Any other Georgia parents taking their kids out of school for free dining?

[4boysrus]

This discussion is reminding me of how much I miss homeschooling! I've been considering it again (we did it for the 06-07 school year).

decisions, decisions, decisions.....

 

[cpayne1997]

Hello another Ga Mommy here that will be taking my DD8 & DS5 out of school for 4 day for FREE DINING!!!!

In 2005 we took our DD (she was in K5) out of school for 5 days and her principal went NUTS (especially when I told her that my DD was not there to pad her attendance bonus)!! When we sent her back to school the principal pulled my DD into the office to ask her why she was out so many days(Remember she is 5 years old and thought that SHE was in trouble and came home crying). Of course my DD told her that we went to Disney (I told DD if someone asked her to tell the truth). When I found out that DD was taken into the office I was extremely UPSET ! I called a friend of mine at the board of education to complain and found out that the principals do get bonuses based on student attenance. She also told me to write a note stating that my DD was sick for 3 days and they HAVE to excuse it, however the other 2 days would be considered unexcused and after 5 unexcused absents they CAN file a compliant on you. Only a handfull of the complaints have been filed and of those 98% of them were parents that were too high or drunk to send their kids to school. Or sadly those that were being abused. This law was put into place to try to protect the kids that have parents that do not care about their education....unfortunately it hurts the parent who actually do care.....but like to get a good value on their vacation.

As for this year....thankfully we are at a different school and I am going to inform both of my kids teachers that they will be "sick" the four days following Labor day and ask for their makeup work in advance.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Hello another Ga Mommy here that will be taking my DD8 & DS5 out of school for 4 day for FREE DINING!!!!

In 2005 we took our DD (she was in K5) out of school for 5 days and her principal went NUTS (especially when I told her that my DD was not there to pad her attendance bonus)!! When we sent her back to school the principal pulled my DD into the office to ask her why she was out so many days(Remember she is 5 years old and thought that SHE was in trouble and came home crying). Of course my DD told her that we went to Disney (I told DD if someone asked her to tell the truth). When I found out that DD was taken into the office I was extremely UPSET ! I called a friend of mine at the board of education to complain and found out that the principals do get bonuses based on student attenance. She also told me to write a note stating that my DD was sick for 3 days and they HAVE to excuse it, however the other 2 days would be considered unexcused and after 5 unexcused absents they CAN file a compliant on you. Only a handfull of the complaints have been filed and of those 98% of them were parents that were too high or drunk to send their kids to school. Or sadly those that were being abused. This law was put into place to try to protect the kids that have parents that do not care about their education....unfortunately it hurts the parent who actually do care.....but like to get a good value on their vacation.

As for this year....thankfully we are at a different school and I am going to inform both of my kids teachers that they will be "sick" the four days following Labor day and ask for their makeup work in advance.

50lbs! Wow-you go girl!!!

 

[lastminutemom]

Attendance policies may be about funding for some systems, but in GA it is about academic performance. Sorry, we are 48th-50th in the country in education and every single study that has ever been done correlates academic achievement with attendance.

I sit on the local school council at my kid's high school. At the May meeting, the principal reviewed the statistics about those students who were at risk of not graduating. With the exception of the special ed students, not one of the students on the list had missed fewer than 10 days in the class that they were at risk of failing.

You may be a diligent careful parent of a high performing student, but realistically the system has to treat everyone the same. Rules are rules, whether that seems equitable or not.

 

[cpayne1997]

50lbs! Wow-you go girl!!!

Thank you....it has been a long and bumpy road.

 

[princesskayla]

Having a special education child (with an IEP), I am very concerned with my child's education and development. However, the time I took him out of school last year, he only missed three days, his teacher had nothing but praise for him when he returned the next week. My son had learned so much in Disney! Disney is a wonderful place to work on concepts that a little one is learning in school. Just because I take my child on a vacation, it does not mean that I am not teaching my children. They are just getting a different type of learning experience!!!

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

This past year after the CRCTs were done the last few weeks of school my daughter did pretty much nothing at school. It was a joke what she was coming home telling me they did. Board games, video games, I thought, well this would be a great time to go on vacation as well.

 

[Belle1962]

Another way for GA parents to tweak the system (especially if doing a long weekend) is to find out how long your child needs to be in school for it to count as "a day" not an absence. At my DGS school last year it was a weird time like 11:10 am. So I would pull him at 11:15 for a long weekend. Friday would not count as an absence. (This sucked because he had lunch 10:10 - 10:35 and recess 10:40 - 11:00)--but if I picked him up before 11:10 he would be marked absent. 11:15--marked "here".

Or schedule a dr or dental appt for first thing in the morning or last thing in the day and you can strecth out the number of days (I once scheduled an 8:00 am appt for my DGS to get a shot on the Thursday we left--we were out by 8:15, then a 4:00 pm dental appt on Monday. Therefore only Friday was unexcused and we had notes from each office if needed.

But yes they are pretty obsessive about attendance. It is tied not only to administration bonuses but to Federal funding. (NCLB)

 

[lady browning]

Here is another GA mom checking in to say that yes, I am taking both DS age 10 and age 7 out of school in September for 5 days. I understand all the previous discussions about attendance, money for each day etc. Bottom line for me is that I am the parent. I make the decisions concerning my family. If the schools want to cause a stink about the absences, let them. I'm sure the news media would have a field day with that. Responsible parents sent to court for a trip to WDW. The headlines would scream for days on that one. Bottom line too is to speak up and be a real part of your child's classroom experience as much as possible. I have never had any problems with any of my kids teachers, why? because I am involved in their classrooms, involved with helping and supporting the teachers/school, etc. That goes a long way to offset any questions concerning attendance. We will be leaving 3 days before their Fall break and staying 2 days past the break. I will inform their teachers at the beginning of the school year and plan to follow up with them about it when the dates get closer. I don't anticipate any problems. However, even if I did get problems I still would do whatever I thought was in MY families best longterm interests. Like others have said, the kids won't remember what they learned in school those days, but memories of family vacations spent together will warm their hearts for years to come!

 

[t1gger1968]

I must be in the minority. I don't take my kids out of school for vacation since the school policy doesn't allow it. This is just my opinion - although I am the parents but my kids also have to learn that there are rules/policy in school that they have to follow. I don't want to teach them otherwise. same thing when you have a job, there are company policies, and your boss gets to approve your vacation request.

 

[G&J's Mom]

Another GA mommy in. I complained to the Board of Education after I was hauled in for "excused" absences when my daughter was ill for 8 days for two separate instances, and I provided doctors notes for each incident. My DD was in K at the time and had no unexcused absences. Anyhow, the Board's response to me was that the Georgia policy is just a guideline and each school can interpret it any way they see fit. The "attendance committee" that hauled me wanted me to sign an Attendance Contract, and I refused. The ding dong Social Worker also suggested that a 101 degree fever was probably ok to send a child in with. I wanted to know what the he&* this woman was going to do when her fever spiked to 106 degrees which is why she was out had they bothered to check in the first place. She said they do not look at individual cases and consider the kids as a whole when looking at the attendance. Which means after clarification that they lumped my 5 year old into the same group "for example" as a 17 year old who ditched and who's parents may or may not care whether or not he or she was in school or not in the first place. I lost it. They said that they would send a letter the end of the school year reminding me of this meeting so I would keep the attendance policy in mind for the beginning of the next year. I suggested "strongly" that no such letter better be in my mailbox, or this would not be over by a long shot. Thankfully, for them, no letter ever came. My DD is going into 3rd grade and my DS into 1st. I have not had any other issues.

Now, I have never taken them out of school for vacations, they have never had unexcused absences, BUT I am considering it. Am I crazy or what?? It would not be anything close to 8 days. It would be the week after Thanksgiving.

Denise

 

[mom2LLN]

We went last year for FD and DD was in K and missed 5 days. We received an ugly letter from the BOE several months later about a possible fine, court time, or jail time. I called and spoke to someone and they said they would get back to me about this. I never heard anything else from them. We will be going again this year and DD will be missing 5 days again. I plan to talk to her teacher and the principal to let them know about our trip.

 

[TheRatPack]

HERE HERE!!!
They are YOUR children! The public school systems are getting way too high and mighty IMO! May I ask as an aside- does anybody know what rules are written about homeschoolers? My guess is, there are none about attendance. IMO- if your child can pass the tests, read the books, and get straight A's...what business is it of theirs to haul you to court for 5 missed school days due to a DW vacation? I'd love to be a martyr for this one..."I'm in jail b/c I took my kids to DW for a week" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I would bet my life that Georgia gets a set $$$ amount per child, per day that attends school. This is a $$$$ issue and has nothing at all to do with wanting your child to truly learn. Simply put...each school loses out on federal and/or state funds when a student is missing from school.

Yes, the rules for homeschoolers are that we have to show attendance for 180 days a year, atleast 4 1/2 hours a day of instruction. And yes the schools get so much money per child in grants and funding. There are many Georgia schools that will take offense to you taking your children out for a vacation. Even if your child is a straight A student....trust me, it's one of the many reasons we homeschool. We did public school for the Elementary years and I got some very very nasty letters about attendance when we took ours out for Disney, threatening that they would have to involve DFACS if we missed so many more days (it was a small number too).....and trust me, I was not one of those 'slacker' parents. My children were there every day otherwise, I was there working and volunteered on the PTO board for 3 years, helped them design/build/plant the student gardens....etc. I got fed up with them being so high and mighty with my kids, so here we are...homeschooling

Oh and on a minor note (or really not so minor note LOL) These same schools can fail to get accredited if the end of the year test scores are not up to par...or if they have a failing attendance. I know...the middle school in our area failed two years in a row because even though test scores were 'okay' they had low attendance. This brings up all sorts of issues for them, as then they have to offer those parents a choice of another school, and bus those children there if they don't want to stay at a 'failing' school....no matter the reason. So again, I'm sure they have their reasons for being so strict with attendance...but I was more interested in what my kids were learning.

 

[TheRatPack]

Oh and one more note on the subject of 'fines' for the parents that want to take their kids out.....sure. But on the same level, I want paid when the kids have a sub for a week and only do worksheets and watch movies.

 

[shaunaday]

I am a GA mom and teacher. I will be taking my three kids (4, 4, 12) out for a week for free dining. My daughter will be in 7th grade (and she is in the top 5 of her middle school) and my boys will be starting pre-k. I do not think that I would do it if they were struggling students, but they are not. My thoughts are this: we all need a break from time to time and that includes children. I also think it's silly for me to think (as a teacher) that the only education a child can receive is in my classroom.

Having said that, the reason for these state mandated regulations on attendance isn't due to the kids going to Disney for a week. It is because of the parents who do not value education! I would rather a parent take their child out of school for a week at a time to experience something together rather than have a child miss 1 or 2 days a week because a parent is too lazy to get up, get their child dressed for school and get them on the bus.

I suggest parents talk to the teachers ahead of time though and ask for make up work. Teachers typically are happy to work with parents on this kind of thing! (Remember many of us are parents too)

 

[sk!mom]

Attendance policies may be about funding for some systems, but in GA it is about academic performance. Sorry, we are 48th-50th in the country in education and every single study that has ever been done correlates academic achievement with attendance.

I sit on the local school council at my kid's high school. At the May meeting, the principal reviewed the statistics about those students who were at risk of not graduating. With the exception of the special ed students, not one of the students on the list had missed fewer than 10 days in the class that they were at risk of failing.

You may be a diligent careful parent of a high performing student, but realistically the system has to treat everyone the same. Rules are rules, whether that seems equitable or not.

Exactly!!

 

[jpaxton1118]

One more Ga mom here. We are taking ds (8) and DD (5) out for the week after Thanksgiving. I believe that kids grow up so fast and take on so much responsibilty so early that they need a little vacation once in a while and that vacation should not have to be a crowded park where they have to wait hrs in line to ride a ride.
We took Ds out when he was in 1st grade. I tried to do it the right way and tell everyone, we waited until after CRCT testing and I believe that the numbers had already been turned in for the school year on attendace. Yet we still got the letter and the phone call. That was it though. Nothing came of it.
What really upset me though, was that last year he was out maybe 10 days due to asthma attacks. We got the letter stating that I was going to fined or court ordered, yet his teacher was out almost every week one day!!! I am not kidding. She was not even there for the class picture day and one boy in the class did not want his picture because she was not in it. She has a small child at home but her husband stayed home with him full time. She would take time off for the kids birthday!!! The kid turned 2 he would not know if you celebrated it on Monday or on Saturday! My son was in the challenge program, made great grades and he scored above average on his CRCT, which from what I now understand from others in the school was rare in his class. So when I got the letter I was so mad, what about his teacher? Is she going to be held accountable for all her missed days? Is she going to be fined!!
I know that is not the norm for teachers, most of them are great, we just lucked out with a bad one this past year, but here I am getting a letter about my sons illness.
So anyway, now that I am done venting, sorry! We will be taking son out of school for this trip. If we get in trouble we get in trouble. We only have so long before he is not even going to want to go on family vacations and I better take advantage of it now!

 

[C50T]

Homeschooling dad in GA here.
What a great discussion. Everything from "rules are rules" to "education is not only found in the classroom." Quite lively I'd say.
As a proud parent of 2 DD's who blew away their CAT testing, can read far above their grade level, and have math and science skills that scare me sometimes . . . I honestly find the whole attendance arguement rather silly. While I am certain that studies show when kids stay in herds they stay out of trouble, I am equally certain that history shows when kids are treated as individuals they often excell in areas where they are gifted.
We are taking our children to Disney in Sept. Their teacher (a private teaching arrangement) is thrilled and is sending along some special assignments for them to present when they get back to class.
Our culture, and our way of learning is shifting to an experience based model. Can anyone out there think of a more significant experience than a family trip to Disney World?
The entire Government School threat is simply that - a threat designed to intimidate people into compliance. Yep, they have the power to frustrate you and even make it tough on your kids. But if we aren't free to haul our kids out to spend more time with us (and yes I'm assuming good parenting here), where are we going to be when our grandkids get here?
Just my thoughts. I assure you I'm not as vitriolic as this post sounds. Have a great day all!

 

[wdwmaw]

You may be a diligent careful parent of a high performing student, but realistically the system has to treat everyone the same. Rules are rules, whether that seems equitable or not.

I just have to ring in here, I am from KY and do work in a public school. We will be taking our kids out of school for 4 days this year. Now rules are rules so why then why do administration ( and teachers) take there kids with them on school funded, school year trips, why can kids go on band trips, 5th grade trips and so on and so forth.School here can be canceled just to play a huge ball game because attendance will be down. The students are not counted absent during these trips for this very reason.Believe me it is about the money!!!!!!! We are given the same info when parents are at meetings or during site base and then staff is given the real story. They want you to think it is about performance associated with absences but it is about the money. If they cared they would actually seek legal action against these parents. They want the majority (at least 86% of us, below that point and schools can not stay open) to be so afraid to miss so that there budgets stay in tact. Remember, education starts at home and there is more to life than what can be attained in public school system. Please don't see this as a pass to miss but understand we all do need to be responsible. We live in a different world now and vacations no longer just exist during typical June, July and Aug. I think school boards are trying to evolve with different types of breaks and even year round school. The mandated testing pushes these options into a little corner with very little wiggle room. Sorry so long but this one pushes my buttons.

 

[tikimimi]

I am not to worried about it. She has yet to make a B in her lifetime. She may even bring home some Bs and Cs on the report card after that trip but that will be just fine with me and my husband. Will she get kicked out of the BETA club, probably. But she really doesn't even like the BETA club! Will she fail? No. I know that ten years down the road she will have no idea what she learned that week in school, but I can guarentee you that she will remember her trip to Disney!

GA teacher (have worked in public and private schools here/ Gwinnett County too) and mother - After reading the above post, I am no longer concerned about your first post. You have your priorities in order! Your family and the memories you make as a family are far more important than any week in school - even exams. There are always ways to get school credit (even if in the extreme cases it means a GED) and we are not guaranteed tomorrow with any of our loved ones! The times together and memories made as a family will do far more to educate your child on what is really important in life.

Of course I am not saying academic education is not important - it is. But if you have a good relationship with the teachers and administration (or just the teachers in some of these really huge schools) and do not exceed the number of absences allowed, then you should not encounter too much of a problem with it. I have friends who took both their high school children out of school (Gwinnett County) for a week for a church mission trip to another country. This was an extremely educational opportunity not to mention something to do with their faith, but the school would not excuse the absences. The school would not bend the policy to let the kids make up the work. Some of the teachers these kids had did not know how to work the system and gave them a 0 for missed assignments. Others rescheduled tests or offered two different days for students to submit work. Some gave these students assignments based on their trips to count for work missed. All that being said, what you are doing - as long as you don't abuse the time, and it doesn't sound like this is normal procedure or a flippant decision for you - is the right thing to do even for a high school student. In the end, your child may pull out the grade even if there is a zero entered for one or more assignments.

Have a lovely time at WDW. Take more pictures than you think is too many. Enjoy each other and laugh a lot!!!!! The bonds of family are far too important to miss. Moderation and balance are the key, and you seem to understand the importance of both! Bonne Aventure!