How many days can your child miss school?

[BLAZEY]

No set amount. My DD6 is at my mum's house as she has a fever, cough, and is really stuffed up. Today is Payroll at work so I couldn't call in to stay home. I did go see her on my lunch break. Seemed a bit better, but not well enough to go to school. we just got a letter from the principal to keep kids home if they are sick. Sickness is going around the school like crazy.

 

[Poohforyou]

Our district is 10 days and then a letter is sent. They ask for clarification on absences. Unless a student is doing really poorly they won't be held back. The school has to say that. My dd is a junior. We've gotten about 3 letters over the years. I've responded with detailed reasons for the absences and that was the end of it. Dd is up to 9 days this year. She got nailed with a few nasty bugs. It happens.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We get warning letters at 4 days, 6 days and then 8 days. At 10 days you go to truancy court. At 16 days you're left behind.

These are unexcused with no doctors note. Vacations are also unexcused.

My pediatrician is good and will write notes for stomach bug and viral infections even if they weren't seen. As long as I call I can go get a note. They would rather have you do that than bring kids in that don't require a visit.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

No limit on days and being held back. Our district doesn't hold kids back anymore. Might explain why we have middle school kids who can't read at 3rd grade level. You will be put on attendance level if you miss more than 15 in a semester. If you make it to 30, your parents are summons to court. In high school, you pass the required exit exams, GQE, ISTEP, and finals, you can miss however many days you want. We also did away with excused and unexcused. You're gone, you're gone, it doesn't matter.

 

[aristocatz]

My kids are not in school yet, but the district where I work has a rule of no more than 10 days. After 10 days, you start dealing with an attendance officer & parents have to appear in court. If a student misses 15 days, they will have to repeat their grade the following year. I do not remember how excused vs unexcused absences come into play. Most of our elementary schools are considered "full service community schools" & have a resource office (police officer) on site to deal with chronic truancy issues.

 

[mjantz]

In TX its 9 days per semester or 18 all together. That equals 10% of the school year missed & at that point the school can decide to retain the student. 10%-24% is at the discretion of the school. At 25% it is no longer at the discretion of the school but it a state law & they must be retained.
I went through this a few years ago with a student & I learned more than I ever wanted to about attendance.

 

[dja14]

When our oldest was in K the policy was 10 days for the year.

He had strep and I didn't know I needed an excuse (missed a week) and then a few days after he was back my grandmother died and we were gone a week for the funeral. A week after we got back we got a very, very nasty letter, threatening us if he missed any more days.

I called the school because I thought it was a mistake. They knew why he had missed, I had called them. It got passed through to the principal who said that was the rule. ("hard and fast") I said, you know we were at a funeral and had to go out of town (4 hours away). He said we should have left our son home to go to school. He was 5 so I am not sure how that would have worked, since all our family lived out of town, in the place the funeral was.

I had to call our dr and get a note for the strep.

I laugh about it all the time now

 

[tzolkin]

4 days in one quarter.

Nothing is "excused".

I think the policy is ridiculous. We were actually hesitant to buy our house because of the strict attendance policy (we are on the border of two counties and most of the houses we looked at were in the other district)

I actually called the HS last year and asked them about it. (Curious if if was just the "official" policy, but not actually enforced) I said that my DD went to school that day with a 102 fever because she was worried what if she had to miss a day later in the quarter. Attendance office person just kept saying, "The policy is 4 days". I asked if they really fail straight A kids in AP classes because they are sick for 5 days and she finally acknowledged that it would be up to the teachers' discretion. They are required to make up the classes hour for hour, so the teachers have to be willing to stay after school and allow the kids to make up the time. (Which also means that to make up one missed day, the kid needs to stay after 4 days for 1.5 hours each)


Our previous district didn't have anything specific. There would be truancy issues if they thought the kid was skipping/getting in trouble, but there was no problem with them missing due to illness/vacation/family events.

 

[aprilchem]

Ours is a warning letter at 5 days, held back at 15. But they really don't hold students back, as far as I know, if the parents push back on it.

 

[brockash]

Do you know how many days your child is able to miss school without getting a warning and being held back?

My child has missed 9 days so far - today she has a bad cold and is coughing and crying so I have to keep her home. 9 days seems excessive to me and I'm scared they will call me and threaten to hold her back. She is in 1st grade.

I looked up the school policy online and they are vague -- they don't specify the number of absences before being held back.

What is your school policy?

(She is a good student and at the top of class in reading, so I feel like she is still keeping up. Not that I think it matters if the policy is a certain number of days per year.)

Thanks!

The number of days a kid misses does not ultimately decide if the child is held back or not - no school would be able to get away with that (as no school would be able to hold a kid back without the parents support just because of absences if the student is academically doing well and getting good grades) and honestly no school would want to, as it's much more common for schools to push kids through even though they have failed a certain grade. If your dd does fine in school and has good grades, I would not worry about it at all. Yes, most schools now have certain truancy policies in place, but they're more as a way to cover their own behinds. We take the kids out for a week at Disney every year and there have been years that I've gotten the truancy letter and other years that I have not. My kids get good grades and I'm an involved parent who asks for and makes sure the kids get the make-up work turned in etc. I have also volunteered at most of their schools (we're military so move often.) The schools are supposed to automatically send the letters once you hit 5/10/15 days of "unexcused absences" (although illness is almost always excused with or without a Dr. note). If I get one, I just throw it away and don't worry about it (I actually had a principal once tell me to do that lol). When we first moved here I did have the school nurse call me at some point throughout the year due to the "unexcused" 5 day absence that my 2nd grader had for our Disney trip and she started to give me the regular truancy spill. I politely told her that we were on vacation, the school was aware of it ahead of time, her teacher and I had communicated about it and that her teacher had absolutely no concerns as to her academic well-being. She seemed a little caught off guard and just politely said that we'd still be receiving a letter to which I said that I understood and that was that. We never did receive the letter and I never heard from the school again regarding truancy.

They really have no leg to stand on if the students are getting good grades/aren't behavior issues etc. I now work in a high school and that is how the administration handles it. If students have a lot of absences (like 10+ days within the first semester) then they'll look at the grades, if the grades are good/teachers aren't complaining etc. they don't proceed any further as they feel there's no need and really nothing they can really argue, however if the student is struggling then they'll start the truancy process.

I really wouldn't worry about it, she's in 1st grade for goodness sakes, if she's sick keep her home.

 

[luvsJack]

Here its 10 days per semester in high school. The lower grades its actually less--10 for the year. But going over these does not mean a child is held back. DD had mono in 6th grade and went waaaaaayyyy over her 10. Last year (11th) she kept getting infected tonsils or sore throats and missed 19 days in one semester. Since she has always kept her grades up, she has never had an issue passing.

This year the high school started a new policy. If they have missed over a certain number of days, with X number of these being check out the student is put on a "drop out watch list". Not sure what they did with other grades but the Seniors on this list were given an option--to graduate in December (this was during the first semester) IF they had enough credits or to go to Saturday school so many days to make up the time they had missed. Not sure if any of them took them up on the graduate early option but a few went to school on Saturdays.

They also have a policy for what is/isn't excused. They won't excuse more than 5 days with parent excuses. After 5 and it has to be dr. excuses to be excused.

 

[CdnCarrie]

No set days here for elementary/middle school. There is vague wording and if you were not contacting the school about the absences the truant officer would probably contact you.
In high school if you miss too many classes you don't get the credit. It may be 10 for the semester but I'm not sure yet.

 

[bethy]

I completely agree about the cold but she has such a low tolerance for discomfort and she is laying around and crying about her nose, etc. She is not a tough one, I'll admit.

I really hope she doesn't get sick for the rest of the year. I would hate to be contacted by the school after 10 absences!

Please don't be afraid of the school. If they contact you, so what? Personally, as a parent I appreciate it when parents keep their children home even for a cold. In our district holding a child back or skipping a grade are HUGE deals and aren't really related to how many days of school they missed. There is a huge range of capabilities - especially in the younger grades. So there are kids in third grade and in kindergarten who are currently where your DD is academically. The much bigger factors that determine holding a child back have to do with maturity and emotional development.

There is a reason your schools don't publish hard and fast rules about number of absences. They probably take it on a case by case basis which is good. Just communicate regularly with the school and keep them informed. Be firm and know that you are your DD's parent and will the one who decides whether she's healthy enough to go to school on any given day.

 

[Kellykins1218]

My kids are in special ed so luckily they can miss as many days as they need to.

 

[roseaster]

Interesting. It varies a lot.

Our schools:

Unlimited excused absences (absences with "official" documentation) Illnesses with Dr's notes, court dates, death in family, college visits.

15 "allowed" absences. Absences with parents notes

10 unexcused absences. Absences with no documentation.

Absences of 3 consecutive or longer days require "official" documentation.

3 tardies/ early dismissals equal 1 absence.

You get a letter after 8 allowed/unexcused absences and may be referred to truancy court after 10.

You will be referred after 15. 1st offense is an $875 fine (had a friend who paid it)

I don't know how they handle excessive absences in the elementary grades, but I know in high school if you are over your allowed absences you are required to go to "summer make up" sessions and your grades are held until you complete the required number of days. If you don't complete them you are held back.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Zombie thread.

Zomies aren't allowed in school. So they can be absent 180 days.

 

[roseaster]

Zombie thread.

Zomies aren't allowed in school. So they can be absent 180 days.

Everyone was aware of that a page back, and apparently you haven't been in a high school lately. I've seen a LOT of zombies there.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Everyone was aware of that a page back, and apparently you haven't been in a high school lately. I've seen a LOT of zombies there.

Like this guy?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

When our oldest was in K the policy was 10 days for the year.

He had strep and I didn't know I needed an excuse (missed a week) and then a few days after he was back my grandmother died and we were gone a week for the funeral. A week after we got back we got a very, very nasty letter, threatening us if he missed any more days.

I called the school because I thought it was a mistake. They knew why he had missed, I had called them. It got passed through to the principal who said that was the rule. ("hard and fast") I said, you know we were at a funeral and had to go out of town (4 hours away). He said we should have left our son home to go to school. He was 5 so I am not sure how that would have worked, since all our family lived out of town, in the place the funeral was.

I had to call our dr and get a note for the strep.

I laugh about it all the time now

Your child missed a week for your grandmother's funeral?

 

[smiths02]

I know this is a zombie thread, but I just looked the stuff for our district up...
10 days of UNEXCUSED absences gets reported to authorities...no mention is made of penalizing the student by retention
They are pretty strict on what is excused...illness, religious holiday, family death, parent on military leave (up to 5 days), and after 5 personal notes for absences, the school can request a doctor note

The Codes of Conduct mention court actions...there is no mention of retention for truancy. Retention is based mostly on grades and high stakes testing, and is still up for debate even if those are not met. For high school, you just have to earn enough credits to go to the next "grade."

Also, people have talked about mono, etc. If you are going to have extended illnesses/surgery, etc., you can be covered under hospital/homebound where a teacher comes to you a little each day and you are counted as "present" at school.