Has anyone ever taken their kids out of school for vacation?

[Mambo Junkie]

The last time we were at WDW a mom was there with her 3 children. While on transportation, she got a call from her husband that the school had turned her in for truancy and she was to go to court or before the school board when she got back. It was pretty hard, but I guess each system has their rules. They were from Pennsylvania I think.
We have had teachers work with us and not work with us. The older my DS got, the harder it got to take him out.

 

[ariane37]

I didn't ask our school. I told them

Pretty much sums up, without my going into a ton of detail, how I feel about the whole deal.

Our school district follows the state truancy laws for absences, so as long as you are within the law, the school does not forbid you to take your child on vacation.

However, the school does have every right to decide how much extra work their teachers have to do. Teachers in our district are not allowed to put together work packets for unexcused absences. Also, they will not grade anything that was missed during the vacation. There is absolutely no makeups of any kind allowed. Any homework, tests, projects that were due or taken during the absence will receive a 0. They are not allowed to spend extra time before or after school to catch a child up for an unexcused absence. So, you are free to go on vacation, but don't expect the teachers to bend over backwards reteaching your child the material that was taught during a voluntary absence. Not really an issue in elementary school, but a big hit to a Middle Schooler or High Schooler's GPA when they all of a sudden get a week of 0s. And the teachers are notorious for scheduling big tests the day before long vacations to discourage parents from leaving early.

It appears after a few years of reading threads like this on here, and after my sister moving to a different state with way different laws on the matter, that I live in one of the most lenient (read: reasonable ) states. But our teachers can decide if and how much work they want to give kids before a vacation; some give a little, some a lot, some none. Never heard of a zero being given for missed work; missed tests can always be made up. When back from a vacation kids are expected to pick up wherever the class is; something you have to be ready to deal with if you go away.
A zero for work due when you're not there is ridiculous. I know that's a district thing, not attacking anyone here! But what I bolded above? I almost peed my pants laughing at the thought that ANYONE would forbid me from taking my kids on a vacation lol!!!!

 

[TellTheHubbyLater]

We take our kids out every year! We apply for educational trips. Have the kids write a short report, or pics with labels that they can talk about when they are little. Some years we are out longer than than a trip is allowed, for which I write personal excuses for days over limit. Have good communication with teachers and get work for them to do so as not to get too far behind. Oldest is 16. Have been doing it since she was six and have never had a problem. We are in PA. And if they give you grief and it is a public school, threaten to put them in a charter lol!

 

[henry72]

I posted earlier on this thread that I was thinking about taking our kids out for a week next school year. We live in Texas. You can't miss more than 18 days for elementary school. If you miss 3 days in a 4 week period (or 10 in a 6 month period) you can be charged with truancy. That being said, we have decided to go ahead an take them out. (AKV studio already secured.) Numerous families at our school have missed a week for a cruise or for Disney World. I spoke to 2 other families who did it (one is now a teacher) and both assured me that nothing negative happened to their kids grades. In fact, our principal is very pro-family so they are not going to turn us in to the district for missed time. Not to mention that our kids are good in school and rarely miss a day as it is. I am not worried about it but this won't be a yearly occurrence for us at all.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

We take our kids out of school and have no problem. In our district, kids are allowed 10 parent-excused days, and 10 days with a doctor's note. For a vacation longer than 10 days we can put a request before the school board and have it approved, the kids have to do classwork while on vacation and typically have to do a project related to the vacation. So technically they are supposed to be 'homeschooling' while on vacation. A typical day's worth of classwork only takes a couple hours to complete outside of all the distractions at school. For vacations that fall under the 10 day limit, the school just treats them as absences. The school board doesn't want to be bothered with approving the shorter vacations. Go in to school and talk to the secretary about it. The secretaries at our schools know more about these things than the higher-ups.

 

[disneyjes]

Yes we do and we will continue to do so. Our son does very well in school. We are also of the mindset that assignments can be made up. Time flies and making memories is very important. Our school is also great about vacations.

 

[DopeyDame]

DS is going to miss some school later this week for a family vacation. Not Disney, but nothing especially educational or earth-shattering. I just got an email from the teacher: "I hope he has a wonderful trip! We can't wait to hear all about it when he gets back."
I love DS's school and teacher.

 

[fdwang]

We pulled our then 5th grade son out of school for two weeks in early December leading up to Christmas Break in order to take the 14-Night Eastbound Panama Canal Cruise on DCL. Disney was desperately trying to fill the ship and offered an inside stateroom for about $1K per person. We couldn't turn that down!

Long story short, the cruise was fantastic but the homework was not. It was extremely difficult trying to squeeze in just two hours of work each day. If it weren't for the fact that we had two weeks of Christmas Break to catch up, there was no way he would have finished all his work.

Now as an 8th grader, he turned down an opportunity to go to a ski resort during one Friday at an extreme discount! He was so traumatized by his 5th grade experience with make-up work alongside the usual homework, that he did not deem it worthwhile. <shrug>

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

We homeschool but are part of a public charter. I will be able to start the kids early with their work and we will do a travel journal. Kids are younger so it's easier to catch up.

 

[ALEXandFAB]

My best piece of advice is to check with your school district's policy before making a decision.

Our school district allows 10 unexcused absences in the first semester, and 15 total by the end of the school year. "Unexcused" is any absence not backed up by a doctor's note (which I think is ridiculous). Anything beyond that and the family is summoned to appear before the school district's truancy council and if further action is necessary, the family can even be asked to appear before the court.

I've already casually informed my son's school principal that we'll be taking him out in November for 5 days (he'll be in fourth grade). Once the school year starts in August, I'll send an email to the principal and my son's new teacher with a formal notice of the planned absence. He'll receive make-up work (as per district policy) and complete it before he returns to school.

Whether you take your child out of school is completely your personal choice. This is a hot button issue on the boards but at the end of the day, you do what's best for you and your family

 

[DisneyArie]

I will be pulling my kids out of school for one week in September. I didn't give it a second thought; however my oldest will be in 2nd grade so it not as big of a deal as say a 7th grader. September was ranked lowest on every crowd calendar I came across so the decision was a no brainier for me. No one in my family will be traveling with me as my cousins, sisters, and aunts do not want to take their kids out of school, which is understandable. I say discuss your plans with the teacher and try to agree on a game plan for missed work.

 

[Corbinator]

Following up to what I previously posted: talked to my child's teacher today about being absent in two weeks. All good. Our district is flexible. Teacher was impressed I came to speak with her personally and gave her plenty of time to plan ahead. She is happy for us and wishes she'd done more of this when her family was younger too. She understand about keeping it a secret and agrees it will be way less of a distraction if my child in particular does not know now. She said plenty of parents email the night before they leave and don't give her much thought so she truly appreciated the notice. I am really excited.

 

[Baklava]

Following up to what I previously posted: talked to my child's teacher today about being absent in two weeks. All good. Our district is flexible. Teacher was impressed I came to speak with her personally and gave her plenty of time to plan ahead. She is happy for us and wishes she'd done more of this when her family was younger too. She understand about keeping it a secret and agrees it will be way less of a distraction if my child in particular does not know now. She said plenty of parents email the night before they leave and don't give her much thought so she truly appreciated the notice. I am really excited.

I am glad the district will work with you and that the teacher will too.

 

[Hiitsme]

Yup, and it made my sister who's a teacher soooo mad. We had the best time. Schools hate this plan. (I think 'cause the staff can't go) The first time we did it my son was in second grade. We were attending a family wedding in the Orlando area and figured we would go to Walt Disney World. We let his teacher know our plans and even asked for all of his assignments for the week we'd be gone. Some grumbling from the teacher, but she gave us the school work. We went and had the most amazing time. It was our first trip to the World. We came home and son goes back to school. He came home from school and the cranky old witch had given us the school work that his class was just starting. So he was way ahead of his classmates and bored out of his mind for 2 weeks. So, yes we've done this trip every other year while school is in session. My son is now 30, he passed MCAS every year in the top 5%, graduated high school, did some liberal arts stuff in college, and is a pretty stable awesome man. He understands that time away from work(school) is part of a healthy lifestyle.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Following up to what I previously posted: talked to my child's teacher today about being absent in two weeks. All good. Our district is flexible. Teacher was impressed I came to speak with her personally and gave her plenty of time to plan ahead. She is happy for us and wishes she'd done more of this when her family was younger too. She understand about keeping it a secret and agrees it will be way less of a distraction if my child in particular does not know now. She said plenty of parents email the night before they leave and don't give her much thought so she truly appreciated the notice. I am really excited.

Great! Have a wonderful trip. With my 2 granddaughters I don't have to deal with the teacher. Mom says no lol

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Yup, and it made my sister who's a teacher soooo mad. We had the best time. Schools hate this plan. (I think 'cause the staff can't go) The first time we did it my son was in second grade. We were attending a family wedding in the Orlando area and figured we would go to Walt Disney World. We let his teacher know our plans and even asked for all of his assignments for the week we'd be gone. Some grumbling from the teacher, but she gave us the school work. We went and had the most amazing time. It was our first trip to the World. We came home and son goes back to school. He came home from school and the cranky old witch had given us the school work that his class was just starting. So he was way ahead of his classmates and bored out of his mind for 2 weeks. So, yes we've done this trip every other year while school is in session. My son is now 30, he passed MCAS every year in the top 5%, graduated high school, did some liberal arts stuff in college, and is a pretty stable awesome man. He understands that time away from work(school) is part of a healthy lifestyle.

Seems like you don't care for schools or teachers very much. Could it possibly be that the teacher didn't appreciate you making and already hard job even harder by treating her like a "cranky old witch" and thus was less likely to be helpful?? School is a partnership between parents and teachers and when one partner has nothing but disdain for the other it tends not to go well. I suspect you would have gotten a different response with a different attitude.

As a parent, yes I have taken my kid out of school for family trip, but I never treated her teachers like second class citizens or servants when doing so. I informed the teacher/school that we were going and asked for work for her before or after the trip at the teacher's convenience. We were willing to accept that those absences would be unexcused. In elementary school it didn't matter because. She rarely missed school for anything else. Now that she's in middle school I won't do it as missed work results in a zero.

As a teacher, I don't have a problem with a student missing for a family trip, provided no one demands that I come up with a week or 2 in assignments this minute for them. I am happy to provide work either before or after with appropriate notice. I teach high school, so I do inform students that the responsibility for catching up lies with them. I will not hound them for makeup work or beg them to come get help with concepts missed, but that is my standard policy for all absences.