How many days can your child miss school?

[tiggersbombed2]

As long as you write a note and send it the day she goes back, it's counted as and "excused" absence. Then they don't seem to worry about it too much as long as she isn't falling behind in her schoolwork. At least not around here.

 

[seashoreCM]

Ten . The lady in the office told me to make sure he didnt miss any more school until christmas break. We joked that if they were going to make him repeat the 7 th grade, then he should just stay home 2nd semester!

When he attends the 2'nd semester despite having to repeat the grade, he should get straight A's the second time 'round. They may even let him skip a grade at the end of repeating the first semester, thus putting him back where he should be.

 

[Hannathy]

10 is an awful lot without having had something that would keep you out a lot of days in a row like pneumonia or really bad flu.

Is today the first day off with this cold or was she home yesterday?

You do know she can go in for partial days? If you have kept her home this morning and she perks up then throw her clothes on her and take her to school.

She may not have trouble keeping up and making up the work now but if she keeps this up the same won't be able to be said as she gets older.

 

[Momvic5]

I am not exactly sure what our policy is, but I do know that in our high school after a student misses 10 days, he or she must do make up hours regardless of whether the absences are excused or not. It is one hour for every class missed. For example, my ds broke his arm this past football season and was closely monitored by our orthopedic. He missed 12 days of his 8th period athletics class because we had to pull him out of school a hour early for every Dr.'s appointment. At the end of the semester, he had to do a make-up hour even though his absences were excused. The make-up hour had to be spent in a core class of his choice.

 

[ameraumi]

Directly from our school's handbook:

Excessive absence generally results in poor attitude towards school, poor study habits, and failure to complete required assignments. With the above thoughts in mind: Your child will be allowed 7 excused absences. A home visit can occur on the 8th absence. A letter will be sent to the child’s parent/guardian after 7 absences (excused or unexcused). On the 10th absence a letter will be sent to Department of Child Services. Parents are cautioned that just because the school is notified of the absence, it is not automatically an excused absence.

A student who misses 14 or more days in one school year may be subject to retention.

It was this way at their previous school as well.

 

[Tinkermommy]

Time to toughen her up and not play into her games too. Kids will go as far as you let them. Now, if she is really having issues, fine, but if she is crying about a runny nose, time to adopt the "suck it up buttercup" attitude with her or she is going to continue this. We always used the 'TV test' if we weren't sure how sick the kids were--'ok, you can stay home but in bed, in pj's, no tv, no games, etc." If they were ok with that, they were sick enough to stay home. There were plenty of times you would say this and would get the "well, maybe I am not THAT sick". When they were obviously sick, high fever, etc. it wasn't an issue.

This is me as well. In fact when my daughter tries this I not only have no TV, but I pull out math worksheets she will have to do since I don't want her to get behind.

It's an amazing cure!

OP, your school handbook should tell you. Ours is also online.

My kids have to be sick to stay home (fever, vomiting, etc). I work and cannot afford to let them stay home just because they aren't feeling 100%.

 

[mefordis]

Well, thank you for the tips and advice. From now on she only misses if puking or fever OR very bad sore throat (strep).

I'll send her to school and tell her to see the nurse if she is feeling awful.

I don't want to get to 10 days missed!

Also, no missing for vacations or family activities. You never know when they might get sick then you have 5 days missed for vacation, 5 days out for flu/etc. = 10 days missed!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Well, thank you for the tips and advice. From now on she only misses if puking or fever OR very bad sore throat (strep).

I'll send her to school and tell her to see the nurse if she is feeling awful.

I don't want to get to 10 days missed!

Also, no missing for vacations or family activities. You never know when they might get sick then you have 5 days missed for vacation, 5 days out for flu/etc. = 10 days missed!

I learned my lesson the hard way regarding vacations last year when we took our family to Disney World in Sept. for ds' birthday. Little did I know at the time my son would miss an additional 15 days of school due to illnesses over the course of the year (1 week of swine flu, 1 week of regular flu, and various other maladies including stomach bugs, ear infections, etc). It was his first year in public school and he caught EVERYTHING that was going around that year!! Thankfully, he was already working above grade level and the school was extremely understanding with all of his absences. We made sure he made up any work that was missed and they didn't give us a hard time about it. I think if he had been on the fence academically, they could have held him back if they had wanted to.

 

[mefordis]

Thank you for sharing! I am learning the hard way, too! I am hoping hoping that she doesn't get sick again this year -- she has Feb, Mar, Apr, May and June -- 5 months to remain healthy!!!

I learned my lesson the hard way regarding vacations last year when we took our family to Disney World in Sept. for ds' birthday. Little did I know at the time my son would miss an additional 15 days of school due to illnesses over the course of the year (1 week of swine flu, 1 week of regular flu, and various other maladies including stomach bugs, ear infections, etc). It was his first year in public school and he caught EVERYTHING that was going around that year!! Thankfully, he was already working above grade level and the school was extremely understanding with all of his absences. We made sure he made up any work that was missed and they didn't give us a hard time about it. I think if he had been on the fence academically, they could have held him back if they had wanted to.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

My schol doesn't have a set number for holding back. That decision is made based on academics. If they know the material, they get to advance. The decision to hold back is not made lightly as it can only happen once during their career. So if you hold back a kid in kindergarten due to absences even though they know the material, and they don't get the material in first grade, htye can't be held back again.

That being said, if you get close to less than 80% of attendance, we send you a letter. At less than 80% attendance, a police officer will be dispatched to your house and you will have to go to truancy court.

 

[Straycat]

Here, a student will FA (failure due to absence) after missing more than 9 unexcused absences per semester.

This is from the school boards website:

A student who is absent more than nine (9) days within a semester or more than four (4) days within a nine (9) week period for schools on a block schedule, will not receive a passing grade for the semester.

Absences not counted in the nine (9) days/four (4) days attendance policy are:

A. court dates
B. religious holidays
C. illness with medical documentation
D. chronic and extended illness

A student is considered to be present at school, if away from school on a school day and engaged in an educational activity that constitutes a school approved instructional program or activity.

Kindergarten students must be in attendance for a minimum of 162 days, as a criteria for progression to first grade. The principal may in consultation with the teacher, deny promotion based on this criteria.

All students must be in attendance a minimum of four (4) hours of instructional time to be considered present each day.

 

[TGM]

At my school, it's 4 days, then there is an X grade on your report card, as a warning. If you miss 18 (9 for half year classes) or more, then you have to retake the class.

 

[shoney]

No set days that I know of. You just can't have more than 10 unexcused absences per quarter. An excuse absence is bringing in a note from home.

 

[DawnM]

I don't think ours even has a policy. It is a charter school.

My 10th grader has now missed 6 days due to illness. Some in our carpool have missed more.

 

[Magpie]

Here I was thinking, "I should answer this!" Then I noticed that I already had...

FIVE years ago!

The OP's daughter is now in Sixth Grade, unless she got held back for having too many absences. In which case, she's in Fifth.

(For the record, my school district's policies have not changed at all in the last five years. Take your kiddos out, or not, however much you please.)

 

[here757]

Norfolk Va...
Pre K.. 10 days kicked out .. Not funded by state . By grant through the city. Not technically a required grade.
Elementary schools..20 days per year. We are on a 180 day school year. Excused.. Unexcused doesn't matter u will repeat
Middle and high school.. 7 inexcused in one semester.
Punishment begins with finds to parents. Then jail time. And students get held back

 

[here757]

Ours is totally vague. I looked it up.

Apparently every time there's an absence, the parent is supposed to provide a written note, but I've never seen that enforced. Usually a phone call is enough.

"Extended absences" are frowned upon (there's no definition of "extended"), but if a parent does take a child out for an extended period of time, then they're responsible for the course material.

If a child is going to be out for a month or more (say, for serious illness or hospitalization), I do know you can arrange to get the course material and the school will put you in contact with a distance teacher.

A family lawyer friend of mine says the only time she's ever seen "truancy" mentioned in court is in combination with abuse, neglect or delinquency. And there IS a "school refusal" unit at the hospital, but that's for kids whose parents want them in school. Homeschooling is simply a matter of stating clearly your intention to withdraw your kids from school, after which point they're no longer the school district's concern.

OP - I think you're fine. If you were going to hear anything, you'd probably have heard by now.

Our courts have a courtroom for it.. And each school has truancy officers. And our alternative school... My friend is the dean of students. It's real bad there. She has same parents call her every day asking if so and so made it to school! She told me most these parents have already done time in jail for these kids

 

[Magpie]

Our courts have a courtroom for it.. And each school has truancy officers. And our alternative school... My friend is the dean of students. It's real bad there. She has same parents call her every day asking if so and so made it to school! She told me most these parents have already done time in jail for these kids

I have to say, from my perspective here, that's completely nuts.

My son had a rough time of it in kindy due to a learning disability, and was allowed to attend two days a week after Christmas. His teacher was incredibly supportive. I took him on field trips around the city, and he dictated reports to me about it, which he then read to the class on the days he attended. In grade 1, he needed more focus on physical therapy, so I home schooled him through to the end of grade 5, after which he went back to public school - straight into the Gifted program. My son is now in university.

I know another kid who had severe (diagnosed) anxiety issues. He attended sporadically until high school. He did quite well in high school and is now in college.

I appreciate the way the schools were always willing to work with us, to ensure our kids got the best possible education for them. I think if I lived in a place with policies as draconian as you're describing, I'd probably have just home schooled all the way through. It wouldn't be worth it, to have to give away all the freedom and flexibility we've enjoyed. Not to mention, those (special ed teacher recommended) "mental health breaks" for the boy, and the off season family vacations for all the rest of us.

 

[ForeverAlice]

Nineteen can be missed in a year where I live.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

Ours is 5 days per semester. We start getting letters at 10 days missed.