School absence letter for cruise

[wwwosie]

The main problem these days is the "No Child Left Behind" Act. All schools receive grades and part of that grade is the attendance of the students.

In our county, they have chosen to not allow excuses at all. No homework can be made up, no quizes can be made up, no reports and no tests. The students simply gets a zero for each and every missed assignment. Taking a child out of school for a week and having that child receive a week's worth of zeros especially in high school is devastating.

That said, the best thing for you to do is check with your child's school and see what they say.

Good Luck!

Actually it's also about $$$$ our district loses $35.00 per day for every day a child is absent, excused or not.
Around these here parts they call that Act "No Child Left Standing"...

 

[SingingMom]

If a child in our district is out of school for more than 5 days, they get an independent study - A signed contract from family saying they will do work, and the teachers get a packet of work together that goes with our child for him to complete while on vacation.

I know it is not the same as him being in class.....

but he is getting his work done.

Bottom line is YOU are the parent. YOU make the decisions. I have a high school student and realize now how easily work is made up in the lower years - so take them out now, rather than when they're in middle and/or high school, when they not only miss lots of work, but miss their friends as well. I don't see how a school can force you to write some letter, and so what if it's "unexcused"...it doesn't exactly affect your "permanent record" or anything!!!

I totally agree with that statement: Bottom line is YOU are the parent!
But, in my DD's school, they are not required to give you a packet of work that will be missed and needs to be completed.. it is TOTALLY the student's responsibility to make up any missed work.. by speaking to classmates, etc... They will NOT give out work ahead of time.

When DD was little, I didn't worry about pulling her a day or two - but now that she's in high school, I wouldn't dare. It was a tragedy when she was sick with bronchitis and missed three days of school last winter!

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Fortunately we live and work in a community that has school districts that allow parents to be parents. They are are also very open to the concept that life experience (regardless of how other people rate those experiences) are not things you can teach in the classroom. Vacation are excused here. In fact they are encouraged. I always have to chuckle when I see other people pass judgment on other people or parents regarding choices they make with THEIR children.

We can hash this conversation to death left or right. We can make this about poor parenting or poor leadership in school boards. Does any single persons schedule, lifestyle or vacation needs match anyone else's? I highly doubt it. If you make a choice regarding YOUR child then good job for being there as a parent. You won't hear me flame you for doing your job. Even if I disagree with your choices. But the minute you start to worry about how I'm doing mine we've crossed a line.

So to borrow some words from someone (from an earlier post) who was not so supportive of taking kids out of school:

No matter how you "spin it" children where we live are excused for family vacations. Plain and simple. I can assure you with the level of education the schools in Minnesota (compared to the rest of the country) vacations taken here are not the cause of poor performance.

Bottom line, if you are a parent make choices for your children and your family as you see proper, fit and good for your family. Do not allow others criticize you.

Here is the portion of the parent/student guide regarding vacation in our district.

 

[wwwosie]

If it wasn't for the weather, I'd pack up and move to your state TOMORROW!!!
The policies around here are beginning to border on ridiculous... it's all about the $$$$

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

If it wasn't for the weather, I'd pack up and move to your state TOMORROW!!!
The policies around here are beginning to border on ridiculous... it's all about the $$$$

I lived in Colorado until I was 9 then grew up in Florida until I was 20. Joined the army, lived in Germany for 4 years and then moved to Minnesota in 2000.

I have to say it's beautiful up here. After living in FL I can tell you I love it there as well. But I enjoy having 4 seasons up here . Winter can be cold but you can't beat the summers. Just amazing!

 

[Marciern22]

You know what? Life's to short not to take the kids out of school for a cruise! Soon enough they will have too many responsibilities.
I'm an RN in an ICU and I have hit a place in my life where I have seen too many die young. And I told my kids that we were gonna have FUN cuz who knows how long any of us have. SO CRUISE YOUR HEART OUT!!!!! Take unexcused absences.
Can anyone point out something bad in your adult life right now that is due to an unexcused absence in school?

 

[minnieandmickey]

In our district an unexcused absence is ALSO being late for more than minutes in one day or leaving 30 minutes before the end of the day, except for dr. appoinment, funeral, religious service/holiday.

After three absences the repercussions are:
First offense:you will get a letter informing you that your child is considered a truant.

Second offense: Another letter, possible consequences and letter get's cc'd to the police department.

Third offense: Your child is now an "habitual" truant. Meeting with principal, superintendent, police department.

The letters DO go out. And I know of folks making it to the third offense procedures.

This isn't your school district making the standards for attendance this is CA state law. It is actually second offence meet with the principal, third offense meet in front of a school SARB (school attendance review board) committee with the local police dept in attendance. Here's the kicker after that if the student is in violation of his/her SARB contract we have to send a warning letter, then after that we can call a truancy officer to go and cite the student where they have to go before a judge and explain why they can't get to school on time. 1st offense is 3 unverified or unexcused absences, 2nd 6, and 3rd 9.

Now even knowing all of that I have taken my kids out of school for vacations. My DH rarely if ever can get a summer vacation so we have no other choice. Work with your child's teacher to get the work they will be missing, that way they don't fall behind.
Oh and by the way No Child Left Behind is a huge joke, there are many a child being left behind because of that Act. Teachers no longer teach, the are preparing your child for the many tests they have to take each year. Also realize a school cannot run without money, programs cannot run without money, and unfortunately we receive our money only if a student is sitting in one of our desks. Once again not the districts decision, its the state and federal.

 

[wwwosie]

This isn't your school district making the standards for attendance this is CA state law. It is actually second offence meet with the principal, third offense meet in front of a school SARB (school attendance review board) committee with the local police dept in attendance. Here's the kicker after that if the student is in violation of his/her SARB contract we have to send a warning letter, then after that we can call a truancy officer to go and cite the student where they have to go before a judge and explain why they can't get to school on time. 1st offense is 3 unverified or unexcused absences, 2nd 6, and 3rd 9.

Now even knowing all of that I have taken my kids out of school for vacations. My DH rarely if ever can get a summer vacation so we have no other choice. Work with your child's teacher to get the work they will be missing, that way they don't fall behind.
Oh and by the way No Child Left Behind is a huge joke, there are many a child being left behind because of that Act. Teachers no longer teach, the are preparing your child for the many tests they have to take each year. Also realize a school cannot run without money, programs cannot run without money, and unfortunately we receive our money only if a student is sitting in one of our desks. Once again not the districts decision, its the state and federal.

Thanks! I agree with what you said. Luckily when we traveled I didn't have to work with our teachers because we had a year round calendar and we went away during breaks. I work part time for one of the school districts around here and I agree with what you posted about NCLB...
I think that in most cases, if a student is doing well, the teachers will work with the parents if they need to take time off...

 

[Maryrn11168]

We are leaving on our cruise in 16 days!! At meet the Teacher Night the Pricipal gave a nice speech on how there is only 176 days of school during the year and how vacations should be planned around them. When she was done I went to her and said " I guess this is not a good time to remindd that we are pulling the kids out for a week to go on the Disney Cruise!!!" She rolled her eyes and said" you know how I feel" And I replied "and I don't care!!" My youngest child suffers from a chronic medical condition and life, sometimes is just way too short!!!. I try to plan trips around 'off' holidays, or extend long weekends by a day or two. But if you are doing a 7 night cruise you have to pull them a full week. My kids are also in private school and the difference in price from when they in school or out of school is close to a years tuition. So I also told her I could pull them out for a year or I could pull them out for a week!!

 

[lbgraves]

We live in a military area and principals are generally very understandable about the importance of families spending quality time together and that due to deployment or work-required travel those times do not always fit into the scheduled vacation times. Our principal has a lot of common sense as well. When I asked her what the kids would need to do after we returned from the EB Repo on 9/3 she said that they wouldn't be considered absent so no makeup work would be required, especially since they would learn more on the cruise and going through the PC than they could ever teach them at a desk in 6 days. [School started here on 8/25.] As long as the kids are doing well in class we will continue to take them out of school for educational opportunities or just to spend quality time with extended family since my IL's health also doesn't always coorrespond to scheduled time off.

They do have a policy that after 15 days out of school the child's record will be reviewed to determine if they will be held back at the end of the year. I am not worried about DS at all since I don't think they would have a valid argument to hold a child back who has been tested and is 3+ grades ahead in his reading and math ability.

 

[miztigg]

just got back from the wonder and i got a nastygram from the school saying my son had 4 absences blah blah blah and in his future blah blah blah however all his teachers gave him his work and hes 90% done most of it however he is gonna be in 8th grade so next yrs cruise is for me and the girls only

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Our district here in California doesn't "excuse" any absences other than illness, for any reason. Period. Now, if you are going to be gone for 5 or more days, you can arrange for Independent Study ahead of time. The IC coordinator will get the work for the child for the week/s they will be gone. If all the work is turned in as soon as the child returns, they can receive credit for their work. I am also a teacher in this district, and let me tell you, it is a lot of work for me to go through. And very frustrating when the child doesn't even do it! Arrgh. That said, I'd take my own kids out if there wasn't another way. We've done it for my BIL's college graduation and for DH's dying grandma. I wouldn't if either of my kids were struggling in school. No way.

We are also fortunate to be year round- which I love passionately!! 4 weeks off in November, 2 weeks at Christmas, 3 weeks in March, out around mid-June for 6 weeks over the summer and start again around July 30. It is awesome. November is the best time to travel!!

 

[minnieandmickey]

Thanks! I agree with what you said. Luckily when we traveled I didn't have to work with our teachers because we had a year round calendar and we went away during breaks. I work part time for one of the school districts around here and I agree with what you posted about NCLB...
I think that in most cases, if a student is doing well, the teachers will work with the parents if they need to take time off...

Our district here in California doesn't "excuse" any absences other than illness, for any reason. Period. Now, if you are going to be gone for 5 or more days, you can arrange for Independent Study ahead of time. The IC coordinator will get the work for the child for the week/s they will be gone. If all the work is turned in as soon as the child returns, they can receive credit for their work. I am also a teacher in this district, and let me tell you, it is a lot of work for me to go through. And very frustrating when the child doesn't even do it! Arrgh. That said, I'd take my own kids out if there wasn't another way. We've done it for my BIL's college graduation and for DH's dying grandma. I wouldn't if either of my kids were struggling in school. No way.

We are also fortunate to be year round- which I love passionately!! 4 weeks off in November, 2 weeks at Christmas, 3 weeks in March, out around mid-June for 6 weeks over the summer and start again around July 30. It is awesome. November is the best time to travel!!

The school that I work at is YRE as well, and I love it. Unfortunately due to the high number of foreclosures in our area our numbers have gone down and now we will switch to traditional next year.
Silly Little Pixie, you sound like you are on our yellow track, that is the one I had my kids on and loved it!

 

[disneybride96]

When I was in high school, I won a national 4-H award which included a week trip to Chicago. I rember the classes I attended, the wonderful people I met from around the country and my first time in a big city. I remember this...but I can't tell you about any specific week from high school. I was unexcused for the week, but I did gain an ecucation. It's about priorities.

Yes, I got zero's on all my assignments for the week. But I ended up with nothing lower than a 'C' for the grading period. I don't think missing a week of school had a negative effect on my life.

 

[jship210]

Wow. I guess I'd better check out our school's policy for kids missing school, but last year we just spoke with the teacher, wrote a note that we were going on a family trip and asked for my son's work and it was no problem.

I would like to offer one thought though...and hope that this is not too off topic. While I certainly believe in the importance of education (DH has a masters and I have a doctorate), sometimes I feel that we get so caught up in it that we almost forget that there are some things that are equally if not more important...like what kind of PEOPLE our children will become, what kind of life experiences they have, what kind of family life we have together. I think that our culture is so driven and "noisy" that people often don't know how to take time out. I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes I think a school education is not all that matters in life and taking our family on vacation and spending that time making memories is just as important, at least to me.

My DH is a dairy farmer. He works EVERY SINGLE DAY from 4:30 am til 7:00pm and sometimes longer. When we go on vacation--that's the only time that we get to BE with him. It's precious time for us and I will fight for it. We only have a limited number of years before our children are gone and out of the house. What do I want them to remember about these years?

I totally agree, life is too short, time with our family is too precious. While education is very important (both of us have our Masters), what good is it if you don't experience life. Our two sons missed the first week of school this year while on the EB PC, I contacted both principals beforehand and advised them what we were doing and where we were going. Only one had a problem with us taking our son out and she would only give her approval as long as we took her with us.
These are the times they will long remember. My parents couldn't take us to the places we take our kids, but isn't that our charge; to give our kids better then we got?"
If all else fails get the fake leg cast! Don't forget to have a few pictures taken with it on.

 

[wwwosie]

The school that I work at is YRE as well, and I love it. Unfortunately due to the high number of foreclosures in our area our numbers have gone down and now we will switch to traditional next year.
Silly Little Pixie, you sound like you are on our yellow track, that is the one I had my kids on and loved it!

Our school was single track, I think I like yours better. It was hard with two kids in two calendars which is why we chose not to continue in Middle School.
And yes, life's too short... that said, I thoroughly appreciate the hard work that every teacher in every school district in every state puts in. I think a lot of parents don't understand the amount (and kind) of work teachers do every day. It's just not about teaching anymore... I know I'm off topic, but I just wanted to send a big hurrah to all the

 

[jd99]

Oh for Pete's sake, just take your kids and go. Unless your in some kind of fierce custody battle, don't worry about attendance. I teach sixth grade and encourage families to take their children out and enjoy family time. Your kids are only little once, and life is waaaaay to short to sweat the little things! Just go and enjoy the cruise. Seriously, some of your school districts really need to lighten up!

AMEN

Anyone who thinks that anything in life is guaranteed to them is a very delusional individual. If you haven't been touched by situations that make you stop and think about keeping your kids close while you can, then you are lucky. Life is too short. We are also lucky to live in an incredible public school district - one of the tops in the state and country - where academics are incredibly demanding. But vacations are also a part of the social fabric because of parent's busy schedules and timing that doesn't work with a school calendar all the time. We've taken our daughter out for a week in the fall and a day or two another time of the year. We never do it during any standardized testing times and she takes and completes ALL of the work given by teachers. And it is often substantial even though she is still in elementary school.

Life is about many things. School is one part of it.

To the poster who said he "didn't want to cause problems" but then went on and did so, lighten up. Live your life the way you want but don't judge those who choose a different path. I hope you enjoy happiness as we do.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

Wow, I have never started a thread that went on for so many pages! I hope this thread has helped some!! We have sailed it was great, kids are caught up on work, and so far no problems from teachers or principal, I guess I will find out if they are excused when the kids get their report card!

 

[Mom2PrincessesLinSy]

Wow, I have never started a thread that went on for so many pages! I hope this thread has helped some!! We have sailed it was great, kids are caught up on work, and so far no problems from teachers or principal, I guess I will find out if they are excused when the kids get their report card!

Awesome, glad you had an awesome trip!!

 

[brucechase]

I guess I will find out if they are excused when the kids get their report card!

Whole family just got food poisoning. The kids missed 1 day of school and it was counted as unexcused because we did not go to the doctor and bring a note from him (actually the dr. said to give it a couple of days before coming in). I wonder what they would mark a cruise as .