Excused vs Unexcused

[Nite0wl71]

I am just wondering what the difference is in the long run? I have 5 kids, 4 are no longer in school and my youngest is starting 7th grade.

When they are sick you send a note and that is considered excused.

Now when my oldest DD was 8 she was dx with a brain tumor in May and missed about 39 days of school. Of course it was excused but at the end of the year it just says XX days absent. Years later (High School) I would have to explain why she missed so many days.

My youngest missed the last 2 weeks of school in 1st grade because of chicken pox, also excused. She is at the same school and the different teachers have asked me why she had missed so much that year.

My youngest DD had perfect attendance in 4th, 5th and half of 6th. My mom passed away in Jan and she missed 3 days, and of course excused.

My question is if you take them on vacation and they miss a few days, of course unexcused, where does the difference show up?

I have never taken them out for vacation but I am actually thinking of it this Oct.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

For some school districts--to have too many unexcused absences--the student didn't meet the attendance compliance and could be held back for that reason. It varies....and the only time I've seen it enforced was when someone really abused the policy b/c the kid cut classes so much and ended up flunking anyway.

So it can show up--if the number exceeds the limit--as your child could fail. Depends on your districts policy.

 

[disneysnowflake]

In our school district you have to notify the school and get approval for a vacation 30 days before the scheduled vacation.
If it's approved it is an excused absense.

If you go on vacation and just send a note in after you get back it will be unexcused in our district.

 

[MayMom]

In our school district, it really doesn't matter. As long as a student doesn't miss over 45 days in one year - then they are retained. I say - take them in October!!!

 

[barkley]

check with the school district-ask what the current policy is and if any revisions are in the works (we had a recent newspaper article about changes in surrounding districts and "anticipated implementation dates"). also check with the attendance official physicaly at the school your daughter will attend-this can avoid a hassle if the school interprets the policy differently. also ask what the missed school work policy is-some schools will require so many days advance notice so that the teachers can provide a listing of assignments and homework-with the requirement that the work be turned in on the day she returns to school (failure to turn it in can negativly impact grades).

last but not least (and i know this probably does'nt affect many if anyone reading this post, but i am retired from govenment service so i feel the need to make people aware)-if your child recieves some types of govenment monies (including but not limited to social security disability (for themselves or based on disabled parent), social security survivor's or public assistance) these programs often have school attendance thresholds as well. unexcused absences can result in monetary sanctions for the child and or the parent. (as an example-in california over 10 days unexcused school absences over the school year result in a cash sanction for public assistance).

i personaly have taken both mine out for vacations, and will do so again in november. i always let their teachers know well in advance and work out arrangements for the missed school work.

 

[crisi]

Some states also have laws - after XX days of unexcused absense (and sometimes excused absenses) the case is turned over to CPS (or some similar agency) and the house will be visited by a truant officer or a social worker.

 

[Nite0wl71]

I understand that missing too many days can cause problems. In the high schools here if you miss 10 days a marking period (10 weeks) you fail that class. I am not sure what it is for the lower grades but I thinik about 45 days in a year would be right.

In our grade school if you take your child out for a vacation that is longer than 2 weeks they will be un-enrolled and have to enroll again when they come back.

What I was trying to figure out is if a child misses minimal days a year whether it is excused or unexcused, in the long run does it really matter?

 

[perpetualplanner]

NiteOwl71 I see you're from Chicago. Being from Illinois - this is a link to the Illinois school code (all school have to follow this)http://http://www.ilga.gov/legislat...art=137100&SeqEnd=139500&ActName=School+Code.


basically it says that you can't miss more that 10% without "valid cause" - search for "chronic" in the document and you'll find most of your info.

I have taken my kids out the past couple of years with no problem but my oldest is only now entereing 4th grade.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

I ask the 5th grade teacher of my son this a few years ago when letting her know about the WDW trip. She said the only differene was what form it was written it. SHe said it would not matter in the least unless he misses those full 30 days that they can miss and then as long as the other 25 were for illness, funerals etc, it still did not matter. Now this is just our district and this is 5th grade. I would check with your school for a 7 grader to see what the policy says. Some schools they are not allowed to make up work missed on unexcused days. If that is the case ,in middle school you would want to work them to make it excused. I never asked permission but informed. We had not planned to taked DS our past 5th grade but are considereing squeezing in one more off season trip during middle school. I think at this age that the child should also be informed and have some say in whether it is worth the missing the school time and dealing with the percussions of it.

Jordans' mom

 

[Nite0wl71]

Some schools they are not allowed to make up work missed on unexcused days.
Jordans' mom

I guess that is what I was looking for, as far as records go it never says which it is.

Thank you to everybody and like I said I have never taken my kids out and they rarely miss school for any reason. I was just toying with the idea for this October.
Plus it would only be 1 1/2 days if I did.

Thanks again.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

In my school district, students may not have more than 8 unexcused absences during the school year. When a student exceeds this number or misses more than 5 in any one marking period, the students' name must be sent to our central office. If the number of unexcused absences is deemed excessive, the student's name is then passed to a truant officer. Finally, if a student exceeds 8 unexcused absences at the middle or high school, they very well may be retained or have to repeat certain key classes. Attendance in our district (and other neighboring systems) is more strict than I've encountered anywhere else. Of course, attendance rates also are much, much higher.

 

[polyfan]

As long as your children don't miss school alot there is seldom a problem. Here it is 20 days unescused. I wouldn't stress about it.

 

[lorli]

In our school districts too many unexcused absences often lead to traunt officers going to the home as well as CPS involvement for educational neglect.

 

[Kimkimba]

Our vacations have always been "excused absenses."

 

[Chris]

Is there someplace other than the school itself to find out about this policy??
Anyone know?

 

[skiwee1]

In our district you can only have 5 days of unexcused. The principal of our schools can approve your vacation and therefor make them excused absences. You are allowed to make up work for excused absences. DD will miss 12 days of school by the time December rolls around. They will be excused absences and she will be allowed to make up the work. So you need not only to see what your district says but also talk to the principal of your school and see if they have the authority to approve absences.

 

[riv1964]

Our district schools have a Code of Conduct book that is given out at the beginning of the school year to all the students. All the rules including excused and unexcused absences are explained in it. You could probably call your school district office and/or the school and see if they have one and ask for a copy.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am so jealous that some of the districts have such loose policies on unexcused absences! Each report card there are three classifications "Excused, Unexcused, Tardy" with numbers for each one.

Texas public schools (Dallas in particular) are an absolute train wreck. In the paper last week it said our school funding is so poor it has been ruled unconstitutional. After a full session and a special session the legislature STILL hasn't figured out a way to adequately fund our schools. BUT check out the policies for truancy!!!

"An individual commits an offense if the individual fails to attend school on 3 or more days or parts of days within a four week period." It specifically states that vacations are unexcused. So if they feel like being ugly about it they can prosecute me for taking DS9 out of school for 4 days in October because it will be a violation of truancy laws. But my sentence will be $500 or community service, not jail time, so I'll risk it. There was a story about truancy on the news a few weeks back and those kids had missed like 45 days without their parents' permission so hopefully the courts have bigger problems that me and my Disney trip.

I will be honest with the teachers and I will tell them I would LIKE for DS to have the work he will miss so he won't be behind when he returns. We'll see what they say.

 

[barkley]

I am so jealous that some of the districts have such loose policies on unexcused absences! Each report card there are three classifications "Excused, Unexcused, Tardy" with numbers for each one.

Texas public schools (Dallas in particular) are an absolute train wreck. In the paper last week it said our school funding is so poor it has been ruled unconstitutional. After a full session and a special session the legislature STILL hasn't figured out a way to adequately fund our schools. BUT check out the policies for truancy!!!

"An individual commits an offense if the individual fails to attend school on 3 or more days or parts of days within a four week period." It specifically states that vacations are unexcused. So if they feel like being ugly about it they can prosecute me for taking DS9 out of school for 4 days in October because it will be a violation of truancy laws. But my sentence will be $500 or community service, not jail time, so I'll risk it. There was a story about truancy on the news a few weeks back and those kids had missed like 45 days without their parents' permission so hopefully the courts have bigger problems that me and my Disney trip.

I will be honest with the teachers and I will tell them I would LIKE for DS to have the work he will miss so he won't be behind when he returns. We'll see what they say.

in one of our neighboring school districts (napa california) there has been a longstanding problem with attendance around the christmas holidays. according to the district large numbers of hispanic students miss the week following the traditional 2 week christmas vacation resulting in lost funding for the schools. the district determined that this was due to these students and their families traveling to mexico for the holidays and needing the extra time for travel. the district's solution? extend christmas vacation by one week, making up for the lost days in attendance by adding a week at the end of the school year. there is an uproar in the community! many parents while able to to take a week off each for childcare (or in the case of single parent households saving every day of annual leave and taking the full 2 weeks off) cannot reasonably manage the extra week of school vacation. attempting to enroll students into daycare centers for drop in status to cover this week can result in major money in registration fees and the like. parents are still fighting with the district over what they interpret as punishment for those parents/students who traditionaly do follow the attendance rules and regulations.

 

[madge]

My question is if you take them on vacation and they miss a few days, of course unexcused, where does the difference show up?

For my son, in high school, it means that he doesn't get to make up any work that is missed during an unexcused abscence. That has potentially devastating consequences--if he misses an important project, test, etc.

Additionally, his school has an attendance policy that states if they have perfect attendance for the quarter, a student is exempt from taking the final exam OR they can take it, if it helps the grade it counts and if it doesn't help, then it is dropped. No one wants to take the final, so the kids try to have perfect attendance.

If a student misses 6 days unexcused,, they are considered truant...and I guess that has different consequences.

We have modified year-round school with 3, 2- week breaks during the school year. The school board encourages families to take vacations those breaks and considers them unexcused during the school year. We've been vacationing in early October since 1997, LOL