Excused or Unexcused

[madcam]

To all of you "bad parents" like me that are taking your kids out of school for a week at WDW, is your child's school excusing it or not? Mine is saying "unexcused". I thought you could do some kind of report or something for credit (project?) and get it excused. But I thought wrong! Her teacher is being very nice about it though. She is giving her all her work before we go so she won't have very much to make up when we get back. Of course, 2nd grade is probably easier to make up than, say, 8th grade!!

 

[Aliceacc]

In NY State, at least, schools are given a list of "excused" absences. It includes, I believe: sickness, death in the immediate family, doctor visits and court appearances.

 

[kimsuenew]

The school my son attended k-9 actually had a written policy in the yearly handbook. It allowed for (excused) family vacations. There was form for the principal that you filled out (the what, when, why portion). He or she (depending on building) signed, forwarded it to the teachers, and all homework/assignments/study guides HAD to be given to the student to take with them (this was simply policy). We took a yearly May trip to Hilton Head Island (as my husband's job did not allow for summer vacations) and we always took a "school bag" with us chocked full of books, writing and art supplies, tablets, folders, and the teachers packets! Our son always worked some on the way down, finished all work while there (we truly had our own school in the mornings), and we would study for any upcoming quizzes on the way home! It worked, and worked well for us! I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

 

[karliebug]

Our school allows 5 days excused per year for educational trips. This includes one day trips ,too, like to a museum or something. It used to be 10 days but because attendance is now linked to state performance on tests they limited it. Anything over 5 is unexcused.

 

[MiniGirl]

Our girls missed last week because of our cruise. It was an unexcused absence for both. Also, our district allows only so many unexcused absences during a grading period. If that number is exceeded, the student repeats the grade -- regardless of how well they may be doing. Fortunately, my girls are very healthy, but any absences will be accompanied by a doctor's note until the end of the quarter. I should add that my girls are in K and 2nd grade, and both are doing well. My 2nd grader reads at a 4th grade level -- according to the school's recent testing, and my K has already met all her district - set K goals for the year. However, they would have to repeat the year if they miss too much. (well, not really, but only because I would pull them and homeschool them the rest of the year, but that's a whole other post)

 

[Matt'sMom]

Our school allows 5 days excused per year for educational trips. This includes one day trips ,too, like to a museum or something... Anything over 5 is unexcused.

Our school district (located in PA) is similar. Up to 5 days excused absences for 'educational' trips may be approved. We have to fill out a form to seek pre-approval, at minimum several weeks prior to the trip. There are also "black out dates" when no absences can be approved (mostly based on standardized testing dates).

Have never had any issues with getting a WDW trip approved for DS--although I do believe that they consider each individual child's situation before approving any absences. Since DS has always maintained straight A's (and has had extremely high scores on the state standardized testing), they never seem too concerned about his missing a few days. We communicate with each teacher individually (not just the administration), and DS completes all of his anticipated school work before or during our trip (often having ended up 'ahead' of the class when he returns). We also always ask if they would like DS to seek out any specific information, or bring anything back with him from WDW, that might relate to what is currently being studied in their classes.

We do try to minimize the number of days DS will miss, by selecting times of the year when there are school holidays, long weekends &/or teacher 'in service' days (no school for students). This way he usually only misses three or four days of actual classes for our WDW trip. And last springtime, we chose to travel towards the end of the school year, when we knew that classwork was seriously tapering off and several of the missed days were scheduled to be a 'field day' (all fun & games--no classes) and an outdoor picnic day.

 

[kldmom2000]

Our school district is very strict now especially with the hiring of the current superintendant 2 yrs ago. Any absence w/o a doctor's note is considered unexcused. If you have more than 4 unexcused absences per semeseter, you get a call/visit from the truancy officer. 10 or more unexcused absences per year results in an automatic repetition of that grade level

It was basically a crack-down on the high absentee levels in the district and people who abused it

We took our DD out last year for 4 days in 1st grade and the stress level the rest of the year hoping she didn't get sick (stomach bugs, colds, and such that don't require a visit to the MD) was just too much for me

We went in August this year but I'm not sure when we'll go for our next visit since both of our girls will be in school by then.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Ask your school what the differenc is in excused or unexcused.We took DS out in K-1-3-5 & 8 grades and it was not till grade 5 the teacher even mentioned excused days. We asked what difference it made and she told us the only difference was which line the office noted the missed days on. We did not do the paper work that year but in 8th grade DS had missed some other days and we did the paper work to get the days excused. He had to do a project that we did a very simple photo tour of Epcot. We never had one issue taking out DS but he is an A student and never had any trouble catching up. He is high school this year and going during the year is just not an option . his classes will be honor and the attendance policy is very strict. Enjoy the off season trips while you can.

 

[3littleHalls]

In our school district it is unexcused but if it is a famiy trip you are allowed to make up the tests and homework. For the amount of days of absences is how long you have to make up the work.

 

[ldo]

We are in Northern VA---they get zeros and still have to make up the work. Thus, we are limited to Christmas, Easter and summers--although sometimes we go Thanksgiving and just hope for the best (that they don't give a lot of work those 2.5 days).

 

[SandrainNC]

I don't know yet if ours is excused. We had to fill out a form (I just posted this on another thread actually) telling the dates he would be out of school, where we were going and how it would benefit him. So I have no idea yet if it will be excused.

Sandra

 

[sunkist]

My DS14 and DD7 will only miss the last 2.5 days before Christmas break to go to DW. Our county allows on 5 unexcused days. I'm sure my children will learn more at Epcot then in the classroom trying to see how many words they can make out of Christmas and do crossword puzzles. AND they will watch movies all day long.

 

[squirrlygirl]

I have kids in 2 separate school districts. Both schools (both elementary) allow 5 days for a family vacation excused. Next year my oldest will start middle school and the policy is 10 days total, no differentiation between excused and unexcused, no allowing for family vacations.

Although DS took it upon himself to talk to the secretary, and she told him not to worry about the guidelines-as long as he had good attendance and good grades, they wouldn't care. The policy is in place to have a way to deal with those that DO have attendance problems, not to prevent visits to Disney

 

[feet1]

we ahve to fill out a permission slip and are allowed 5 days excused for family trips. Anything after that is unexcused and if there is a test, it can't be made up. We just went on a long weekend trip to the beach and took the kids out for 2 days. They were excused. So, now when we go to WDW in December, I'm sure only 3 of the days will be excused. they will be missing 6 days total, so 3 will be unexcused. I'm hoping that since they are only in kindergarten and 2nd grade, and it is the week before Christmas, they won't be missing much.

 

[Elmo888]

It probably depends on a combination of the state policy and the school's policy.

My DD7's school doesn't seem to define "excused" and "unexcused". I know that if she misses more than 17 days, her case goes before someone (school board?) to decide if she can move on to the next grade. If she is in good standing, she will be moved to the next grade. And I only know this because she missed 12 days in kindergarten due to illness (usually, fever), not Disney!

I do have to call when she is sick, but a doctor's note isn't required. BTW, I think that it is ridiculous to require a doctor's note for an illness. I don't run my child to the doctor every time she is sick - it would be a waste of my time, my money, and the doctor's resources. If she has a fever, she doesn't go to school. It is usually a virus, The doctor can't do anything about it, so why would I take her? (Rant over.)

 

[torpedoseal]

I'm not sure which is better, good question

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Unexcused.
We took DS out for 4 days in 4th grade (he is in 6th now) and they sent a letter saying we were in violation of the truancy laws and if DS missed another day (unexcused) that I would have to go to court on misdemeanor charges and pay a $500 fine. Whatever.

Now when we take him out it is for 3 days or less and I don't tell them where we were or what we were doing. Works better that way.

The kids have to attend a certain % of days or they automatically fail, but there is wiggle room on that. He missed 17 days in second grade (he was horribly sick that year) and they never threatened to fail him.

 

[Texasmomof3]

The school district just changed ours again. They are getting worse. Now they are not even excused for being sick with a doctors note or not. They only excuse for funerals up to 3 days. I think it is because their money is tied to attendance.

 

[BelleRocks]

Fortunately at our school in Colorado (elementary) the teacher and principal decide if excused or not based on: total number of absences, student's performance, and whether or not the work is completed. My DD8 is excused for 3 days.

When I was in school, I was almost held back a year in high school because I had too many absences! I was on the honor roll every period and in the Honor Society! It MUST have to do with money because it certainly doesn't make sense otherwise, if a child keeps thier performance up.

 

[delmar411]

my oldest missed 7 days of school for this past trip, will miss another 4-5days for a spring trip. All of it unexcused. The teacher knew on the first day that she would be out this time and still didnt send any work for us even though she said she would.

At this point if they want to hold her back then I'll pull her and home school her. I certainly can't do any worse than they have been doing the past 5yrs!

And this is not the norm for us since she had perfect attendance last year but just how it all ended up working out due to DH's schedules and outside factors.