Middle school does not take attendance

[simplesimon]

My granddaughter's middle school has told the parents that they do not have to call in when the child is out sick any more. And that they will not be calling the home if the child does not come to school.

They will not be taking attendance any more.

What is that!!!

 

[Uncle Remus]

My granddaughter's middle school has told the parents that they do have to call in when the child is out sick any more. And that they will not be calling the home if the child does not come to school.

They will not be taking attendance any more.

What is that!!!

Did you mean to say do not have to call in...?

 

[luvmy3]

It doesn't sound like they aren't actually taking attendance anymore, it just sounds like their policy on what is to be done when a student is absent is changing.

 

[Magic Mom]

DD's school doesn't require us to call when they will be out sick, and they do not call us to check if she is out sick, but they still take attendance.

Attendance is typically a state mandated requirement. The school just can't decide no to take attendance (unless it is a private school). Are you sure that's what they meant?

 

[brookmey]

I wish DD's school would adopt that policy.

She's home sick today and when I called in her absence they gave me the 3rd degree, even asking me if I was sure she wasn't just trying to avoid school. Thankfully she's rarely sick because I hate having to talk to those ladies when she is!

 

[msjprincess]

DD's school doesn't require us to call when they will be out sick, and they do not call us to check if she is out sick, but they still take attendance.

Attendance is typically a state mandated requirement. The school just can't decide no to take attendance (unless it is a private school). Are you sure that's what they meant?

MTE

It sounds like a misunderstanding to me

 

[Caropooh]

I can't see that they aren't taking attendance anymore. Federal funding is based off of attenance, I believe.

 

[simplesimon]

My granddaughter's middle school has told the parents that they do not have to call in when the child is out sick any more. And that they will not be calling the home if the child does not come to school.

They will not be taking attendance any more.

What is that!!!

"thanks"

 

[Tink888]

Sounds like a misunderstanding to me as well. From my understanding, attendance is a factor in whether or not a district receives it's state and federal funding.

 

[simplesimon]

"thanks"

They are not keeping track of the days out. My granddaugher was out 2 days this quarter and on her report card it shows no days out.

 

[msjprincess]

Is it a public or private school?

 

[Wishing on a star]

Any public school, or valid private school, would HAVE to keep attendance, by state law. I doubt that they are actually NOT taking attendance. (would be a huge issue if they didn't)

In our state, even homeschoolers are expect to conduct instruction for 180 days per year.

It sounds like they are taking attendance, but are trying to absolve themselves of any responsibility for communicating with the child's parents regarding attendance.

I can't imagine that they do not require a written excuse from parent, upon return to school, or doctor in order to meet state and school policy regarding excused absences.

This attitude and lack of communication is what would bother me.

If a child was skipping school, the parent might not even know until the truancy officers and the courts were involved, per state regulation.

PS: If I called in to let the school know that my child was not attending that day, for ANY reason, and I were grilled by these 'educator gods'... I would simply hang up. Either the absence is excused, or not excused, based on the doctor's note or parent's note upon return. Details are NOT their business.

 

[Wishing on a star]

They are not keeping track of the days out. My granddaugher was out 2 days this quarter and on her report card it shows no days out.

Again, is this a private school. One that is not even accredited by the State?

If this is a valid school, I would think it would be safe to say that they are in violation of state laws.

IMHO, if indeed they are not even keeping attendance records, I would have some VERY serious reservations about sending my child there, and placing my child and their well being and their education in those hands.

But, unless you are the child's legal guardian, of course, it is up to the child's parents to decide how they might want to handle it.

 

[recmouse]

That's crazy! First of all, what if God forbid, something happened to your child on the way to school - like they were abducted. How would you know that they never made it to school if the school doesn't call you? Do you realized how much time you would lose trying to help them?

Plus I would want to know if my child was cutting school.

 

[Coconut36]

DD's school doesn't require us to call when they will be out sick, and they do not call us to check if she is out sick, but they still take attendance.

Attendance is typically a state mandated requirement. The school just can't decide no to take attendance (unless it is a private school). Are you sure that's what they meant?

It is also generally state mandated that a call be made by/before a certain time but at the middle school level that is possibly different from the elementary level.

I agree they can't just decide to no longer take attendance and from what the OP posted I don't get that impression..simply that their actions when a child is not present are different not that they aren't taking attendance.

If information like attendance is available to view online with their grades (in our district you can see absences when you go to the website to view grades..it's a district wide program they use) and is sent home on report cards they might feel it will catch up with the kids sooner or later...progress reports and report cards all show attendance history here.

 

[englishteacha]

I'm sure they take attendance somehow, it just may not be tracked in a traditional way.

 

[scrapquitler]

My granddaughter's middle school has told the parents that they do not have to call in when the child is out sick any more. And that they will not be calling the home if the child does not come to school.

They will not be taking attendance any more.

What is that!!!

I'm going to guess that they mean the homeroom teacher isn't going to take attendance anymore. But the teacher will still take attendance in each class period.

That's how it works in my high school student's school. They only have homeroom (ahem, Advisory) once a week. Each teacher takes attendance in every class.

If they didn't take attendance AT ALL, how would they get their funding?

 

[lizabu]

That's crazy! First of all, what if God forbid, something happened to your child on the way to school - like they were abducted. How would you know that they never made it to school if the school doesn't call you? Do you realized how much time you would lose trying to help them?

Plus I would want to know if my child was cutting school.

This is what I thought of too. Imagine if a child was abducted on the way to school. It could be a good 8 hours before anyone even notices the child is missing. In 8 hours you could be in another country.

 

[luvmy3]

My dd was absent today (been out all week), and I just got off the phone with the school's automated message service letting me know my child had been absent for at least half of the day today.
I guess if she was abducted, I wouldn't know until the evening since that is when they always call.
It never occurred to me to be worried that I wouldn't know if she got to school, since its very easy for a parent to make sure their child gets on the bus or gets to school. At some point we do need to be responsible for that stuff ourselves and not rely on the school. If its something that you worry about, then drive your kid or stay with them at the bus stop and if you can't, arrange for someone else too

 

[lizabu]

My dd was absent today (been out all week), and I just got off the phone with the school's automated message service letting me know my child had been absent for at least half of the day today.
I guess if she was abducted, I wouldn't know until the evening since that is when they always call.
It never occurred to me to be worried that I wouldn't know if she got to school, since its very easy for a parent to make sure their child gets on the bus or gets to school. At some point we do need to be responsible for that stuff ourselves and not rely on the school. If its something that you worry about, then drive your kid or stay with them at the bus stop and if you can't, arrange for someone else too

Many people could do that but many of us live within walking distance of the school and our children are much too old to want Mom or Dad tagging along the block or two to school. Even once you child is on the school yard there is no guarantee they are safe. A couple years ago a girl was abducted from the school yard in the next city and was found dead 3 months later. I'm sure bus drivers aren't walking each child directly to their classrooms either. I'm not saying a school needs to be doing a parents job for them but if a child isn't where they're supposed to be it's nice to hear about it before it's been several hours.