School Attendance Policy Stressing Me Out

[chiefmickeymouse]

The school that DD14 attends changed their attendance policy this year and it is already making me nuts. If a student misses 9 days in a semester, they lose credit for the semester. Doctor's notes for illness don't matter, every day counts.
As usual, the second week of school DD got sick. She had strep throat and missed a week of school. Now she has three days until the middle of January. I'm already having a hard time getting necessary doctor/dentist appointments after school and we both worry about her getting sick again. She is the type of kid that picks up every bug that goes around, and all the other kids are coming to school sick because they are worried about their absent days.
The real kicker was her social studies teacher took all of last week off to do to Disney! Seriously?
DD's doctor told me the policy is nuts and when flu season is in full swing it is going to cause some real problems. DD wants to start a petition, but I don't know if that will help. I know it is important for kids to be in school but this is really stressing me out.

 

[DebbieB]

The school that DD14 attends changed their attendance policy this year and it is already making me nuts. If a student misses 9 days in a semester, they lose credit for the semester. Doctor's notes for illness don't matter, every day counts.
As usual, the second week of school DD got sick. She had strep throat and missed a week of school. Now she has three days until the middle of January. I'm already having a hard time getting necessary doctor/dentist appointments after school and we both worry about her getting sick again. She is the type of kid that picks up every bug that goes around, and all the other kids are coming to school sick because they are worried about their absent days.
The real kicker was her social studies teacher took all of last week off to do to Disney! Seriously?
DD's doctor told me the policy is nuts and when flu season is in full swing it is going to cause some real problems. DD wants to start a petition, but I don't know if that will help. I know it is important for kids to be in school but this is really stressing me out.

I would talk to the principal or superintendent. I don't know if a petition started by your daughter would hold much weight.

 

[Megali]

I do think addressing it with the appropriate higher ups is warranted; as you stated, the policy is encouraging parents to send their sick children to school, potentially infecting their classmates. All it will take is a bad flu season to demonstrate the pitfalls of including sick days (that have a doctor's note) in the mix.

 

[lucky978]

I agree - speak to the principal, guidance counselor or even the school committe (if you have one).

Our school did away with their "perfect attendence" awards years ago because of this very reason. Students were coming in even if they were sick/contagious just so they could receive the award.

I would think if you had a doctor's note it would be considered an excused absense. As long as she is keeping up with her work and her grades are good it shouldn't matter.

 

[Colleen27]

Unfortunately these policies seem to be spreading, and I've yet to see parental or student protests force any changes. Most schools do have an appeals process for kids with unusual medical needs, though process itself can be ridiculously stressful because it sometimes takes months to find out if credit will be granted for the semester in question.

Our district, so far, walks a fairly reasonable line between promoting good attendance and understanding illness or other needs. The way we do it, absences are looked at by "event", not by days. So a week missed with strep would be regarded as a single excused absence. It counts as 1 against the limit of 7, not as 5. This way students who just happen to get the flu and strep or miss days for a college visit and fall ill in the same semester aren't being denied credit over the total of days, but the kids who really are attendance problems, who just don't get up for class on Monday or who cut school on Friday for a long weekend or things like that can be dealt with accordingly. But I wonder how long that will last... In the 5 years we've been in this district we've seen the permitted number of absences go from 10 to 7 and the treatment of excused absences change (used to be absences with a pre-arranged vacation approval or a doctor's note didn't count toward the total at all). It is probably just a matter of time before our schools are as strict as the other districts around us, some of which allow as few as 5 absences per semester before credit is denied.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Another parent told me the reason the district did this is because the amount of funding the school receives is tied to attendance. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, this is probably a losing battle. Also, who makes these policies? The school board? Superintendent? I'm sure it's not the principal, since the policy is district wide.

 

[HelenePA]

holy cow 9 days a semester? we get 10 days a full school YEAR!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Another parent told me the reason the district did this is because the amount of funding the school receives is tied to attendance. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, this is probably a losing battle. Also, who makes these policies? The school board? Superintendent? I'm sure it's not the principal, since the policy is district wide.

Every day a child is not on school--the school does not receive funding for that child.

And that policy is crap. I honestly think it would take a lawsuit.

While attendance is important, valid medically excused illnesses should not cause a kid to essentially fail the class and receive no credit.

 

[HelenePA]

Another parent told me the reason the district did this is because the amount of funding the school receives is tied to attendance. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, this is probably a losing battle. Also, who makes these policies? The school board? Superintendent? I'm sure it's not the principal, since the policy is district wide.

Yep that how it works. Funding is based on attendance, the state comes in a few times a year pulls out a attendance sheet for a few random days and thats how its based.

 

[msjprincess]

holy cow 9 days a semester? we get 10 days a full school YEAR!!

I was going to say if we hit 8 days in a year we get a warning letter. Nine days a semester seems like a lot to me.

 

[Colleen27]

I do think addressing it with the appropriate higher ups is warranted; as you stated, the policy is encouraging parents to send their sick children to school, potentially infecting their classmates. All it will take is a bad flu season to demonstrate the pitfalls of including sick days (that have a doctor's note) in the mix.

That's something I found interesting in all the news coverage of ebola. The consensus seems to be that while this isn't "the one" that will cause a serious epidemic in this country, so many public health experts and medical professionals have been quoted pointing out how our "tough it out" attitude towards illness, embodied by strict school and workplace attendance rules, sets the stage for a serious health crisis when something more virulent does emerge here.

 

[declansdad]

Sounds like an extreme policy to me but I can't imaging missing that much time in a year let alone a semester. I know things can happen but I hope that there are not many students that would miss that many days.

 

[ronandannette]

Does your locality have an elected school board? If so, those are the people to target to demand change and I would do so immediately and in force with as many other parents (and members of the voting public in your area) as possible. The public health implications here are very significant.

 

[Colleen27]

Another parent told me the reason the district did this is because the amount of funding the school receives is tied to attendance. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, this is probably a losing battle. Also, who makes these policies? The school board? Superintendent? I'm sure it's not the principal, since the policy is district wide.

Every day a child is not on school--the school does not receive funding for that child.

The funding formula depends on the state. We have specific "count days" here that are used to assess student population for funding purposes, not randomly selected days or an average of overall attendance, and schools either get or don't get funding for each pupil for the year. It isn't pro-rated/docked based on how many days a student misses. So the funding excuse really isn't valid here - parents know when count and MEAP (testing) days are because the district specifically pushes better-than-normal attendance for those days. And absenteeism wasn't a problem before the stricter policies. But attendance goals are a "secondary measure" of annual progress under NCLB so there is pressure to keep that figure going up, even if the starting point is 96% (as it was at the elem my kids attended).

 

[eliza61]

Ok, I'll say it.

could all these restrictive policies be a effect of people taking their kids out of school for vacations?

I mean I read here on these boards all the time parents who justify taking their kids out of school for Disney mainly to enjoy low crowds.

Can you (collective not anyone specific) get upset when the teacher does it?

I find that usually when entities bring down harsh measures it's usually in response to folks abusing the system.

Just asking.....

My kids went to Catholic elementary school and public charter schools, both schools had a 4 day absentee policy, any thing else required a doctors note. Neither teachers or kids were granted absentees for vacations so I really can't say if this policy is harsh or not.

 

[DLgal]

OP, your daughter missed a whole week for strep throat? Didn't the doctor tell you that after being on antibiotics for 24 hours she could go back?

Just curious why she had to miss so many days.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Ok, I'll say it.

could all these restrictive policies be a effect of people taking their kids out of school for vacations?

I mean I read here on these boards all the time parents who justify taking their kids out of school for Disney mainly to enjoy low crowds.

Can you (collective not anyone specific) get upset when the teacher does it?

I find that usually when entities bring down harsh measures it's usually in response to folks abusing the system.

Just asking.....

Fair question.

However, a child's credit for class should not be dependent upon being lucky enough to not get a communicable disease where a doctor essentially prob it's the child from going to school for the health of people at the school.


And--student attendance policies should not be more strict than teacher policies.
So this student *may* fail because she had strep and an excuses absence but the teacher was allowed to frolic on vacation within consequence?

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

OP, your daughter missed a whole week for strep throat? Didn't the doctor tell you that after being on antibiotics for 24 hours she could go back? Just curious why she had to miss so many days.

Just because you aren't considered contagious after 24 hours on the antibiotic doesn't mean you are well enough to go back to daily life in 24 hours.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

OP, your daughter missed a whole week for strep throat? Didn't the doctor tell you that after being on antibiotics for 24 hours she could go back?

Just curious why she had to miss so many days.

My last bout with strep, it was 72 hours after first antibiotic before I felt any improvement. Symptoms are very flu like, I still had fevers, and my throat was still incredibly inflamed. 24 hours is when you can be around others, it does not mean you are well enough to be.

This did not include my first two days with the illness where I was unaware of strep and it was the weekend. Awful awful awful.

 

[eliza61]

Fair question.

However, a child's credit for class should not be dependent upon being lucky enough to not get a communicable disease where a doctor essentially prob it's the child from going to school for the health of people at the school.


And--student attendance policies should not be more strict than teacher policies.
So this student *may* fail because she had strep and an excuses absence but the teacher was allowed to frolic on vacation within consequence?

100% agree. as I said at my kids school up to middle school, no way no how could the teachers take a week off to play. I remember one of my son's teachers was upset because she had to delay her honeymoon. she got married in October and wanted to take the week off, which they denied.
and I totally agreed with the decision. I'm paying school tuition for you to be in the school to teach, as harsh as it sounds she could have planned a june wedding.

So it's a totally foreign concept for me when I read about teachers who take off during the middle of the school year.

My kids are older so it's been a while.