Nasty School Letter

[mrsv98]

As soon as our school district drops "non-contact" days, teacher institute days, "school improvement" days, Casimir Polaski Day, late-starting days, early release days, and the like, I will consider letting them dictate my DD's attendance. Otherwise, WE are her parents and WE will decide what is important to our family!

 

[jodifla]

As soon as our school district drops "non-contact" days, teacher institute days, "school improvement" days, Casimir Polaski Day, late-starting days, early release days, and the like, I will consider letting them dictate my DD's attendance. Otherwise, WE are her parents and WE will decide what is important to our family!

Exactly!!!!

 

[skoi]

Bicker- on homeschooling-- each state writes its own law. It sounds like the law in Maryland is more flexible than where we live. Here in PA- we have to file a notarized affidavit of our intent to homeschool, provide objectives for all required subjects, prove we have at least a high school education, and provide immunization and medical records in certain grades. If not-- the attendance officer or social worker from children's services might make a call on your home. I won't even go into the end of year requirements which involve paying a licensed evaluator, proving 900 hours of instruction, etc.

On topic: I can see both sides of this.
-Every district has its requirements, and if we were in the system, we would feel we had to abide by them.
-That said, I can see the problem people have with administrators telling them what they may do with their own children. My new contact at the local school has no knowledge of the law, and insists on dictating to me, telling me they're responsible for my children, and threatening me with legal action even though we over comply with the law. She's also very contemptuous of our decision to school our own children, and thinks we're not up to the task though she knows nothing about our backgrounds and has never seen our children's work or test scores. She's the sort of person who turned me off to public education when I taught-- someone who thinks they're the professional and therefore knows better than any parent every time. Off my soapbox now.

BTW: we go to Disney in the fall, and I used to joke with the former school official that's one of the reasons we homeschooled, so our vacation schedule wasn't screwed up.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I think that the orginial idea of excused/unexcused absences and the number you are allowed so that you can be promoted regardless of grades is a good idea. I do think it is geared towards those children who for whatever reason are not going to school. These kids get promoted year after year and then get into 10th grade with a 3rd grade education and quit.

These sentences are completely contradictory. To say that a child should not be promoted regardless of grades, then state the reason as them getting to 10th grade without a 3rd grade education doesn't make a lot of sense. Some children are beyond a 3rd grade education, when they are in that particular grade.

A couple other statements don't quite register with me. The person who said they should do away with the gifted programs. What could they possibly be thinking?

We live in Florida & our DS(13) has been in 2 different school districts. Both have worked with us in every situation. I had one of his teachers tell me that they determine the amount of days they approve for a child to miss, by the child's grades & ability. It doesn't quite seem fair to all, but it does eliminate the concern of a child not being able to catch up. In my son's school, everything seems to revolve around their ability to perform well on the end of grade tests. If the tests look good, the teacher looks good! We aren't taking him out for vacation, but I am confident that he wouldn't be permanately harmed academically if we did. He is in the gifted program & missing a few days sick doesn't get him so far behind that he can't catch up.

To the person who mentioned the never ending amount of time teachers put in, we obviously don't know the same teachers. I have 2 sisters & many 1st cousins who are teachers in NC. They get off more days than their kids do. I've seen them drop their kids off many times, then take the day off to keep from losing their days. They can't go anywhere, because they can't take their kids out of school. No, they aren't paid as much as many working professionals, but they're not working typical full-time jobs. I wouldn't necessarily want their job. On the other hand, if I were a teacher with the amount of days off that they get, I certainly wouldn't say anything about a child missing a week for vacation. BTW, I also know several teachers in Florida & none of them seem to be as dedicated as the ones you know. They are very good at their jobs, but they definitely don't spend all their time going to classes, seminars, etc. If any of the teachers I know go to seminars, they are getting more out of the trip than classes. I don't think either of my sisters would consider these seminars a burden. Most of them are more like a chance to fly to a city, stay in a hotel, & have a food budget on the state's dime. Of course, they take a few classes during the day in order to get this perk. Those that don't require travel are usually held during school hours, & a substitute fills in for them. It's not something I'd turn down.

Just my 2 cents. Sorry, so long.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Quote: I have no issue with people who pull their kids and are willing to face consequences. But the school has no obligation to pass your kid or give them As because you pulled them for two weeks - even if they do A level work on their tests. Attendance is often one of the factors to grading - it isn't just about passing tests and knowing the material

This makes no sense to me. So child A who attends every day but doesn't understand the work gets passed, but child B who went to WDW for two weeks but can demonstrate a high level of competency in the work doesn't? You're saying that just showing up and sitting in the classroom is more important than having actually learned something? Is that the purpose of schools - just to keep kids in a room, and whether or not they learn or can do the work is unimportant? Wow. No wonder so many people are unhappy with the school system!

This is not what I believe education is about.

Teresa

 

[Camping Griswalds]

people should be able to pull there kids out of school if they want. my feeling on the subject though is that there are 180 school days a year. there are 185 days when there is no school. figure out a way to go to disney during those 185 days.

While I agree with you in principal, there are many people whom work in my area that aren't allowed to take vacation in Summer. ( we live in a resort and multiple city employees have this written into their contracts) So this takes away a large portion of their 185 days with the kids being out of school. While we personally are not in that situation, I know that several jobs do hold restrictions like that. My DH can take no vacation on the major traveling holidays like 4th of July and Mem and Labor weekend. This is new to us it will go in effect 2006. While I do not like this, it does make sense for his job. anyway I still think the school system/board of education has an uncanny hold on a lot of people.

 

[Az Pirates]

Quote: I have no issue with people who pull their kids and are willing to face consequences. But the school has no obligation to pass your kid or give them As because you pulled them for two weeks - even if they do A level work on their tests. Attendance is often one of the factors to grading - it isn't just about passing tests and knowing the material

This makes no sense to me. So child A who attends every day but doesn't understand the work gets passed, but child B who went to WDW for two weeks but can demonstrate a high level of competency in the work doesn't? You're saying that just showing up and sitting in the classroom is more important than having actually learned something? Is that the purpose of schools - just to keep kids in a room, and whether or not they learn or can do the work is unimportant? Wow. No wonder so many people are unhappy with the school system!

This is not what I believe education is about.

Teresa

Unfortunately sometimes I think that is the mentality.

DD experinced that one in yearbook last year.
The publisher rep picked out every one of her pages and complimented her, said it was some of the best graphic work he had seen out of a high school.
He specifically asked for her to help re-do pages last minute as what some of the other students turned in was unacceptable. (I blame this on the yearbook advisor - but we won't go there.)

One of the girls who had EVERY page she worked on rejected because she did not meet the pre-set and clearly stated criteria... got an A because she didn't miss a day all year. DD ended up with a B because she missed too many days.

The fact that DD's absences came at the end of the year AFTER the yearbook was already printed and back and class was pretty much a hang out and chat session every day made no difference.
Frustrating!


Of course we had just the opposite happen with DD #2. One of her teachers did not even require her to take the final since she "knew" DD would get an A anyway. While she probably would have, I was still pretty surprised at that one.

 

[Nancyg56]

My problem with this and so much of society and rules now is that the "BAD" people ruin it for the rest of us. Whatever happened to rewarding good behavior? Why should I or my family be penalized when we were doing all of the right things in the first place? Whatever happened to punishing those that are wrong and letting the rest of us continue with our "GOOD" behavior?

You know, I thought the same way for a long time. I was discussing it with my DS, who at that time was a junior in HS, and he said "Mom, not all parents are like you. Some don't care, and some don't know any different. You can't forget their kids." My DS was not a great student at the time, but I valued what he could see, and what I was not exposed to.

I agree that it is a shame that school systems are getting locked into rules for all, when they should be applied to a few. I really wonder if a solution might lie in changing the way our kids attend school. The long summer break is a problem for kids. We no longer rely on kids for summer harvest, as was the case when the break was implemented. I think it would be better for them to have more breaks during the year, and go all year long. I think that the level of education in our kids would increase if they were educated with a different break pattern, and fewer kids would fall behind. This would make it easier for parents to plan a vacation that did not need to fall into the regular school schedule as it now stands.

 

[estherhead]

I have been appalled (but not shocked) here in Ohio lately. Many Columbus, Oh schools are considering shutting down because they are losing so much money and students to charter schools. The things the school board say always suprise me because they are like, "If they think they can put us out of business.." or "It's our money, not the parents (about on-line schools)." Quoted in the newspapers! When I was in 8th grade my parents tried to homeschool me and we got taken to truancy court. We were totally surprised because the superintendant lied in court over & over and we lost. Later we discovered that because I was a talented & gifted student they would lose thousands of dollars if I left their school, despite the fact that they had no T&G programs for me, they could file as if they did. Needless to say, we sold our house & I never put foot in that school again. We moved to a district with quality educators and I recieved a good education through a good public school.

All of that being said: teachers & all of the school staff have an incredibly difficult job & I wish that they didn't have to teach to tests, struggle with a lack of money, and deal with drugs & bullying and all the other stuff that goes on.

I will do a charter school here in Ohio next year where I keep my daughter home and she is taught on-line by the public schools (and me). She'll have a teacher who I've already met that we meet up with at least once a month and e-mail. I wish it wasn't that way here, I wish I could kiss her and she could get on the bus and be completely safe and well educated at our local schools. But I live in reality. And in rural Ohio the reality is school boards are run by politicians. One school just discovered $25,000 missing dollars: hmmm....? Another had to fire a teacher on molestation charges, and the district I'm in is fighting and fighting about drug testing. None of the schools I just mentioned got good marks on education this year. They all were failing.

I'm sorry for your letter and I hope it doesn't ruin your trip.

 

[King Slimky]

In my school, we aren't allowed to miss more than three days of school!! It's a private school, and they are really strict on what you and cannot do. I had been diagnosed with cancer at the beginning on the year and missed four days. They are seriously considering if I should get held back or not! I AM A STRAIGHT-A Student!!

 

[snickerboo]

The intention of unexcused absences is a good one but admnistrators need to use some discretion. A family Disney trip is educational....social studies (visiting another area of the country/continent and observing differences in culture, weather, environment, etc.), science (Sea World, AK, and Epcot are full of marine biology and zoology), language arts (tons of reading...maps, signs, etc.), math (calculating FP times, budgeting, etc)...I could go on and on. My dd is in grade one and relatively advanced and I can definitely say she learns more in a week in Florida than in a regular week at school! When a child is missing school all the time for no real reason, that's when you call CPS not when a family loves their kids enough to spend thousands of dollars on a Disney vacation.

To me, administrators are abusing their power when they say that children cannot go on a family vacation or, worse, making them make up time for hospitalization! (That's unreal!!!) Thankfully, my school principal and school board are still using common sense.

 

[mrs.beast]

E.

Regardless of one's opinion of the law, it should be followed. If one does not like it, he/she should do something about it, not just break it. Instead of complaining, do something. Research what other districts have done about school year travel, and the benefits of travel for children and propose changes to your school board. As voters, you have a say in policy. It can be changed. Our district has ind study for vacations/illness so that families have flexibility. It is extra work for the child's teacher, but it is worth it for the family to be able to do things together (and i can say that because I am the teacher doing the extra work ) I do about 5-6 a year, and while it takes me a few hours to get the I.S. prepared, the experiences the child has on the trip are things I could never provide in the classroom. Travel is a wonderful educational experience for children that they should be able to experience. If it must happen during the school year, then so be it.

 

[cedmonds]

This is why I do not inform the school. I simply upon our return say my son was absent due to "family business" I do not feel they need an explanation. Yet I am not lying, being with my family,being together is more important then a couple of days of school. Do I ask his teacher for a note when she is out ,more then my son is, and I say this as a teacher. When my parents ask me for work I tell them to enjoy and come back with a great story.
Life is short and they are grown in a blink of an eye-enjoy every minute and do not let anyone rob you of that
Have a "magical" trip

 

[tigger813]

I am currently a teacher. I've resigned from my job at the end of the year. We just bought DVC at SSR. I've always had to go to Disney during the summer or on our vacations. We have decided to take our children to Disney with their grandparents the first week in December. DD #1 will be in 2nd grade when we go. We have had a very difficult year with 2 deaths in our family and a serious illness. Life is too short and I will not have anyone tell me when I can take my vacation. Once she is in late elementary and older we will not take her out for more than a few days if necessary.
I've had students go away to Disney during the year in the past. We do not give work ahead of time. Students will find all of their work in their desks upon their return and have a week to make it all up. It is in our handbook about this practice. One student at the last minute contacted me that he would be going away during MCAS. I had to call the parent who told me she had no idea about this even though 2 weeks before I had told her about MCAS and it was in all notices that went home and on my classroom web site. MCAS is our state testing.
People talk about the importance of spending more quality time with their families in this crazy, stress filled world and that's what I'm going to do and I'm not going to ask for anyone's permission.

Tracey

 

[carrie1626]

I'm reading all of your posts with my jaw on the desk My heart goes out to all of you that have to contend with threats of fines and court and god knows what. I just went to WDW this past Thanksgiving, making it the 4th time since 2000 that I took my kids out of school. Granted, I did choose weeks where they were off 2 days already. But, I did get one response of the "official form" that teachers must sign that stated: "school is in session".
Life is short, tomorrow is never quaranteed. And just because school isn't in session during Xmas, Easter and summer doesn't mean Xmas, Easter or summer are convenient for me!!

 

[Colleen27]

I agree that it is a shame that school systems are getting locked into rules for all, when they should be applied to a few. I really wonder if a solution might lie in changing the way our kids attend school. The long summer break is a problem for kids. We no longer rely on kids for summer harvest, as was the case when the break was implemented. I think it would be better for them to have more breaks during the year, and go all year long. I think that the level of education in our kids would increase if they were educated with a different break pattern, and fewer kids would fall behind. This would make it easier for parents to plan a vacation that did not need to fall into the regular school schedule as it now stands.

I think that sounds good, in theory. It would certainly make it easier on families like mine, who have work obligations that prevent vacationing during the summer. If we want to travel on a school break, it can only be during the super-crazy-busy Christmas or Easter break, and even then it can't be the 10 day trips we take in the fall because we wouldn't dream of being away from the extended family for the actual holiday. But that requires a major shift in the way we regard school, and I don't see that coming any time soon. Applying a little common sense to absence policies, on the other hand, wouldn't involve nearly the same logstical challenges.

Right now we homeschool, but we're also fortunate enough to live in a district that takes a reasonable approach to family vacations and other non-illness related absences. I attended school in a district so strict that a friend of mine missed graduation because the school determined she should fail her final semester courses because of absences due to a major surgery. Never mind that she completed the work and that she was otherwise an honor student... Her parents had to appeal to the school board for her to get her diploma, and she didn't get to participate in commencements because the situation was still up in the air then. Zero tolerance and blind application of rules created to address worst case scenarios should not override common sense.

 

[LauraAnn630]

This should be interesting. Im taking my son out for a week this September for the free dining.

I also took him out for 4 days this last Christmas. They were cool about that. But now Im doing it again.

 

[bzzymom]

I am a nurse and I have a hard time getting to use any of my vacation. I am fortunate to live in a community that does allow for children to miss school to travel with their family. It is not encourage, but it is allowed. My son is an A/B student and has no problems making work up.

 

[mabenoab]

I've read this thread with great interest. I realize it was begun well over a year ago, but I know parents still wrestle with whether or not to pull their kids out of school for a Disney trip. I have not done so, because we like going in the summer, but I think that the choice belongs to the family and not in the school district. Most familes who wrestle with this choice are clearly parents who care about their children's education. Otherwise, they wouldn't think 2ce about it. For us, we save days off during school year for things that are beyond our control: sickness, family emergencies, etc., but I won't judge another parent's choice.

My kids are in ps now, but we homeschooled for 5 years. One PP suggested she would pull her kids for vacation telling the school she wanted to HS and then just tell them it didn't work when she returned. I hope (s)he was being funny and wouldn't really do that. I found it hard enough to HS without having to face questions on whether or not we'd really thought it out. We did...ALOT! (and loved every minute of it).

But the post that stuck with me the most was:

If it were actually nuts, then the community wouldn't put up with it.

I think we have to really be careful with this theory because there have been communities large & small, throughout history, who have tolerated "nuts" behaviors. Sometimes that tolerance enables the "nuts" behaviors to grow beyond control. Communities are not always controlled by the majority values, and community positions sometimes reflect only the values of an involved minority. Personally, I think its good to challenge existing systems, respectfully of course. Without challenge, systems will never be improved, modified or disgarded if necessary.

Just my own irrelevant 2 cents.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

I really appreciated the comment of Mabenoab. The poster recognized that the problem probably does not lie with the family that carefully weighs the decision to take their child out of school for a week for a family vacation. The problem lies with the child that misses a number of days because the parents are not taking attendance as the serious issue it is.

I had absolutely no problem with my decision to take my three children out of school for 8 days last March for a Disney vacation. Because of work related stuff, DH and I both have a very difficult time missing work spring, summer or fall. When we left for Disney, my children had missed only 1 school day all year (pink eye ) One day is not bad with three kids 7, 4.5 and 4.5. However, since we've been home, they have each missed 2 more days due to illness. Frankly, missing 10 school days concerns me greatly. They are all doing fine but still, it's not as if my approach is simply "oh well".

So, next year, they will miss 6 school days in February for another Disney vacation. We shortened our trip from last year to help with the days missed. But, after careful consideration DH and I feel we have made the best decision for our children and our family.