My 1st grader attends a Charter School in GA and I agree the policy is VERY strict. My son will miss 3 days this school year for vacation in February 07. Our handbook says on your 6th unexcused absence day you are reported to the school social worker and required to meet with her to determine what happens next. On the 8th unexcused day you are reported to DFACS.
I guess maybe private schools have a different policy. We have friends who took their son out of kindergarten at a private school for 20 days to go to California (where both parents are from) and house sit for her parents while they were in Eurpoe. They went to
Disneyland and visited a bunch of family while they were there. He missed another 5 days for a family vacation too. This year their son has missed 6 days for a WDW trip and will miss another 5 for a trip to visit friends somewhere out of state, 3 days for Mom and Son to go with Dad on a business trip to DC (which could easily be considered educational of course!) and then another 20 days for going out to California. I mentioned to his Mom I was surprised the school let them do that but she said they had no issue at all with it last year so she wasn't expecting an issue this year either. I was surprised to hear that given that we are reported to DFACS after 8 days!
One funny thing is that I am at the end of my pregnancy with our 3rd child. The school has a policy that you can not change your "end of the day getting home" arrangements without a written note and that kids can not be picked up early from school unless the receive a written note by 9 am. I went by the school to talk to the admin people and say that we do respect their policy on that and understand why they do it that way but that I wanted them to see that I am VERY pregnant so that in the next couple of weeks there is a possibility that we will have to make some last minute changes for DS if I go into labor. I explained that DS has asked to be in the delivery room and his father and I are OK with that provided that everything is going OK (I've had VERY easy deliveries with both of my kids). Our plan was to have him picked up and brought to the hospital once we had been there for a while, I had my epidural and there wouldn't be quite as much waiting for the show to start time. The admin lady tells me she was pretty sure that would be an unexcused absence if he missed the whole day or was picked up before 11 am. LOL I am sure I could challenge that with the principal if I wanted to as being there for his brother's birth is something I could argue would be an educational experience.
(DS would be watching from the G-rated "A Baby Story" sort of angle but I do believe it would still be an educational experience for him).