Question for Texas DIS'ers

[lam0037]

While I went to high school in Alabama, I did miss a few days both my junior and senior years to go to Disney. In Auburn, you can miss I think up to three consecutive days with a parents note, any longer than that you need a doctors note. And I was a straight A student and only made a C on a test once in 7th grade and was AP.

Junior year I took three AP classes, but on alternating days. So when we went for my birthday, I missed a Friday and a Monday, meaning I only missed one day of each AP class. It really wasn't hard for me to catch up.

Senior year I took 5 AP classes and again missed two days of school. We went in October, flew out Thursday after school. Spent the weekend there. We had a teacher workday/conference day on Monday so I missed Tuesday as well. So I only missed two days of school and we had 4 and a half days at the parks, which was plenty because we go so often. I had no problem with doing my missed work and catch up.

Also, I don't know about your district or if your daughters are seniors, but we have a policy if you have less than three (maybe none) unexcused absences and an A you didn't have to take finals, which was a huge plus for me.

So if your district has days like that off it could work to your advantage when taking them out of school.

And also I know I will get tons of flack for this and I really shouldn't say it but if I'm kinda sick, or hungover, or had an emergency and couldn't make it to class, I just go to the med clinic or my actual doctor and get a note. Which is common on basically any college campus. Like the last week of class I fell into a storm drain and couldn't walk to class and since I WAS injured I went to the med clinic to have it looked at so I wouldn't be penalized.
(But it really did need to be looked at. My knee wouldn't stop bleeding, it was so deep you could see fat and bone and messed up some ligaments)

 

[disneyag]

OP--I took my DD out of school in our district for 2 days when she was in 5th grade and not a problem. We got her make up work ahead of time and it was still counted as an unexcused absence, but she wasn't penalized. She is now in High School and couldn't afford to miss even a day. Her AP classes cover so much material that she hates to miss even if she's sick. Also, in our district, final exam exemptions are also linked to unexcused absences, so if she had more than 2, she couldn't exempt an exam.

I suggest you speak with your district, but I think you are going to find that it's really difficult for older kids to miss.

And, Richard M. Nixon--school districts in TX are counting every penny. If your kid's butt isn't in a seat that day, it's less $$$ for the district. That's the reason for Draconian attendance measures. Ask any administrator or teacher in a TX district.

 

[BrianL]

I'm not going to go into best parenting practices and whether or not you should take kids out of school for something like a vacation, but I really can't believe that schools will punish and suspend students when their parents take them out of school for ANY reason. The parent should have to the right to do this if they see fit.

My first year in HS was my older sister's last. She happened to live with my dad many states away. Her graduation fell before my school was out and I was going to miss one day of exams to be there. I was told I could not make them up (which was not true as ALL my teachers let me make them up and I took 6 exams in one day but still). The thing is, my entire family was going. My mom would not miss her daughter's gradutation and I, at 13, had no choice but to travel with them.

Schools need to have some flexibility when it comes to things like this, work with parents and students and provide work for necessary absences, even if they're not Doctor approved. By the way, I aced all those exams and did not sacrifice my future missing a week for what was essentially a vacation (not as fun as WDW though).

 

[juliebug1997]

As someone who makes a living on those "butts being in seats" it means that they don't have to cut teachers the next year. It means that they can hire an additional special education aide or get more books or a few more pieces of technology.

Some districts follow the truancy policy that the state set down to a tee. Some are a little more flexible. It was designed for those kids and parents who are maybe attending school 100 out of the 180 days a school year; I had one student who only showed up the first day of school this year and I never saw her again, but she was on my class roster the entire year. It was not designed for people who miss a day or two to go to Disney before a break. If you think that this is "Draconian", you will probably be horrified that my district sends out the assistant principals on the state testing days to check on kids who don't show for the test. A no-show actually counts against a school.

 

[MichelleVW]

Don't take your kids out of school for a vacation. Especially in high school and with AP courses, there is so much material being covered daily that it's easy to fall behind. I would not rely on homework to teach core concepts. I missed a few days of Calculus in high school and I was trying to catch up for weeks. Treat education as the most important thing and not an area that can be blown off for frivolus trips.

Oh please. Education is important but so is life and family time.

We live in Texas and my daughter's sophomore year she missed a day or two after spring break. Tickets were crazy expensive over the weekend so I think we came home on Tuesday so she would have missed 2 days there. What's the difference (other than excused vs unexcused) than when she missed 3 days during the year for college visits? Which she is in college and doing great so obviously those few days didn't matter.

To the OP....if you can tack it on to a long weekend or school holiday I say go for it. I did that many times when the girls were in high school and they both did fine.

 

[sk!mom]

Thanks for the info. Yes my older two are in High School and are on the AP tract. We are looking closely at the Christmas Break where we could possibly fit a vacation in and only miss one day of school.

Texas has a very strict attendance policy. Enforcement varies widely between districts and even schools within a district. You would have to check with your school.

My DD18 just graduated in Texas. She took 4 AP classes this year and she would not have agreed to a trip that had her missing more than a day or two. Catching up would have been unbelievably stressful if not impossible.