Take DD11 out of school extra day for more time?

[phamton]

Originally posted by A Mickeyfan
In our county...they are only allowed to miss 19. Once they hit the 19, they can be retained or class credits withheld.

In Texas they could be retained if they had 5 unexcused absences in a semester. (trips were unexcused in most school districts)

19 days! Yikes! That's a lot of days considering that 20 days is a month of school days.

 

[mad4themouse]

Public schools are getting tougher on absences because of the No Child Left Behind Act. Schools that have attendance that falls below 95% stand to lose funding.

In our school district, they have enacted a policy that any number of days missed that totals more than 15 will require a doctor's note. They are also less likely to excuse absences that are due to family vacations.

A child cannot make up work that they miss during an unexcused absence. That means that tests, quizes, homework and projects that are given during that time period can be recorded as a "zero" in the grade book. This is, of course, at the teacher's discretion. Most are not that hard-nosed about the rule. The rule has been enacted to discourage the practice, not punish the child.

Frannn, if I were you, I would make it a point to discuss this with your DD's teachers and principal. Most are very understanding about vacations during the school year. They aren't happy about it but they know that sometimes there are no choices for a family.

Make every effort to get any assignments before you leave and be prepared to tutor your DD in whatever areas that she may have trouble with when she returns. Call her teachers when you get back and make sure that you have her missed assignments. Middle schoolers are very - shall we say - spacey? My own DD, an excellent student up until 6th grade, fell apart that year (ah, those hormones!). It has taken until 8th grade to pull it back together! Your DD will need you to keep up on what she has missed and what needs to be done.

Ultimately, the decision is up to you. If she's already going to miss 8 days, one more is not going to make that much of a difference. Since your question is not whether you should take her out for those 8, but whether one more would hurt her, I say just go for it and be prepared to face the consequences when you return.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Originally posted by phamton
In Texas they could be retained if they had 5 unexcused absences in a semester. (trips were unexcused in most school districts)

19 days! Yikes! That's a lot of days considering that 20 days is a month of school days.

Now you see why I said to you that you were very smart to home-school since you moved here... if I had the patients, I would do the same. Yes it is 19 days....excused or unexcused. they break it down to 9 or 10 days each semester giving you a grand total of 19. Trips are unexcused, any absence over 3 straight days requires a doctors not to be excused (if no note provided...it is unexcused). My son's friend was a straight A student and in 8th grade, he ended up in the hospital at the end of the school year. He wasn't out long enough to qualify for the homebound program, but just enough to have him go over the 19 limit. His mother had to go infront of the board several times fighting to have his credits restored. She eventually won & it was only because all of his absence's were excused & he was straight A's...and the teachers verified he was a good student. If any of the absences were for a trip or he wasn't an A student, his Mom never would have stood a chance.

So to all of you considering pulling out at the begining of the year, check your school's policy & think very carefully about what you are going to do...just to go to a theme park. I would also like to add that in our district, 3 tardy's and/or 3 pull out early's will = 1 absence. I work with the attendence office in my school & most parents do not even realize that....even though it is published several times throughout the school year.....so check that as well.

 

[jennsuko]

As a middle school teacher I have just another thought -

Besides the schoolwork issue, I would take into consideration if she will be starting at a new school this year. (Here 6th grade is the year where three or more elementary schools combine to form a middle school.) This is a time where kids are making new friends, discovering a new building, and feeling generally out of place. This can be a very stressful and difficult time for many young people.

 

[mtblujeans]

Oops.....Sorry.....Too personal.