How much of your child's illness is a parent required to divulge to school staff?

[LuvsDragonflies]

If he went to the doctor's, have them give you a note for each day absent, they should have a record of when he's been in. That's all the principal needs to excuse an absence.

If he didn't go to the doctor, just wing it and write down some symptoms for each day.

 

[mom0299]

Wow, allowing 20 days seems like a lot to me, but I guess our elementary school is the same. Although after 3 days they send out warning notes. My son is in high school and is allowed 4 days per semester and that is with or without a doctor's note. After 4 days they have to make up the time in Saturday school.

I work in the elementary school and I know that the office tries to keep track of illnesses so it helps to know symptoms when kids are out. I just want to add that schools are under a lot of pressure from NCLB and/or state requirements for attendance. It not only determines funding, but determines the AYP grade for the school.

 

[chamonix]

If it turns out it is written school policy to disclose symptoms--and the OP didnt mention that--I would simply tell them that since I had never been asked to report it previously (throughout the year) I had not kept any record of it. I would inform them that his last absence was due to "fever" though...but only if it was required by written policy to disclose. I would also, as mentioned above, fight tooth and nail to the school board if my child was required to have a doctors note for every single absence due to illness. That's crazy.

To the OP, if it turns out that it is required, simply write "fever" for each absence. The more long-winded and detailed you are, the more likely they will question you.

 

[Finding Gigi]

Recently I was making calls to verify why a student was absent for the attendance verifier at a school I was subbing at. She told me I could not ask what the student had and to just list them as sick. If the parent told me that was their choice but I couldn't ask.

 

[Coconut36]

*I am probably giving you TMI but I always seem to leave out a detail that somebody wonders about. I'm trying anticipate what questions there might be*

DS12 was sent home from school with instructions from the principal for us to list specifically what the syptoms from his absences have been.

Before we go any further, if he had ever had a highly communicable illness or disease, one that put other students or staff at risk, I would have made sure to inform the proper persons. That is totally different from what I am asking.

Probably the next thing you're wondering is, how many absences are we talking? The simple answer is 15. They are allowed to miss 10 days per semester, 20 total days. Each semester is 90 days. His 15 are spread over 2 semesters. He missed 8 in the first and 7 in the second.

Is this normal? For him, yes. He has been prone to illnesses since he was born. He was hospitalized when he was 9 mos. old for an illness. That was a scary time for us.

I always call the office when he is ill, I always send him back to school with a note and I've talked to his Guidance Counselor in the past. I explained that he has always been prone to illness and that if his school records were looked at it, they would see that 15 is actually low for him. And, he has always maintained his High Honor Roll status. His work does not suffer from being absent.

What have his illnesses been? Colds and flu. Nothing that he's needed to see the doctor for this year. Thankfully. Feb. of 2011 he had pnuemonia. Another scary time.

So now we're back to the beginning - it's no longer ok to have said that he was ill or sick or had a cold or the flu. They are asking for details - runny nose, vomitting, diarhhea, fever, etc - from each day was absent. They provided me with the dates he was absent, the first being 08/22.

I can't remember what his symptoms were and even if I could, can they even ask? I'm thinking of HIPPA but I'm not sure if that applies here.

I guess I could just make up some symptoms for the dates I can't remember but I wonder, what are they doing with this info?

I can only speak for my state but I know it applies in others as well and is pretty standard process in regards to truancy issues. Schools here are required by law to report absences to the county Juvenile Courts. Absences that exceed a certain amount per year/semester result in an investigation through the county truancy program. Part of that is determining the nature if the absences and determining if they were truly sickness related. This is something they are mandated by law to do. The truancy program then takes action as appropriate with parent meetings, asking for Dr notes..etc. Sometimes depending on the number of absences it requires a hearing in juvenile courts. Again this is all technically out of the hands of the school. They are required to report the missing days by law and do act as a liaison sometimes to determine the necessity of citations/fines/hearings.

So what they are doing is taking that information and assessing the nature of the absences and the reason for them and using that to determine if further action is required. If your child is known for having chronic health issues, immune issues..etc then you should potentially be able to resolve it with a note/information from the childs Dr confirming this. The info will likely filter back to your state/city/county truancy program and they will proceed from there.

This happens to all children who miss the set number of days mandated by the state.

 

[disneymomjcs]

Gotta tell ya "Big brother is watching"

They have all your medical records already at school. All immunizations, health history ie: Asthma, diabetes, heart issues. Anything important. They do bmi, height and weight every year. Check you child's hearing and eye sight. When you call your child in most attendance hotlines say: child's name, homeroom, date, nature of the illness. They want to know it. We had whooping cough at my DD High School about a week and a half ago. Now that is something everyone needs to know about, along with Swine Flu not minor illnesses.

Especially the PIAA forms for Pennsylvania. They want your childs entire health history, every injury, head trauma, broken bone. They want all family info for heart etc. Hospitalization for your child to play a sport.

It is getting crazy!!!!!!!!

I would send it back and say because he was sick.

I just returned a form last week to school. They wanted our childrens Social Security number. I told them I don't give that information out to anyone. I never write it on any forms, ever!

 

[elaine amj]

Growing up I missed a lot of school once I hit the late teen years. I would have hated such strict attendance policies LOL! I was an independent learner and usually studied better at home by myself from the textbook and many many times if I knew I had nothing much going on in school the next day, my mom let me stay home to study by myself. Our school system is different from the US system though. I had major exams to prepare for and on certain days, school affected the amount of hours I had to study(an oxymoron, I KNOW!) So I stayed home and spent then 7-8 hours studying in my room. (of course my perk was being able to sleep in!)

I understand the reason behind attendance laws - but if the student is an otherwise good student and it isn't affecting his/her grades - I don't see why the school has to interfere too much.

Good luck with your kid's school! The school should realise that if you didn't keep him home, he will likely take so much longer to recover from each bout affecting his schoolwork for a much longer period of time than if he just stayed home and rested for 1-2 days.

 

[kirstenb1]

Your kids will get a zero if they miss school because of a bad cold that doesn't warrant to trip to the dr? That's crazy. If our district had that policy I'd be very vocal at every board meeting until a change was made.

Yes that has been our experience. Our older dd is in 8th grade. The teachers get to decide if they want to grant an excused absence for something not documented, however this has been the exception rather than the rule. I'm fine with it. As an adult, although I'm a sahm now, when I worked, it was not well-received when people called in sick for a bad cold, etc. I worked in the brokerage industry, which is very strict on absenteeism. I realize this is not everyone's experience, however, my own mother raised us the same way, so old habits are hard to break.

 

[Coconut36]

Yes that has been our experience. Our older dd is in 8th grade. The teachers get to decide if they want to grant an excused absence for something not documented, however this has been the exception rather than the rule. I'm fine with it. As an adult, although I'm a sahm now, when I worked, it was not well-received when people called in sick for a bad cold, etc. I worked in the brokerage industry, which is very strict on absenteeism. I realize this is not everyone's experience, however, my own mother raised us the same way, so old habits are hard to break.

I was an IT professional and yeah in the professional world absences can be an issue. If I had sessions, meetings, deliverables due and called in sick..it was an issue. When I was first hired at that company if took sick days you could and did face disciplinary action. 3 sick days in 6 months resulted in counseling and continued absence could result in loss of job. They did alter the policy in coming years but I still remember when it was like that.

 

[Geoff_M]

I can only speak for my state but I know it applies in others as well and is pretty standard process in regards to truancy issues. Schools here are required by law to report absences to the county Juvenile Courts. Absences that exceed a certain amount per year/semester result in an investigation through the county truancy program. Part of that is determining the nature if the absences and determining if they were truly sickness related. This is something they are mandated by law to do. The truancy program then takes action as appropriate with parent meetings, asking for Dr notes..etc. Sometimes depending on the number of absences it requires a hearing in juvenile courts. Again this is all technically out of the hands of the school. They are required to report the missing days by law and do act as a liaison sometimes to determine the necessity of citations/fines/hearings.

...

This happens to all children who miss the set number of days mandated by the state.

Ding! Ding Ding! We have a likely winner. It's not just them being nosy as they have a number of requirements to follow that deal with potential health and welfare issues of their pupils.

Here's an enlightening NPR story about Detroit Public School truancy efforts: Detroit Schools' No. 1 Mission: Getting Kids To Class Guess how many days the average DPS high school student misses per year? 28.

Also, HIPAA regulations only apply to health care workers, not school administrators.

 

[shortbun]

I would just make up the symptoms and be done with it.

Me too, they're just looking to cover themselves, imho.

 

[shortbun]

In our children's school, for an illness to be an excused absence, there has to be a doctor's note, or something else documentible, like a death in the family. So my kids are rarely absent, because we can't afford zeroes for grades.

This is ridiculous and forces people to either spend money or have their children get bad grades. Pediatrician's offices should not be bothered by simple bad colds and stomach viruses. My doctor would be really PO'd by this policy and might send a note to the Superintendent about wasteful use of her time and insurance.

 

[Coconut36]

Me too, they're just looking to cover themselves, imho.

Not if there is a truancy program in their city/state/county. Then it tends to be a legal matter handled by the juvenile court systems and the school is simply the middleman. They report attendance to the state/county and are required to do so by law. The truancy program then steps in when a certain number of absences is reached. It's generally outlined how it works in school/district handbooks. Ours outlines the CUTS program and the number of absences and what steps they generally take when it happens. Even if the handbook doesn't outline it but the program exists they still have legal requirements/protocol they must follow.

 

[ebtbmom]

I'm a school nurse and I think it's pretty obnoxious that they'd demand that type of info from you.

Not that you'd have time to do this, but I think you should compose a lengthy eloquent essay detailing the events of each absence.

"On the morning of August 31 I awoke to the promise of a new day. Birds were singing and the curtains blew gently in the breeze. I Gingerly tiptoed to awaken little Johnny when lo, I noted a crimson tinge and distinctive warmth to his cheeks! ...."

You know something like that, make it really dramatic. It bugs me when school administrators think they need to be all up in your parenting business.

 

[sunshinehighway]

In our children's school, for an illness to be an excused absence, there has to be a doctor's note, or something else documentible, like a death in the family. So my kids are rarely absent, because we can't afford zeroes for grades.

In the here schools doctor's notes don't excuse absences. It pretty ridiculous. The handbook says children can't come back to school for 24 hours after having a fever or vomiting. So, they don't want the kids in school if they are sick but, they count it as unexcused. The only illness which is excused is a prolonged hospital stay. It makes little sense.

 

[snowy76]

I teach a high school junior who has been absent since DECEMBER. His father calls him in sick every. single. day. But finally he told one of our administrators that his son didn't want to go to school anymore. Okayyyyy... so why call in sick daily? Our school has tried and tried to get dad and the kid in to sign the papers make the dropout status official. I think dad is holding out hope that junior will want to try school again... after 6 months off...

Meanwhile, he calls attendance every day to report the kid is sick again. I WISH we could follow up by asking for more proof, and force the family to deal with it (poop or get off the pot already!) but our policy is to take the parent's word.

 

[Southernmiss]

My son never misses much school. I've gotten more lax with him than with my older DD. I never used to let her miss for a sniffle. You can't really do that in the workplace so I didn't want to create those habits with her. However, my son has asthma and oftentimes gets way more affected by a simple cold. So I've relented and let him stay home. I'm not used to dealing with "notes" too much because of this but I always give some details when I send in a sick note. I know I don't *have* to but I always think, in a school environment, that the administration might like to know what he's sick with just in case there is some sort of similar outbreak (such as with a stomach virus).So, on his notes I have put "he had a fairly severe cold" or "he had a sore throat and low-grade fever" or whatever the excuse is.

I don't think it's a big deal to do it; however, I do think it is odd that they are coming back to you at this point.

My guess is that it is their way of trying to do a mini-crackdown on people they think are having excessive absences.

You asked, what are they doing with the info. Typically schools are audited based on attendance and poor attendance profiles affects their funding at a district/state level. Empty seats cost them money. They probably want to be sure your son is really, truly sick.

Wow, allowing 20 days seems like a lot to me, but I guess our elementary school is the same. Although after 3 days they send out warning notes. My son is in high school and is allowed 4 days per semester and that is with or without a doctor's note. After 4 days they have to make up the time in Saturday school.

I work in the elementary school and I know that the office tries to keep track of illnesses so it helps to know symptoms when kids are out. I just want to add that schools are under a lot of pressure from NCLB and/or state requirements for attendance. It not only determines funding, but determines the AYP grade for the school.[/QUOTE]

I can only speak for my state but I know it applies in others as well and is pretty standard process in regards to truancy issues. Schools here are required by law to report absences to the county Juvenile Courts. Absences that exceed a certain amount per year/semester result in an investigation through the county truancy program. Part of that is determining the nature if the absences and determining if they were truly sickness related. This is something they are mandated by law to do. The truancy program then takes action as appropriate with parent meetings, asking for Dr notes..etc. Sometimes depending on the number of absences it requires a hearing in juvenile courts. Again this is all technically out of the hands of the school. They are required to report the missing days by law and do act as a liaison sometimes to determine the necessity of citations/fines/hearings.

So what they are doing is taking that information and assessing the nature of the absences and the reason for them and using that to determine if further action is required. If your child is known for having chronic health issues, immune issues..etc then you should potentially be able to resolve it with a note/information from the childs Dr confirming this. The info will likely filter back to your state/city/county truancy program and they will proceed from there.

This happens to all children who miss the set number of days mandated by the state.

Ding! Ding Ding! We have a likely winner. It's not just them being nosy as they have a number of requirements to follow that deal with potential health and welfare issues of their pupils. Here's an enlightening NPR story about Detroit Public School truancy efforts: Detroit Schools' No. 1 Mission: Getting Kids To Class Guess how many days the average DPS high school student misses per year? 28.

Also, HIPAA regulations only apply to health care workers, not school administrators.

I think they are asking because of reasons the above posters listed, especially the bolded.

I am sorry that your DS is often sick. It can be scary to have a sick child, but I do get that the schools have a responsibility for so many kids now and have to answer to so much with NCLB and other mandates and public safety issues.

I have come to the resignation that I have chosen to have my children educated in the public school system and I must follow some rules (that are usually for the best interest of all) even if I don't agree with them.

I treat my kids as "Would I take medication and go on to work if my symptoms were like theirs?" If the answer is "Yes" then medication and off to school they go. Of course if there is a high fever, diarhea or vomiting then we'd stay home, but my kids don't often miss school for colds.

 

[sookie]

You need to figure out why your kid is so sick that he is missing school this often. It won't be acceptable when he gets older.
Maybe take him to the doctor and figure out what is up? Just a thought...if you said that this year was just a bad year, that would be one thing - but it sounds like this is the "usual" for him. If you said that you take him to the doc because he is always sick and you can just send those notes, it would be one thing. But from the sound of your original post - he is just sick, and you just keep him home. But, at the same time - you don't get any other care (from a medical professional) where you can provide further proof of treatment to the school. If he is sick enough that he can't go to school, that often, he should be seeing someone for evaluation. He is having trouble functioning... most children do not miss that much school. It isn't normal.
If it is a chronic condition, you need to see if you can get the condition in better control, and possibly he needs to be on a 504 plan. You need to get a plan in place to deal with these issues.
Good luck OP!

 

[aprilgail2]

Same here, CPS comes a knocking after 10 days or 3 unexcused days! My oldest has 9 days out and is sick again but if I keep her out I'm pretty sure I'll get a knock on my door.. so off to school she goes only 16 school days left thank god

Wow- I would have had CPS at my door every year so far LOL- I usually let my daughter take off 2-3 "personal days" per school year- sometimes its when we go away and other times its just to sleep in and veg out. Friday she will taking off because we will be out very late on Thursday for a fundraiser and I am taking off work and she is taking off school on Friday.

In our children's school, for an illness to be an excused absence, there has to be a doctor's note, or something else documentible, like a death in the family. So my kids are rarely absent, because we can't afford zeroes for grades.

You gets zeroes for taking off a personal day or a sick day if you don't have a note??? Wow- not here, even if they miss a test and its an unexcused day they still get to take the test the first day back to school!

 

[HelenePA]

Wow- I would have had CPS at my door every year so far LOL- I usually let my daughter take off 2-3 "personal days" per school year- sometimes its when we go away and other times its just to sleep in and veg out. Friday she will taking off because we will be out very late on Thursday for a fundraiser and I am taking off work and she is taking off school on Friday.



You gets zeroes for taking off a personal day or a sick day if you don't have a note??? Wow- not here, even if they miss a test and its an unexcused day they still get to take the test the first day back to school!

lol my dd9 just stayed home yesterday for a "personal day" but on her note it will say she wasn't feeling well. my dd11 was sick a lot this year in the start of the year so no personal days for her this year!