Missing School.... How did your school react?

[mom+3girls]

Putting on my flame suit.....

I have taken and will continue to take my girls out of school whenever we have the chance to take a vacation together.
This covers from elementary school to freshman year in college. While I believe that education is important-I believe family life far outweighs it.

We are a family blessed with a 9/11 survivor, I will not take the time we have on this earth together for granted. Children live at home for such a short time, you need to enjoy all the time you can together as a family unit.

I have had various reactions through the years from the administration of the schools, but have weathered the bad and welcomed the good. Only you can make the necessary judgment call here...ask your daughter if she feels she will be okay missing a week. Mine always were-they are all into sports and other activities, but chose the vacation each time.

If work can let my husband and I go away for a week and survive then the school system can do the same.

Agree totally!!!!!!

I am in a branch office and I am the only person that works in my office. My company sends someone from 3 hours away and pays them mileage and for a hotel so that I can take a vacation for a week. So if they can do that, the schools can adjust.

My girls are my life. I just value my time with them so much. I don't want some government agency telling me when I can do spend time with them.

I thought we lived in the USA, land of the free.

 

[mom_of_2_princesses]

I think it all boils down to money. If our children are not there they do not get paid. Even with our vacation our children will be in school more than some of the horrible parents children. This was my childs first year of regular grades and she more than proved to us that she can take a vacation during the year. Like others have said I think it really boils down to the child and what responsibility they show for making up the work. I am just happy that my children are able to take such a wonderful vacation. I just wish I could afford to take other children who are not. Life is to short to sweat the small stuff so everyone just have fun.

 

[tvguy]

here's the full code:
Its a civil penalty-this is not a felony

48293. (a) Any parent, guardian, or other person having control or
charge of any pupil who fails to comply with this chapter, unless
excused or exempted therefrom, is guilty of an infraction and shall
be punished as follows:
(1) Upon a first conviction, by a fine of not more than one
hundred dollars ($100).
(2) Upon a second conviction, by a fine of not more than two
hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(3) Upon a third or subsequent conviction, if the person has
willfully refused to comply with this section, by a fine of not more
than five hundred dollars ($500). In lieu of imposing the fines
prescribed in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), the court may order the
person to be placed in a parent education and counseling program.
(b) A judgment that a person convicted of an infraction be
punished as prescribed in subdivision (a) may also provide for the
payment of the fine within a specified time or in specified
installments, or for participation in the program. A judgment
granting a defendant time to pay the fine or prescribing the days of
attendance in a program shall order that if the defendant fails to
pay the fine, or any installment thereof, on the date that it is due,
or fails to attend a program on a prescribed date, he or she shall
appear in court on that date for further proceedings. Willful
violation of the order is punishable as contempt.
(c) Until January 1, 2006, the court may also order that the
person convicted of the violation of subdivision (a) immediately
enroll or reenroll the pupil in the appropriate school or educational
program and provide proof of enrollment to the court. Willful
violation of an order under this subdivision is punishable as civil
contempt with a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000). An
order of contempt under this subdivision shall not include
imprisonment

You are correct, the jail time is local education code, but as you posted, you can face a $1000 fine under state law. But AGAIN, it is PERSONAL choice, but I would strongly advise anyone considering it to check their local laws so they don't have any surprises.

 

[DISNEYMOMTO1]

DD8 will be in 2nd grade when we cruise. I thought about the consequences, but she really isn't at a grade where they have a lot of homework yet. We will see once the school year starts. I do agree, though, that we will be traveling in the summer or on breaks when she gets into the higher grades.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Someone asked:

What does this teach kids? That you don't have to follow the rules?

Personally, I think it teaches kids to have the right priorities. Not enough families teach (or practice) work life balance (and I am saying that about our culture in general NOT directing that to people here, because obviously if you are on the Dis Boards you value vacation and time with your family). In our family, God is priority #1, Family #2, jobs (whether work or school) fall after that. My husband was raised in a family where work was #1 and everything was about work. School was his work and was the measure of his success or failure to his parents (pretty rough for an ADD and dyslexic kid). His dad doesn't understand that you can work for a living without living for work. My dh has made it his goal to raise kids who understand that time with family always comes before work (and in doing so he's never gone around work rules but he has made major sacrifices in moving up in his career, as a result he's home everyday for breakfast and dinner with the kids, never has to travel for work, and has 6 weeks of vacation time every year). And if vacationing during school year saves us enough money that it means we can vacation more and get more family vacation time, then so be it. We are saving enough money by cruising during school (over $4000 from cruising at Thanksgiving or Christmas) that we can also take our kids to Europe for 3 weeks next summer. But more then that I think it teaches them that you can leave work behind for a bit and it's ok... something more Americans need to learn. Even my dad whose close to retirement and has worked for the same company for over 20 years and has more then 20 weeks of vacation banked is stressing about taking the time off from work to join us for a week in Italy. Work is important, yes, and when you are at your job you should work your hardest, but there is so much that is MORE important. And if you sacrifice that for work, well thats just sad IMHO.

 

[stinkerbelle1]

Personally, I think it teaches kids to have the right priorities.........In our family, God is priority #1, Family #2, jobs (whether work or school) fall after that..............I think it teaches them that you can leave work behind for a bit and it's ok... something more Americans need to learn. Even my dad whose close to retirement and has worked for the same company for over 20 years and has more then 20 weeks of vacation banked is stressing about taking the time off from work to join us for a week in Italy. Work is important, yes, and when you are at your job you should work your hardest, but there is so much that is MORE important. And if you sacrifice that for work, well thats just sad IMHO.

ABSOLUTELY!

My parents were at a funeral last month for my dad's good friend who he worked with for over 25 years. My dad retired a few years ago, but his friend was only 10 DAYS away from retirement whe he died. This man had the chance to retire earlier, and chose to work a few more years to get more money. We've all heard that old saying when you are on your death bed, you won't say you wish you had worked more.....you'll say you wish you had spent more time with your loved one's, right?

That's what this issue is about to us. It's saying to our kids.....being together as a family is the most important thing to us. I've mentioned earlier on this thread that our family vacations during scheduled school breaks are not an option for us due to dh occupation. But.......I think the fact that we take that special time away from school, during the school year makes it even more special. Yes, education is VERY important to dh and I. But not as much as the time we spend building memories with our kids. And the great news is.....we don't have to pick or choose here. Our kids are thriving in school even though they may miss 5 or 6 days due to vacation. In the grand scheme of things, they will not remember having to makeup homework assignments, ect. But they will never forget our vacations.

 

[bushdianee]

Being a teacher, the best advice I can give is to let the teacher(s) know ahead of time if you want work in advance. It is very frustrating to have parents ask for work to go on a vacation the day before or even the child's last daybefore the trip. I usually just have the kiddos keep a journal of the trip which they read to the class when they get back and then get to keep for the memories.

 

[we6clarks]

My sons school was great. I had just had to write a letter to the principal that he would be gone and how many days he would miss (3). His teacher asked if we'd like his work before we left or when we got back. He had 3 or 4 days to complete it and turn it back in.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Our teachers have been great about our trips so far. (going into 4th and 1st grades) For the last 3 yrs. ds9 has missed about 10 days/yr. for vacations, not all at once.
In fact when ds was in 1st grade, his teacher admitted that she forgot to send his "homework" for him to do, (which is writing a journal in1st and 2nd grades,) because there were so many kids going away she couldn't keep track of it all. One girl took 2 trips to China each for 2 weeks! After hearing that I felt a little more sane. I try to plan around teacher's inservices, NJ State teacher's convention (a 4 day weekend in Nov.), Jewish holidays, etc. When you factor in the time spent at lunch, recess, music, art, gym, etc, they really don't miss that much core instruction. In fact, our last WDW trip in May coincided with a school field trip to our local aquarium. That very day ds was visiting Kennedy Space Center with us and my parents too. That's one heck of a field trip! To me, that's priceless memories.
Also I always remind ds9 that if he ever feels like it's too hard to get back in the groove with his class and that he'd rather not miss school just let me know. For dh and I, our work doesn't pile up for us while we're on vacation so we don't feel the stress that ds does. Everyone says the workload really increases in middle school so that's probably when the trips will get moved to summer.
BTW, didn't we as kids all miss 1-2 weeks for chicken pox? We got through it just fine and so will our kids.
(sorry this is so long!)

 

[ShannonR]

I love that you all agree with me and my husband regarding the importance of family and time spent on vacation. However, we live in a state that does not share in our belief. We had originally planned on taking this cruise in 10/06 with the hopes that the school would be understanding, but we have fought this battle before with our WDW vacations and requests for vacation time. Some friends of ours had to take their sons out of school for one week this past spring for a grandparent's funeral in Tennessee and they were reported to the truancy board, had to go before the courts and prove that they were not negligent parents. My comment to my son's principal regarding this matter was, "if this is the case that these children can NEVER be out of school, then they should all be geniuses with all the "teaching?" time they are receiving. So why is it, then, that our state has the lowest IQ rates in children of any other state? That tells me that someone is NOT doing their job" But because we don't want to make any trouble for our children, we continue to take vacations on spring and summer breaks. We are lucky enough that my husband is a house dad and I am a nurse, so my schedule is pretty flexible to work around the kids time off.

 

[alcoromom]

We are pulling all 3 kids out the last 3 days of school next year.My kids did nothing the last 2 weeks of school last year.The last day they watched movies.Our grades are put in 2weeks before the last day.My fifth grader was done even earlier so records could be sent to the middle school.

 

[Laz]

Being a teacher, the best advice I can give is to let the teacher(s) know ahead of time if you want work in advance. It is very frustrating to have parents ask for work to go on a vacation the day before or even the child's last daybefore the trip. I usually just have the kiddos keep a journal of the trip which they read to the class when they get back and then get to keep for the memories.

As a HS business teacher, I agree with this advice. If I know early enough, I can prepare lesson plans and altenative assessments for the student. I can also try to adapt a lesson to the vacation. For example, If on a cruise, I will have the student interview the Purser or one of his staff and present it to the class.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are pulling all 3 kids out the last 3 days of school next year.My kids did nothing the last 2 weeks of school last year.The last day they watched movies.Our grades are put in 2weeks before the last day.My fifth grader was done even earlier so records could be sent to the middle school.

A friend of mine tried this for a WDW trip but the parks were still packed. Unfortunately, in our town school usually gets done around June 21 which is late compared to the rest of the country. They've done real work up until about 3 days before the last. Even started long division the week before. In fact when ds9 was in 1st grade he was given homework on the night before the last day! At least I can't call them slackers. Also on the last day of each year the kids all meet their teachers for the next year. I think that's good for them.

 

[mamalle]

for elementary school there isnt a policy on how many days you can miss. excused absences are for doctors notes and the others are unexcused. dd was in kindergarten when we took our ski trip this past feb. she was doing well and I did send a letter in a week prior to the teacher regarding her homework. somehow between the student teacher and the teacher it got screwed up and when I went to pick her up before leaving they didnt have it. Oh well, we did call her friend and got the 3 new words for her word ring. we worked every morning on those and thats really about it. Our trip was around presidents day holiday, a field trip to the zoo and a half day that week- so she really didnt miss much at all. My feeling is- when they are young and doing well- I will take them out of school for a family trip. Not around FCAT testing though or if they are struggling. Definitely not in middle school or high school as they do have a strict absent policy. maybe a day or two around other days off but thats it. the kids will miss a week in january next year and a week in may for our cruise but thats at the end of the year and she wont be missing much. This past year- she stopped getting homework at the end of april the month of may was spent watching quite a few movies and parties.. To each his own I say- you know whats best for your family and Im learning- they are only young once! our family vacations are priceless

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

In the UK the schools are hitting hard on this cutting out of school holiday absence down to 5 days with appraoval and only if your child has good attedance, up to 2002 I usaully went to the USA in October, better weather, less crowds, Halloween, and cheaper. But that was one week half term and one week out of school.

On the last one even though it was booked with the school well in advance I received a letter on return reporting me to the absence monitoring part of our local council.

Outside this my kids had 100% attendance, we now go in August, hot humid and crowds, and costs about a £1,000 more!!

UK tour operators take very much advantage of school holidays a massive hike in prices and you have to book long in advance.

School is very important but a familiy holiday together is also important, I think UK schools sholud cut summer holidays but increase half terms in May and October to two weeks, the kids would not fall back during a long summer holiday with better shorter breaks and you can decide when you want to go.

I would like ot go to Austrailia but Chrsitmas seems the only option as I do not wish to go to Sydney in their winter.

 

[aprilgail2]

School is very important but a familiy holiday together is also important, I think UK schools sholud cut summer holidays but increase half terms in May and October to two weeks, the kids would not fall back during a long summer holiday with better shorter breaks and you can decide when you want to go.

.

I wouldn't mind them having an extra week off in march or april (NOT around easter!) and then shortening the summer vacation by 1 week. I have to laugh when the school tells you to try to schedule your vacations during school time off and yet my daughters kindergarten teacher took all her personal days during one week and went to Florida leaving my daughter with a sub and her teacher this year got married and took all her personal days for a honeymoon leaving her with a different sub each day and not much learning for that whole week...that is also a big factor in why I just say the heck with it and take her when I want to! We just use my daughter "personal days" an go LOL.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I think it all boils down to money. If our children are not there they do not get paid.

In New Jersey, each town votes annually on the school budget which comprises about 80% of our ridiculously high property taxes. Mine just hit $7000 per yr for a small 3 br rancher on 1/4 acre! Once the budget is set and taxes are levied, it doesn't matter if my kids are there or not. (from a financial standpoint) It will not leave the schools shortchanged.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

As well as a holiday the kids see places of interest, not just Disney, but Carribean islands their way of life, mine so Las Vegas, Hollywood, grand Canyon, seem Dolphins, other sea life, Epcot is great as they learn about counties, and also life, growing things etc.

 

[mickeyteachers]

My husband and I both are high school teachers. At our school we have a policy that if a student is missing school for vacation then they cannot makeup the work. If they miss school more than 3 days for medical reasons then they must have a doctors note.
When students miss class they missing the daily activities. Like labs and lectures. And labs can be very difficult to make up.
I also feel as a parent that I want to make sure my kids realize that school is very important. That you should not miss it unless you are sick.
In the end it is what you value. I agree you can learn a lot from visiting islands. But, you cannot replace the science lab you missed or the lecture the teacher gave in the English class.
With all of the testing being done in schools it is important students are in school if they plan to succeed in life.

 

[lmok]

My husband and I both are high school teachers. At our school we have a policy that if a student is missing school for vacation then they cannot makeup the work. If they miss school more than 3 days for medical reasons then they must have a doctors note.
When students miss class they missing the daily activities. Like labs and lectures. And labs can be very difficult to make up.
I also feel as a parent that I want to make sure my kids realize that school is very important. That you should not miss it unless you are sick.
In the end it is what you value. I agree you can learn a lot from visiting islands. But, you cannot replace the science lab you missed or the lecture the teacher gave in the English class.
With all of the testing being done in schools it is important students are in school if they plan to succeed in life.

Thank You Mickeyteachers!!