For those taking their kids out of school for Disney, how did you get around....

[Katd52]

My son just started first grade yesterday. Today they sent the handbook home and we had to sign one page and return it to the school. I never even thought about my son missing school when I booked our vacation so this post really scared me. I just looked up our attendence policy and they are allowed 15 absences. Sixteen absences is considered excessive and they could keep the child back. My son will be missing 6 days and now I'm kind of worried. I wish I knew all this before I booked my trip so long ago! I might have made it a little shorter. Oh well, not much I can do about it now except make sure he doesn't miss any more days!!!!!

 

[Jillybee]

I've read each of your replies with much interest. I too will be taking my DS's out of school for a week in Feb. (8th and 5th grades). This will be the first time my children have ever missed school unrelated to illness (my 8th grader missed one day in 5th grade due to a friend's death), but that is it.

I really thought about it. This is our family's first trip to Disney and we will be going for 12 days. Due to my husbands job, he is unable to take more than a day or two off during the summer. Feb. works out much better for him.

I know kids who miss school for sports, some go away for 2-3 days at a time, and I don't hear of any of them having any problems. I plan to let the teachers know when they go back to school after the holidays (hopefully all being completely rested and in good holiday spirits still ) I don't know our school's policy regarding unexcused absences, but I am hoping my older son doesn't "pay the price" for my family deciding to take our first trip to Disney.

Regardless, we will have a wonderful time!

 

[disney4us2002]

Just like another poster stated, it is a school policy handbook that covers all aspects of school in addition to attendance laws. The paper that I had to sign and return wasn't a 'contract'; it is an acknowledgement form stating that you have read and understand the laws and policies regarding your child's participation in the public school system. Our acknowledgement form states that the penalties listed in the manual will be applied to all children attending public school regardless of whether a parent "agrees with, is aware of, or signs and returns" the acknowledgement form. I think they've gone thru many lawyers and legal advisors to get the wording just so. In any event, I am not planning to test those waters.

As a sidebar here I'd like to add that I worked in Child Protective Services for 11 years and not even ONCE did we remove a child from his parent's home for failing to attend school. In our county that was considered an educational and legal matter, not neglect. I wonder if that threat is just that--a threat??

Carla

 

[sha_lyn]

wouldn't you call a form that you signed agreeing to abide by policies a contract?

 

[skeezixspud]

If indeed it is supposed to be a 'contract', then the district is blowing smoke. The states all have laws mandating education for children of a certain age range, and in every state all children are guaranteed access to public education. There is no way you could be penalized for refusing to sign a contract which has no consideration for the parent; the benefit is all on the district's side; they are giving you nothing that you are not already entitled to under law. Any contract which gives benefit only to one of the parties is unenforceable. If it were a special-type school with selective admission they might have some ground to stand on, but not if it is a public school open to all children who reside in the area.

As to compulsory attendance laws, those are designed to combat habitual truancy. Five days out of an entire school year (with notice given in advance) hardly qualifies as habitual truancy. State attorneys and DFS have MUCH more important things to do with their time and limited funding than harassing people who take their children on a one-week family vacation. Charge parents with neglect because they want to take their kids to Disney for 5 days? I can already hear the laughter echoing down the courthouse halls.

IMO, a principal's refusal to excuse such an absence once in a school year for a good student, is much more about money than it is about the continuity of a child's education. They want the government funding they receive for each day of each student's attendance. If a parent were willing to make up the difference in funds, then I can't see maintaining that objection in the face of a parent submitting a full plan of independent assignments to make up academically for the class time missed.

 

[BethR]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU... ...for not allowing this thread to become ugly and judgemental. You all are exchanging information in an friendly way. THAT is the DIS way!

THANK YOU!

 

[*Fantasia*]

My son is only in pre-kinder and here I am worrying about taking him out of school for about a week and a half! I think his school is very strict comparing to Catholic school when he was in preschool.

This is what is says in the handbook: (If you see LETTERS CAPITALIZE, it is because it is CAPITALIZE in the book. I just typed what was important here).

Extended Absence from School (Three Days TO Several Weeks)

We believe that good attendance is vital to a student's achievement and do NOT recommend that parents remove students from school for an extended period of time (three days or mroe). While we recognize the value of travel, vacation and association with parents, we feel that our school calendar provides several opportunities for these activieties, and absence beyond the time allotted in the calendar may be detrimental to the student.

....Any extended period of absence may result in a corresponding drop ina a student's grade.
....The principal will indicate whether the request has been approved. A PARENT'S SIGNATURE IS NECESSARY TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL PROBELMS, AND ALSO TO INDICATE YOUR AWARENESS OF THE SCHOOL'S RECOMMENDATION OF THE ANTICIPATED ABSENCE. THE FINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL WORK MISSED AND ITS EFFECT ON THE STUDEN'TS GRADE LIES WITH THE PARENTS AND THE STUDENT.

It sounds to me that this school is pretty strict! We are planning to go during my daughter's 3rd birthday and my husband's 33rd birthday in Febuary to WDW. I want this to be a special trip since we never got the chance to give my daughter her 2nd bday party. Going to WDW is just one way to make it up. I will have my husband talk to the principal to get a permission for my pre-kinder son to go. I just can't see how they will not let him go...my goodness he is only in pre-K! But I am still worried though!

 

[Planogirl]

This is what our school code says:

"COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE
Students who are at least six years of age, or who have been previously enrolled in first grade, and who have not yet reached their eighteenth birthday shall attend school for the entire period the program is offered, unless exempted as indicated below. Students enrolled in prekindergarten or kindergarten shall attend school.
A person who voluntarily enrolls in school or voluntarily attends school after the person's eighteenth birthday shall attend school each school day for the entire period the program of instruction is offered. The District may revoke such a person's enrollment if the person has more than five unexcused absences in a semester. A person whose enrollment is revoked for exceeding this limit may be considered an unauthorized person on school grounds for the purposes of Education Code 37.107 regarding trespassing."

These exemptions follow. They are long and include illness, religious holidays, home school, expulsion or special education courses but NOT vacation of any kind.

It also says this:

"PARENT LIABILITY
If any parent of or person standing in parental relation to a child who is required to attend school fails to require the child to attend school, the attendance officer shall warn the parent in writing that attendance is immediately required. [See FDE(LEGAL)]
If, after this warning, a parent or person standing in parental relation with criminal negligence fails to comply and if the child has unexcused voluntary absences for the amount of time specified under Family Code 51.03(b)(2), the attendance officer [see FDE(LEGAL)] shall file a complaint against him or her in an appropriate court, as permitted under Education Code 25.093. In addition, if the child has been referred to the juvenile court for engaging in conduct in need of supervision, the attendance officer shall also file a complaint against the parent in that court. If no referral has been made, the attendance officer shall refer the child to the county juvenile probation department for action as engaging in conduct indicating a need for supervision"

Sorry that this is so long but all of this tends to make a person nervous. There IS a section about possible extra exceptions as approved by teachers and principal but this is so vaguely worded that I'm not sure what they're trying to say.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Fantasia -

Do they even give grades in your Pre-K? Sorry - but I just got an image of a teacher trying to explain to a 4 year old that he's flunking colors and shapes because he went to see Mickey Mouse for a week.

If you talk to the teacher I imagine she'll be thrilled that you're going. I have a feeling that those paragraphs in your handbook are geared for the older grades.


Planogirl -
We used to live in Amarillo and I guess we were following the same guidelines. My son would play in baseball tournaments in Oklahoma City. Most of the time we would leave after school and work on Friday afternoons which meant that we would get to OKC at about midnight. One time I found out that the Friday was going to be school track meet day - so I sent a note in saying that my son wouldn't be in on Friday so we could travel to the tournament. I got a really nasty call from the Principal saying that she wouldn't approve the absence and it would be unexcused and he would "flunk" everything for the day. I said "So he's going to flunk the school track meet?" Regardless - we never tried a Disney trip with her!

 

[skeezixspud]

... is that they call for a parent to have to lay out the reasons for a child's absence, and hope that the principal accepts that the reason is valid enough to warrant excusing the absence.
Why does everyone seem so willing to accept that kind of invasion of privacy?

If you meet with a principal and tell him/her that your child will not be attending school on days x,y and z, and that you wish to propose independent make-up study to compensate; why is it any of the school's business WHERE your child is going to be? IMO, it is enough to simply state that you require your child to be with you on those days, details are irrelevant to the issue of the child making up schoolwork.

 

[mad_cheshire_cat]

I live in Delaware and I go to the office, in school(I am in 8th grade) with a note saying I am going to Disney. They give me a sheet to get all me teachers to sign and the last 2 days I get my work I will be missing. Sometimes they won't let a child go because of the grades or how many absences the child has had. Everyone know it is a stinky rule

 

[sha_lyn]

I really don't see how you can call it an invasion of privacy. When you agree to send a child to a school you agree to meet certain rules. They lose federal funding (and sometimes state funding) each time a child is our so of course they want to minimize the amount of absents.

If indeed it is supposed to be a 'contract', then the district is blowing smoke. The states all have laws mandating education for children of a certain age range, and in every state all children are guaranteed access to public education. There is no way you could be penalized for refusing to sign a contract which has no consideration for the parent; the benefit is all on the district's side; they are giving you nothing that you are not already entitled to under law. Any contract which gives benefit only to one of the parties is unenforceable. If it were a special-type school with selective admission they might have some ground to stand on, but not if it is a public school open to all children who reside in the area.

Actually the benifit to the parents is the child gets (or is suppose to get ) an education. Certainly the public schools are open to the students in the area but not without meeting conditions. ie parents must submit a vaccination record or sign a document stating it is against their religious beliefs, or have something form the Dr stating it would be dangeroous to the childs health. You can not just demand a child attend with out meeting this requirement. Children can not go to school and break weapons, drug or no smoking rules and a parent demand that the child still attend class. It is not a one sided invalid contract.

 

[Chipmunk]

In many school districts a child can not be marked absent until they show up for at least one day. So.........plan your vacation the first week of school. Also my district has a rule that a child can miss the last three weeks of school without penalty. I don't know why they have this rule. It isn't publicized so most people don't know about it. Ask your child's teacher discretly if your district has these rules.

 

[disney4us2002]

According to the handbook it claims to be a state mandate that all children in public education be required to attend school a minimum number of days (I think it's 180) which is why school is lengthened in June if there have been snow days and such that caused school to close. I can't imagine sending my child to school with a note basically saying that I kept my child home for my own personal reasons that I do not care to share with you. I certainly could and the absence would be listed as 'unexcused'. I look at it like a job; if you call your boss one morning and say "I'm not coming in today", I'm sure s/he is going to ask why. Same kind of thing you can say for your own reasons but if the boss so chooses you could lose that day's pay. Yes, the decision is mine to make but the consequences are not.

I would never have even considered taking the trip (or bringing up this subject for that matter) if I hadn't been considering May. Several years ago we took the kids out of school in late September for Disney (my oldest was in 3rd grade) and he basically began the year with 5 absences and then he had Strep throat repeatedly then at the end of the year in May we found out he had mono. That school year he missed 22 days of school and all but those first five were excused and we still had to have a review hearing at the bd of educ for a waiver to send him to the fourth grade. It was bad and I realize also just a fluke that all of that would happen in one year, but I wouldn't consider a vacation now before the majority of the school year is over for this very reason. We have a pretty high percentage of homeschoolers where I live, perhaps this is one of the issues that led to the decision against public education.

 

[disney4us2002]

The week preceeding Memorial Day here is our finals' week. Don't kids in Virginia have finals? And if they take final exams before the last three weeks, what else are they learning during those final weeks?? Makes one wonder doesn't it?

 

[cboudre1]

The danger with planning to take your kids out far in advance is that local and state laws about school attendance are changing all the time. The City of Saratoga this year will be sending letters out when your child has been absent for 10 days. They ask the parents to come in and meet with the principal. At 20 days it is refered to the District Attorney's office. At 30 days the parents can be charged with endangering the welfare of a child. (Up to 1 year in jail) This is a new policy for Saratoga. It was on the news the first day of school.

 

[kbausch]

We have 2 in high school. We feel it can be harmful, taking them out of school but, they grow so fast and will be gone starting their own lives soon. We all enjoy WDW and REALLY look forward to our trip. The kids have to have a approval from each teacher and they take work with them. Can't wait till January 2002.

 

[Planogirl]

I just received a form this week from the district titled "Truancy Warning Notice". This form states ages of children who must attend school, when a parent can get in trouble for not seeing that the children go to school and allowable absences. One paragraph (with their puctuation) states:

"Absences such as vacations and trips (except those excused by the principal for unusual circumstances), babysitting, working (including modeling), and nonschool-sponsored athletic events and programs shall be considered unexcused."

Another section states:

"A parent/guardian commits an offense of thwarting compulsory attendance under Education Code 25.093, if after having been warned in writing, a child has unexcused voluntary absences on 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6-month period or 3 or more days or parts of days within a 4-week period from school (tardies are considered parts of days). An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $500."

Sorry to quote so much stuff but I think that this illustrates real well what some of us are up against. Our school asks that I sign the bottom of the form, detach and return to the school but I've decided not to. I dislike the tone of this whole thing and I'm not thrilled with the thought of signing something that basically says that I agree to be fined if my son is even late 3 times in 4 weeks.

 

[Krisj]

We had to fill out a form here stating what the reason was and then the principal had to approve it. If it got approved(all 3 for my kids did) then the absence was excused, although they say you can only have 5 vacation days a year like that.
I would see if you put something in writing what would happen.
Good luck.

 

[tinkerbell1967]

I'm in PA and I have never had a problem taking my DD who is in 6th grade now out of school for a couple of days. I have always been upfront, told them where we going and never had an argument. They can refuse if the child has had to many absences or their grades are bad. Her assignments are given before we go and actually she has never had that much to do. The district only has a rule that the child cannot be pulled out of classes the first 10 days and the last ten days of school for vacationing.