I have never had a problem taking my DD who is in 6th grade now out of school for a couple of days. I have always been upfront, told them where we going and never had an argument. They can refuse if the child has had to many absences or their grades are bad. Her assignments are given before we go and actually she has never had that much to do. The district only has a rule that the child cannot be pulled out of classes the first 10 days and the last ten days of school for vacationing.

[pooh2001]

My kids go to Catholic School in NY state.
first grade & fourth grade.
We are pulling them from school 6 days before Thanksgiving.

They will miss their Class picture. A Thanksgiving party at school and maybe an
assembly.

My first grader may miss a spelling and math test.
My fourth grader may miss a spelling, math, social studies, science, religion and reading test.

I did track what my fouth grader last year would have missed (what he did in third grade
those 6 days) .... it was only a science test and spelling test.

Hopefully the teachers will allow my kids to take the tests early or when they return to school.
Or do a project... report on one of the EPCOT countries... Science project - time of sunrise/sunset each day,
temperature changes 8am, noon and 8pm each day....write a book report.....

Our school also has a policy not to take children away from school for vacation.
I did not pay much attention to it. I PAY for my kids to attend the school.
My DH & I help the school activities. The school would not run without the PSA !

I hope with enough notice, the teachers will not affect a childs grade because of a family vacation.

My DH can not take a long vacation in the summer - due to the nature of his job.