Taking Kids Out of School In Texas

[HelenePA]

The district itself, I'm not worried about. That would totally be worth missing a day of work to take allllll of our photo albums to court and tell a judge about all the different countries and cultures DS has already gotten to experience. He has memories he'll keep for a lifetime... but he would be hard-pressed to tell anyone what he learned in any given week at school. I'm not dissing education -- we're in an amazing district -- but real-life learning is just as important.
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You do realize those countries and cultures he got to experience were at Disney.. I have a HARD time believing that it would be the same as going to Japan etc Make no mistake about it I'd like to take my kids out for vacation next year but I'm not going to lie... its a vacation. Not a learning experience.

 

[punkin]

You do realize those countries and cultures he got to experience were at Disney.. I have a HARD time believing that it would be the same as going to Japan etc Make no mistake about it I'd like to take my kids out for vacation next year but I'm not going to lie... its a vacation. Not a learning experience.

Funny you should say that...I am trying to figure out a way to send my 10 yo to Japan for 10 days during the school year without a big fat F for the quarter. I am not in TX, but my school district is pretty restrictive. Someone on this board suggested taking her out to "homeschool" and then changing my mind after she comes back. I feel a little strange doing that, but maybe that is an option for some of you.

 

[LaurenLC]

Umm . . no. Accommodations can be made for kids who miss a few days whereas an employee may not have anyone to take over his or her duties. It's a completely different situation. I think a certain number of family vacation days should be considered excused, especially in the younger grades. And my son's school, while not especially laid back, didn't have a problem with him missing school. I'm not sure why you're saying I should home school my children considering we didn't have a problem.

The home school thing was not meant for you, so for that I am sorry....

Obviously people are going to see this situation very differently…..
Kids have roughly 2 1/2 months of school off in a lump time. That isn't even including the 3 day weekends they have every month or Thanksgiving, winter and spring break.
People should be able to fit their vacations into those parameters or perhaps maybe they need to miss a trip. I think taking your kids out of school for a vacation is setting a poor example for them in their future.

 

[becjlek]

If you don't like the school's policies then run for a seat on the school board.

 

[HelenePA]

Funny you should say that...I am trying to figure out a way to send my 10 yo to Japan for 10 days during the school year without a big fat F for the quarter. I am not in TX, but my school district is pretty restrictive. Someone on this board suggested taking her out to "homeschool" and then changing my mind after she comes back. I feel a little strange doing that, but maybe that is an option for some of you.

Our school district allows 5 unexcused absences, 10 excused absences, and 5 vacation days (as long as its not the first week of school or last week of school) you'd be able to do it if your were in my district Do you know if your school allows "vacation" time? Call and ask you might get a surprise answer

 

[punkin]

Our school district allows 5 unexcused absences, 10 excused absences, and 5 vacation days (as long as its not the first week of school or last week of school) you'd be able to do it if your were in my district Do you know if your school allows "vacation" time? Call and ask you might get a surprise answer

5 excused absences per semester and vacation is unexcused. That's it. When the date of the trip is finalized I will call the principal for an exception (allowed by district rules).

 

[hereyago]

. That isn't even including the 3 day weekends they have every month or Thanksgiving, winter and spring break.
People should be able to fit their vacations into those parameters or perhaps maybe they need to miss a trip.


Well dang, I would never go on a trip, because I work in the hospitality industry, so that means I have to work weekends, holidays and summers.
I take DD11 out of school for vacations when it is off season, because that is when I can take off.

In elementary school, she would have every Wednesday as half a day for teacher planning for the next week, but now in middle school with teachers having more work, they don't do half a days, explain that one. Then teacher staff days usually coinside with the start of a holiday week off.

The schools get paid for the student being there, I pay taxes every year to help the schools run. Now the school had nothing to do with me concieving my DD or giving birth to her and they certainly don't provide food and shelter for her, so what claim should they have?

I live in VA and fill out a form to the principal stating why DD will be out,I am not having her out for more than 5 days, but I find it silly to ask permission to do anything with my own child.

 

[polyfan]

I agree it is strict here but I just totally roll my eyes at the "They're my kids and I can do what I want"... If you feel that strongly about not following the rules- home school away.

ITA- what a way to teach values to kids-if I don't like the rules, I'll just take my marbles and go home- no wonder there are so many complaints in the workforce today about the young

 

[tasha99]

Well dang, I would never go on a trip, because I work in the hospitality industry, so that means I have to work weekends, holidays and summers.
I take DD11 out of school for vacations when it is off season, because that is when I can take off.

In elementary school, she would have every Wednesday as half a day for teacher planning for the next week, but now in middle school with teachers having more work, they don't do half a days, explain that one. Then teacher staff days usually coinside with the start of a holiday week off.

The schools get paid for the student being there, I pay taxes every year to help the schools run. Now the school had nothing to do with me concieving my DD or giving birth to her and they certainly don't provide food and shelter for her, so what claim should they have?

I live in VA and fill out a form to the principal stating why DD will be out,I am not having her out for more than 5 days, but I find it silly to ask permission to do anything with my own child.

I would have been in the same boat--worked in the cruise industry for a while and January-April and Summer months were high seasons for my position--absolutely no vacations given. From January - April, you weren't even "allowed" to get sick (yes, I got in trouble for getting the flu in March, even though I had plenty of sick days saved up.)

I'm in school now and then will be a school SLP (entire summers off for me--yay!) so this will never be an issue for us again. But it's very naive to think people can just take days off in the summer because it's so long.

 

[Gina]

You do realize those countries and cultures he got to experience were at Disney.. I have a HARD time believing that it would be the same as going to Japan etc Make no mistake about it I'd like to take my kids out for vacation next year but I'm not going to lie... its a vacation. Not a learning experience.

We have been on 5 cruises, to a number of different countries.. and once there, like to go "off the dock" and immerse ourselves in local culture. We have met some amazing local people that way. We learn about the history and customs of the places we're going to go before we go there, we talk about things we learned and how they apply to situations in the U.S. (ask a St. Maarten native about illegal immigration and what it does to an economy), and we learn about simple things such as geography. My son's social studies/geography teacher was pretty impressed when DS got to go back to school and tell him about how he stood on the smallest land mass governed by two sovereignties.

But thank you for your concern for my child's well-being, and for my parenting!

 

[hereyago]

ITA- what a way to teach values to kids-if I don't like the rules, I'll just take my marbles and go home- no wonder there are so many complaints in the workforce today about the young

But if my kid is doing well in school, because is she wasn't there would be no vacation ,then she is doing what she should in school which is learn. If she is in band and attends every rehearsal and every recital, if she is helping with the morning show then how is she not learning about values and "work ethics"? yes, young people want to have their fun, but older people are just as bad sometimes, as in, "I am older then you and you can't tell me what to do".

The ones who are saying kids can go in summer, if all public schools went to year round, these same people would be having a cow. Or what if the schools lessened the amount of days for the holiday week? These same people would have something to say as well.

I do find it interesting that different schools have varying "rules" for how many excused or unexcused and even in HelenPa has where her schools even have allowed amount for vacation.

Every situation is different, it is not so black and white.

 

[Tx_Belle]

Here's the rub......We evactuated after Hurricane Ike for a week. We had no power for 2 weeks. I won't go into too much detail, but those of us without electricity had it rough. Complete darkness, close to 100 degrees, couldn't call for police or ambulance since land lines and cell phones weren't working, got one bag of ice at most per day, food was still in short supply, houses were being broken into even with the owners there because you were sitting ducks, etc. Because of the burning of debris and generators running, I was having horrible problems breathing, but couldn't call for help if I needed it. After one week, we found out we'd have no power for a second week. DD and I had to get out.

Every school decided whether or not to reopen. DD's school had power after a week and opened, but about 40% of the students lived in homes without power. The elementary we're actually closest to didn't open for 2 weeks, because just like us, they had no power. The SUPERINTENDENT himself assured those of us without power that there would be "absolutely no negative conseqences" if we evacuated and our children could not attend school. We were lead to believe they wouldn't even be counted absent. DD and I left and came back in a week when the power came back on. The kids at her school did little to no work during that week. The school had opened to "get things back to normal." Let me add that I took her to a city where she did something educational every single day. The trip of a lifetime.

Add the 5 days I detailed (2 Thanksgiving, 2 sick, 1 late counted as absent) and the 5 we evacuated and you get 10 days. At 10 days, I got a nastygram warning me DD had missed 10 days and had excessive absences. WTH???? The superintendent himself told us we were free to leave with no consequences. I'd call potentially being hauled to court a "negative consequence." I had to sign the letter and return it. So I did. I added a note reminding them I'd had the superintendent's PROMISE of no consequences and that I'd have to make the judge aware of this if I went to court. Never heard another word about it.

Thank goodness I'd kept a copy of the email from him.

This is awful. I, too, had no electricity for 15 days after Ike. It was horrible, but at least I didn't have to deal with the school district and absences. I remember being so shocked when the schools reopened when they did.

 

[meloneyb21]

We've received a rule book with the same rule. Family vacations are "unexcused absences" for children ages 6-17. I'm guessing first grade to senior year. It's not really a big deal for children younger than that (preschool/kindergarten). My daughter will still be 5 when we go in April so it shouldn't be a problem. I may have some trouble at the end of next year and so on though.

 

[hentob]

But they can't really just say, "Okay, if you have all A's and B's, you can miss school for vacations.

Really, what would be wrong with this? If you have a 97% average across the board, why shouldn't you be allowed to take a vacation? Why should you be treated the same as a student who has a 72% average?

Not all students are equal. Some would be able to handle a week off of school and bounce right back. Why drag their parents to court and waste taxpayer monies?

 

[aprilgail2]

Obviously people are going to see this situation very differently…..
Kids have roughly 2 1/2 months of school off in a lump time. That isn't even including the 3 day weekends they have every month or Thanksgiving, winter and spring break.
People should be able to fit their vacations into those parameters or perhaps maybe they need to miss a trip. I think taking your kids out of school for a vacation is setting a poor example for them in their future.

Wow I would have never been able to take a trip with my child if I followed those rules- our vacation picks at work go by seniority and my first 10 years I couldn't hit a week in the summer or any week the kids were off from school- I had Thursday and Friday off so there was no going away on the weekends---exactly HOW does one take a family vacation if they have to only go when the kids are off when the parents can't be off then??

 

[Kath2003]

Really, what would be wrong with this? If you have a 97% average across the board, why shouldn't you be allowed to take a vacation? Why should you be treated the same as a student who has a 72% average?

Not all students are equal. Some would be able to handle a week off of school and bounce right back. Why drag their parents to court and waste taxpayer monies?

I'm going to wade in here - you can have the hardest working, most studious pupil in the school who simply doesn't have the natural ability to average anything above a C. Hard work doesn't always equate high grades, it equates to a student achieving their best. So no, the ability to take a vacation shouldn't be dependent upon grades.

 

[Pixiedust34]

So, if you missed ‘X’ amount of days at work you'd get in trouble, right?
Isn't your child's 'job' to go to school??
So if your child misses ‘X’ amount of days of school (unexcused) shouldn't they get in trouble too???
I love vacationing just as much as the next person, but school is not a suggestion it's mandatory. If you don't like what the state is asking of you, then maybe you should home school your children, or look at a VERY laid back private school......
But no worries, the state is still going to get money from you to pay for the schools.

The home school thing was not meant for you, so for that I am sorry....

Obviously people are going to see this situation very differently…..
Kids have roughly 2 1/2 months of school off in a lump time. That isn't even including the 3 day weekends they have every month or Thanksgiving, winter and spring break.
People should be able to fit their vacations into those parameters or perhaps maybe they need to miss a trip. I think taking your kids out of school for a vacation is setting a poor example for them in their future.

I agree. It's your kid's job to attend school. If there are consequences for unexcused absences and a student has unexcused absences, then he or she should face the consequences.

If you don't like those consequences, vacation during the many weeks in a row your student is off from school, find an understanding private school that will forgive vacation time during the school year, or homeschool.

 

[MiniGirl]

ITA- what a way to teach values to kids-if I don't like the rules, I'll just take my marbles and go home- no wonder there are so many complaints in the workforce today about the young

Of course, another way to look at it is that something isn't working for my family, so I am being proactive and taking matters into my own hands by teaching my children myself. My children are thriving. My family is closer than we have ever been, and we aren't disadvantaging anyone else by staying home for school. Plus, I am still contributing to the local school in the form of taxes.

Oh, and I assure you.... the complaints about the young in the workplace are not because of the homeschooled children -- at least not around here

Obviously people are going to see this situation very differently…..
Kids have roughly 2 1/2 months of school off in a lump time. That isn't even including the 3 day weekends they have every month or Thanksgiving, winter and spring break.
People should be able to fit their vacations into those parameters or perhaps maybe they need to miss a trip. I think taking your kids out of school for a vacation is setting a poor example for them in their future.

My dh works for an airline, so his company operates 24/7. There are flights every day of the year. With over 20 years seniority with the company, he still cannot touch a summer or Christmas vacation, and it has only been in the last 5 years or so that he felt confident about getting Thanksgiving off.

I find it interesting that many of you have mentioned that taking children out of school during the school year is not a good example to set for your children for when they enter the "real world." I don't understand why you say that. Most businesses these days stay open year round. Employees go on vacation and the business continues to operate as normal. Isn't that what happens when a family takes their child out of school for a vacation? School goes on as usual. I think missing school and having to then use your free time to make up the work you missed (or get it done before you leave) is actually closer to the way the "real world" operates.

Of course, in the "real world" analogy, people tend to equate students with employees because "learning is their job." In truth, I think students should be equated more as customers. Are the students there to serve the school or is the school there to serve the student? Also in this day of funding being tied into attendance, the student as customer holds even more water since a business gets it's funding, if you will, from it's customers.

In all honesty, I have no problem with attendance policies. I don't think they are a bad thing. I do think they need to be enforced with a large measure of common sense though. We are seeing more and more that they are not. It is all tied to funding, and that is the top priority -- at least around here anyway.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have the same strict policies here in Georgia. Non immediate family funerals are not even excused absences. We went home to my DFIL's death bed and the two days my boys missed were not excused-my DH had to stay for the funeral without us because the boys had to get back to school. I agree there should be some discretion, but thanks to NCLB and money, the schools would rather that you lie and say the child was sick than to show an unexcused absence on their records.

I feel that homeschooling is totally up to the individual, but siting "being able to take vacations when you want" is a poor reason to homeschool and sends up a red flag to me about priorities. JMO.

 

[Planogirl]

We have the same strict policies here in Georgia. Non immediate family funerals are not even excused absences. We went home to my DFIL's death bed and the two days my boys missed were not excused-my DH had to stay for the funeral without us because the boys had to get back to school. I agree there should be some discretion, but thanks to NCLB and money, the schools would rather that you lie and say the child was sick than to show an unexcused absence on their records.

I feel that homeschooling is totally up to the individual, but siting "being able to take vacations when you want" is a poor reason to homeschool and sends up a red flag to me about priorities. JMO.

That's what I'm running into in our school. We have a form you submit to the principal where he approves the absence excused or unexcused or he denies the absence. Um, denies the absence? It's often just easier to call in sick if it's just for a day or two and the schools seem to prefer that themselves.