Pulling kids out of school for a WDW trip

[tvguy]

I was thinking about this thread today when I saw the Press Release that one of our local school districts is doing a truancy sweep today. I'll be interested to see how may uncaring parents get caught up in the sweep, and how many very caring parents who took their kids out of school for vacation get arrested.

 

[tvguy]

In the district I live in at the high school level they have 21st Century Academies. These are wide ranging. In any case you can petition to go to a high school you are not assigned to (i.e. living within those boundaries) if you are going for that 21st Century Academy at that particular school. I'm not sure how the busing situation works though (free busing is provided for living X miles away from school otherwise you pay for it).

Private vs public is a whole another situation.

Public charges here too for sports transportation. A lot of parents here are now putting their kids in the school closest to their work, and opposed to closest to where they live.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Are things different in different states? School sports/clubs etc have transportation attached to them. Ie late buses, buses to other schools and home. Our school day ends at 1:55 and there are 3:10 and 4:30 late buses.

The kids in my school are poor. They fund-raise all year to go on their trips because some of them don’t have heat or food at home. Parents can’t pay for trips. Uniforms are paid for through the school budget (taxes).

I’m in NY- what is it like elsewhere? Any non-school sports are obviously on your own.

They had late buses where I was at as well. It was a blanket one though so let's say you were getting help from a teacher on homework or a test you could stay after and take the afterschool late bus. It could also be for student council or for sports, etc. I took the late bus when I was in middle school and was in art club (a club that my friends and I and the art teacher actually formed). Beyond the time that the last late bus left though you were on your own as far as transportation.

Not sure if they have that for elementary school though honestly.

 

[Toolulu22]

If you are talking about bus transportation to and from school team sports events, there is a charge here for that transportation. It was $75 when my son played high school baseball back in 2005 and I don't know if they had grants to help kids pay for that. It was a private Catholic High school and they did offer scholarships to help pay the $11,000 a year tuition, so it is entirely possible they had grant money for buses too.

If you are talking about bus transportation between school and home, that went away here a long time ago (like 20 years). We have open enrollment here, so it would be impossible to even come up with a route for the buses. We have 44 houses on my street, and none of the kids attended their default home school. They were scatter among 6 other high schools. Funny thing is, the Principal of the home school lives on our street. His kids didn't go to his school either. I suspect part of it was because he was Principal, but both his kids were in the IB programs, and his school didn't offer those classes.

Ok- so we have school districts that are attached to your geographic location. If you want to attend a specific school, you need to live within its borders. If you move out, you have to change schools.

The only time we have to pay for any extra curricular items is if our budget doesn’t pass, which is not often. However, the average Long Islander pays $8,000- 15,000 in school/property taxes per year. Yes, per year.

 

[PollyannaMom]

This discussion has gone off the rails from its original intent

Welcome to the DIS!

First, I'm not upset. I like a good discussion. But your arguments about a kid not having musical talent, or be good enough for cheerleading can also be said about kids getting all A's. I'm sure there are kids who struggle to study, who don't have a good support system at home, or who just don't "get" school. You complained earlier about things not being "fair". But my point is they are "fair". Everyone has the same opportunity to join whatever club/class/group they want. But some will have to work harder than others in order to excel. Is that "fair"? Maybe not, but the school's have no control over that.

This:

Not in every school system, no.

In many schools these programs come with a program fee, practice outside of school hours, and big trips are not all expenses paid. There are low income programs available for those who qualify, but a HUGE swath of kids with parents in the middle/lower middle class who do not qualify for low income programs but who simply don't have any extra money to pay program fees and trip costs, or ability to get kids to or from practices outside of when school buses are available.

All kids have access to school - but not all kids have access to the extra stuff that is "technically" available to them.

Our district has fees for these things and no "late bus". - Technically, sure, anyone can sign up for after school activities, but the kids who do are the ones with money and SAHMs, or other lucky arrangements.

I'm not saying we can actually make everything in school fair, nor that we completely should, or I agree that this happens:

Some young adults of the generation that was raised to think that everything needs to be fair and equal are struggling in the adult world. Everyone should get the promotion, everyone should get equal pay, everyone should get equal vacations. They just don't realize that sometimes hard work, sometimes better natural skills, and sometimes luck of the draw may get someone else a benefit that they didn't get. And rather than working hard to achieve what they want, they whine that life is not fair. I see it too often these days with some of the helicoptered kids coming in to the work place.

But I think there's a place for a certain amount of this as well:

And some are motivated to fight injustice. It’s a delicate balance to teach children that sometimes things just don’t go there way & sometimes things are systemically unjust & need to be challenged.

at least before we can really say "Everyone has the same opportunity to join whatever club/class/group they want."

 

[tvguy]

Ok- so we have school districts that are attached to your geographic location. If you want to attend a specific school, you need to live within its borders. If you move out, you have to change schools.

The only time we have to pay for any extra curricular items is if our budget doesn’t pass, which is not often. However, the average Long Islander pays $8,000- 15,000 in school/property taxes per year. Yes, per year.

The geographic borders were what we had before. Yeah, I won't complain about about my $2,100 in property taxes (including the school tax) per year. Of course, my FIL similar sized house in Texas has $400 a year in property taxes, in a state with no state income tax.

 

[LSUmiss]

Maybe I'm confused about what people are saying, but I don't think the issue with band/sports vs family vacations is the "fairness" of it all, but rather the inconsistency of it.
If, on one hand, it is oh-so-important for every kid to be in every class every single day because they're missing oh-so-much material and making life oh-so-hard for teachers, then that should be true across the board. The school should be setting the example that the *only* thing that matters to your education is being physically in your seat in your classroom.

But if they let clubs/teams miss classroom time, then clearly they are already acknowledging that being in your seat in class is not the be-all and end-all of education, and the protestations of some posters that missing school is some horrible transgression is a little over the top.

Thank you! That was originally what I was saying about the situation.

 

[LSUmiss]

I was thinking about this thread today when I saw the Press Release that one of our local school districts is doing a truancy sweep today. I'll be interested to see how may uncaring parents get caught up in the sweep, and how many very caring parents who took their kids out of school for vacation get arrested.

I don’t know about your area, but here you might technically be truant after 10-15 unexcused absences; but no one is really going after anyone until it’s been way more like double that. It’s really only the extreme cases that get reported here. It’s also not a population who would even have the means to go on a wdw trip so that’s not why they’re missing.

 

[Skellingtonj]

They'd be boring if they didn't go off the rails sometimes, right?

I especially love when someone asks about buying a car and it becomes a sahm vs working mom debate. That’s always fun to read

 

[sam_gordon]

Maybe I'm confused about what people are saying, but I don't think the issue with band/sports vs family vacations is the "fairness" of it all, but rather the inconsistency of it.
If, on one hand, it is oh-so-important for every kid to be in every class every single day because they're missing oh-so-much material and making life oh-so-hard for teachers, then that should be true across the board. The school should be setting the example that the *only* thing that matters to your education is being physically in your seat in your classroom.

But if they let clubs/teams miss classroom time, then clearly they are already acknowledging that being in your seat in class is not the be-all and end-all of education, and the protestations of some posters that missing school is some horrible transgression is a little over the top.

Here's the thing... I don't think anyone is really saying the bolded. Just like no one (ok, the majority by far) believes WDW is "educational". At least I don't believe that. I believe it is about money primarily. The state/school board looks for "butts in seats" for $$. I'm willing to wager if Johnny is off with the football team (or band, or chorus, or drama, or chess club, or FFA, or whatever), they are counted as "present". Maybe I'm wrong about that, and a school attendance officer can clarify. Therefore, just because they're not in class, they're still counted as "in class".

Now, maybe those who's children ARE involved in these extra curriculars take missing other days of school even more seriously and therefore try to limit them.

 

[design_mom]

I’m in NY- what is it like elsewhere? Any non-school sports are obviously on your own.

There's no late bus at my kids school, nor was there at mine when grew up. In fact, I don't know of any district in our area that runs a late bus. When I was growing up, I didn't get to participate in many after-school activities because I didn't have transportation. I currently work from home so I'm able to handle transportation for my kids.

Our school has a pay-to-participate fee of $80 per activity per season. Some activities have an additional fee. There are usually some fundraising opportunities for the additional and the booster organization offers help in cases of financial hardship, but I don't know what or how much help. I have experience with cross country ($0 additional fee), track/field ($100/season fee--although the kids do get a windbreaker and the coaches gifts come out of that), and hockey ($1500).

Uniforms are usually borrowed from the school, but sometimes there are exceptions. Again, my experiences are with cross country and track (uniforms reused between sports -- boys get a jersey and shorts; girls get jersey only and have to provide their own shorts. I'm not sure why the difference.) Hockey (school provided jerseys and a cover to go over hockey pants. Kids had to buy uniform socks. Kids had to provide own pads, helmet, etc.). My daughter's planning to join marching band next year. I believe the school provides the main uniform, but we'll have to buy specific band shoes, as well as the "summer uniform" (shorts and a polo shirt).

Any overnight trips are student/booster club funded, not school funded at all.

 

[sam_gordon]

I remember when I was in HS 30+ years ago, I took an "Advanced PE" course. We took a day out of school and went skiing, a couple hours to go bowling, and a couple days to go to the Smoky Mountains for hiking. I guess to some, that was "unfair" to kids who weren't in the class.

 

[kc10family]

My kids have gone to a few different schools due to moving. One school was very supportive of family time during school days as long as the child was doing well, and the absences were not excessive. Another didn’t mind with advanced notice and the child doing well. Then there was the one that sent me over the edge and was the last straw for brick and mortar schooling for me. My husband had been deployed, he missed birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. When DH came home, we scheduled a week long family vacation. I told the teachers, they had no issue with it but when I told the principle, she told me the kids would get all 0’s for all days missed on the vacation. The district policy was clear about family vacations and that was that. We still went and I didn’t care because my kids were straight A students. I found out after that if I said it was a funeral or called them in sick every day, it would have been excused and they would have not gotten 0’s. I now school my kids at home.

Kids can learn so much from family vacations. I believe you can learn as much or more from real life interactions then sitting in a chair at school.

 

[kdonnel]

School funding based on daily attendance is a horrible policy. I wonder if the folks who’s districts are less flexible on attendance are located in a state that funds based on daily attendance?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/posteverything/wp/2015/04/21/how-some-school-funding-formulas-hurt-learning-and-make-schools-more-dangerous/

 

[tvguy]

I don’t know about your area, but here you might technically be truant after 10-15 unexcused absences; but no one is really going after anyone until it’s been way more like double that. It’s really only the extreme cases that get reported here. It’s also not a population who would even have the means to go on a wdw trip so that’s not why they’re missing.

Only 3 unexcused absences here. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ai/tr/

 

[Toolulu22]

School funding based on daily attendance is a horrible policy. I wonder if the folks who’s districts are less flexible on attendance are located in a state that funds based on daily attendance?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/posteverything/wp/2015/04/21/how-some-school-funding-formulas-hurt-learning-and-make-schools-more-dangerous/

That’s how it works here. We have to be in school 180 days minimum to teach, and two conference days. We lose vacation days if we have snow days. If we have an unusual amount of weather days ie. we lost a couple of weeks during Sandy, we lost spring vacation and had to petition the state to excuse the rest.

I have 5 teaching periods per day where I take attendace. Sometimes for a double period, I forget to take attendance for the second half (maybe once or twice a year I’ll forget). I’ll get a note from the Principal on those occasions reminding me of the importance because attendance goes right to the State. I guess my viewpoint is shaped by my district’s policy, because our Superindenent and Principal both remind us (teachers) constantly about NOT extending weekends, vacations, and not taking days off unless absolutely necessary. We have a really strong union, and they are on board with that policy.

 

[Toolulu22]

The geographic borders were what we had before. Yeah, I won't complain about about my $2,100 in property taxes (including the school tax) per year. Of course, my FIL similar sized house in Texas has $400 a year in property taxes, in a state with no state income tax.

We are here until retirement, and then gone.

 

[tvguy]

We are here until retirement, and then gone.

Yeah, we debated moving to a cheaper state than California, but we just know too many people who regret pulling up roots when they retire. So we remodeled 5 years ago, and are working at getting a few loose ends (fencing, etc) in the next 2 years and hope to retire then.

 

[LSUmiss]

Only 3 unexcused absences here. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ai/tr/

Wow. That’s crazy to me.

 

[EMom]

The geographic borders were what we had before. Yeah, I won't complain about about my $2,100 in property taxes (including the school tax) per year. Of course, my FIL similar sized house in Texas has $400 a year in property taxes, in a state with no state income tax.

Before anyone gets busy packing to move to Texas because of a $400 property tax bill, I'd like to point out that most people I know pay 5 figures in property taxes. Even a relative with a property valued at $80K pays close to $2000 per year.