Taking Kids Out of School In Texas

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.

Well, my turn to wade in. That makes no sense to me. My dear god-daughter was once called onto the carpet for taking too many afternoons off, checking out of her American History class for her doctor's appointments etc. (She'd missed 10 classes.) The child had a 98% in the class.

When asked, she handed over the book and said "If you read it one time, you can ace the class." Her school chums did not share the same opinion. When the fact that her grade in the class was a solid A, the administration agreed to give her credit for the class. My question was always: why force the child to attend a class she obviously wasn't having problems with? What was the point? "Achieving" sounds nice on paper, but when you've maxed out the knowledge necessary for the class, it's a moot point. Her choice, with the exception of thinking about the law on absences, was a wise one. Why, honestly, should she care about "achieving" more in that class, when she got no reward and obviously the teacher didn't care enough to make it challenging for her?

Saying a child should be in a class, even if the child has an A+ average so that he/she can "achieve" is nice talk, but generally equates to the child sitting in the back of the class being bored out of his or her skull. Kids that are being challenged generally don't look for ways to avoid class. (Yes, I taught for several years. Kids didn't skip my class, generally, unless they were avoiding something like the return of a paper: too much went on every day! I only had one child who was often absent. She was one of the best writers I ever taught, and did exceptionally well on her tests, so I left her be. She soaked up everything I had to offer in the class and then some, so who cared if she was absent more often than the other kids? She read the books, she wrote the essays, she understood literature.)

Is it fair that some kids can ace classes without trying and other's can't? No. But that's the way it is, and I honestly don't see what's wrong with letting the kids who DO ace the classes go to Disney with their families for a week. (when I was teaching I would've added the coda: so long as it is understood you have to get the class discussion notes from one of your classmates, read the material we're reading AND write the same essay AND take the same test your classmates take for that time period. And no chance to query me the day before the test, or get your rough draft edited <insert evil chuckle>.)
 
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. :confused3

its always easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
 
Anyone else from Texas have trouble with their school districts for taking their kids to WDW during School time. (we went in September)

We actually had to go to court today because the kids missed 7 days in a row even though I had sent a note telling them about it and noone said anything to us.

The sad thing is my sister is taking the blame for all of it because she has conservator custody of the kids even though they don't live with her and my mom and grandma have school custody of them and gave their permission for me (their aunt) to take them.

They actually sent out warrants for her arrest and a cps case may be started.

So my question is: Has anyone else in Texas or anywhere else had this much trouble with the school district? and Does this seem totally extreme to ya'll? I remember when we were younger leaving school and going on road trips because my parents couldn't be off in the Summer.

I don't quite understand the different custodies you are referring to, but it seems like there are four adults involved: you, your sister, your mom, and your grandma...are you saying that none of those four adults knew anything about the school district's attendance policy? Wasn't it ever sent home in a note/school policy/said at a meeting?

Did any adult ever ask about the policy? Did the kids just start in the district this year? Were these the first days the kids missed, or were they absent previously?

Did any of the four adults speak to the teacher or administration before the trip? Did you ask about assignments/work the kids would miss? Did the teacher acknowledge receiving your note? Did the teacher say it was okay?

Sorry for all the questions!
Anyway, what happened when you went to court?
 

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.

Then that student should NOT be taking school time off for vacations. They would have a heck of a time catching up.

But a student that can miss a week and still ace every test upon return should not be held at the same level as a C student.
 
My mom and I were actually talkign about this yesterday.

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but i really don't care....

I don't think there is any reason to take your kids out of school to go to WDW unless:
It is the ONLY time you can go (which i have to say i find really hard to believe that there are soooo many people like that)
A parent is on leave during a deployment (or just returned/about to leave)...this happened a lot where i used to live

Going because it's cheaper or because you don't like the heat should be unacceptable reasons to not go in the summer

I don't like the florida heat (Most people don't) and it could aggrivate my asthma but we still went in the summer

We always wished that we could go to WDW in december but unfortunately we only ever had 1 week off and it was too expensive and my parents didn't think it was right to take us out of school b/c it was cheaper.

We always went summer or spring break.
Unfortuantely we had a couple of summers when i was younger where my dad could not take off his vacation time so we didn't go at all that year. yes it stinks, but it's life.

When you have kids you know that once they get to school that is their "job"...they need to follow the rules and be at school. When you yourself get a job, you should know whether or not you chose a job that might have limited vacation time or you can't take off when you necessarily want to. I know many families that don't take yearly vacations. It's not a necessity. If it's something you can't do without following the rules, than don't do it.
 
I'm probably going to get flamed for this but i really don't care....

Unfortuantely we had a couple of summers when i was younger where my dad could not take off his vacation time so we didn't go at all that year. yes it stinks, but it's life.

I know many families that don't take yearly vacations. It's not a necessity. If it's something you can't do without following the rules, than don't do it.

Not going to flame you, you live your way and are happy with it.....we on the other hand follow the Lifes to short - enjoy it while you can rule. I have awesome memories of taking my godson out of school to go away on vacations (I couldn't get summer vacations then or any weeks the kids were off-not enough seniority).... never ever is there a second of regret on the week of school he missed every year. When he died at 14 there were no "gee I wishes" or "its to bad we didn't take him here" " there certainly was no "I wish we had sent him to school more and not taken him out for a week each year"....nope....it was very comforting to us to know that we spent that time together and did things together. When my daughter was born everything to me was much clearer about what was important, and spending time together, doing fun things together was more important to me than worrying about her missing one week of school or having a sparkling house No regrets- enjoy it while you can, you never know what the future holds.
 
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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. :confused3

Our elementary school definitely does. I was in the office a couple of years ago discussing attendance policy because I was going to take DSs out two days early for Christmas break. When I brought this up, I was basically told (with a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink;)) to write them a sick note to excuse them. It makes everyone happy, unfortunately.
 
The last time I checked, vacations were a luxury and something that a lot of people aren't able to do. My husband and I were talking about this last night and he mentioned that in his 18 years before going off to college he went on TWO vacations. One to Disney World at the age of 5, and one to Oklahoma to visit extended family when he was about 13....... Did my husband’s parents not love him? Is he a horrible or less of a person because of this? ABSOLUTLY NOT!

His family found plenty of entertaining this to do to keep everyone well adjusted! My husband has gone on to visit many amazing places (mostly for school and work) and is now professor at a university......

I wonder how my husband's student's parents would feel if he took a week off to go on vacation? How would you feel if your children's teacher took a week off to go on vacation, leaving your kids with a sub?

Also, how is it fair to your child's teacher to be asked to prepare a weeks worth of work for them?
 
The last time I checked, vacations were a luxury and something that a lot of people aren't able to do. My husband and I were talking about this last night and he mentioned that in his 18 years before going off to college he went on TWO vacations. One to Disney World at the age of 5, and one to Oklahoma to visit extended family when he was about 13....... Did my husband’s parents not love him? Is he a horrible or less of a person because of this? ABSOLUTLY NOT!

His family found plenty of entertaining this to do to keep everyone well adjusted! My husband has gone on to visit many amazing places (mostly for school and work) and is now professor at a university......

I wonder how my husband's student's parents would feel if he took a week off to go on vacation? How would you feel if your children's teacher took a week off to go on vacation, leaving your kids with a sub?

Also, how is it fair to your child's teacher to be asked to prepare a weeks worth of work for them?

Not being able to take a vacation because of finances or some other reason is different than the school telling you you can't take your child somewhere during a set period of time -- especially if that child is doing well and having no problems with the material.

When my girls were in school, they did have teachers that were out for various personal reasons. One teacher missed almost half the year because she had a baby, so my dd had a sub. It was not a good situation, but that doesn't mean the teacher should've been forced to come back to school right after giving birth. We also had teachers that went on vacation, went to family weddings, and sadly, had deaths in the family. None of it really bothered me. Teacher's are allowed to have a life outside the classroom 12 months a year just like the rest of us.

I also never expected my kids' teachers to get work together ahead of time. I always gave plenty of notice about planned absences and asked the teacher how she wanted to handle it. Only 1 gave us the work ahead of time. Most just left the work on my child's desk and she brought it all home after we returned. No biggie, and no extra work for the teacher.
 
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.

Exactly! Every child is different and not every child can get an A average no matter how hard they work.
 
I wonder how my husband's student's parents would feel if he took a week off to go on vacation? How would you feel if your children's teacher took a week off to go on vacation, leaving your kids with a sub?

One of the major perks of teaching is the summer vacation; the downside is that there are never any off-peak vacations. As soon as school lets out, air fares double and hotel rooms charge a premium because of high demand. Cheap holidays are a thing of the past.

We are fortunate that my partner can take holiday pretty much whenever he wants, but he is stuck paying extra for vacations because I cannot take them during school time. He is also lucky to have the choice of taking holidays whenever he wants to; many businesses reserve the school vacations as holiday time for employees with children as this is the only time of year they can spend with their families (ignoring, of course, that the partners of anyone who works in the school system but do not have children - like us - face exactly the same issue).

But that's the way it is. I love my job. Paying a huge premium on vacations is the price we have to pay for me to continue to work in this profession. It most definitely means we take one vacation each year instead of two. In the future it may mean no vacations. I would be fired for taking holiday during the school year. It's just not an option, but interestingly it is an option for my students.

Edit: I understand why some people disagree with my comments regarding the grades equating to vacation time. Personally I feel this values natural academic ability over hard work, but I understand why others feel differently. I also feel like being able to do something well doesn't always excuse you from the need to be there - I'm fairly decent at my job, but I wouldn't end my classes 15 minutes early each lesson because I felt my students would do well enough based on the first 45 minutes of the class alone.

I also don't like this idea of "if you get As you can have a school time vacation" because what happens if there are two children? John and Jane go to the same school, twins, same grade, same classes. John is naturally very good at academic pursuits and achieves straight As whilst spending very little time on homework or studying. Jane however isn't as naturally good at traditional school subjects but studies for several hours a night and works her hardest on homework, and gets C grades. John is naturally bright but not putting much effort in; Jane finds school hard but puts in ten times the effort that John does. Should the family be permitted to take a vacation during the school year?
 
The last time I checked, vacations were a luxury and something that a lot of people aren't able to do. My husband and I were talking about this last night and he mentioned that in his 18 years before going off to college he went on TWO vacations. One to Disney World at the age of 5, and one to Oklahoma to visit extended family when he was about 13....... Did my husband’s parents not love him? Is he a horrible or less of a person because of this? ABSOLUTLY NOT!

His family found plenty of entertaining this to do to keep everyone well adjusted! My husband has gone on to visit many amazing places (mostly for school and work) and is now professor at a university......

I wonder how my husband's student's parents would feel if he took a week off to go on vacation? How would you feel if your children's teacher took a week off to go on vacation, leaving your kids with a sub?

Also, how is it fair to your child's teacher to be asked to prepare a weeks worth of work for them?
Lol, I've had this happen, and I was fine with it. Kids need to learn to adapt to new people and new situations anyway. My little snowflake survived just fine.
 
I don't agree with the spirit of attendance policies that essentially wish to waste court time with prosecting a family for taking a vacation.

The varying degrees of attendance policies from state to state is my "proof" so to speak.

There doesn't seem to be an issue of abuse in states that have more leniant policies.

I also do not buy that it creates a poor work ethic in children by communicating that school is not important.

People choose their careers and the "rules" that come with them in regards to time off.

Children don't really choose education. It is mandated--they have to do it. While it is easy to suggest homeschooling if you don't like the system policy, I don't think that is fair to the families. Not everyone is cut out for homeschooling for a multitude of reasons.

I don't think Texas is really doing its students any favors with such a burdensome attendance policy.

It makes me grateful that my mother avoided any duty stations in Texas during my youth.

While I didn't much miss much school due to vacations or a military commitment that she was obligated to meet, I did a few times and we never really had any trouble in any school. One included enrolling in the school when we moved there with a polite statement that I wouldn't be there for 3 more weeks.

I was a brand new student and they put together a packet of work for me with NO NOTICE.

I just don't see how without notice that a teacher doesn't have a lesson plan READY to let the parent know what homework will be. I wouldn't expect photocopies but there is no way no teacher doens't have lesson plans done ahead of time to not at least provide SOME of what the plans will be for the following week.
 
I think overall, the school systems need to take a good hard look at today's family dynamics and adjust accordingly. We have lots of folks in the military, lots of kids who are involved in extra curriculars outside of school. People don't live close to extended family like thy used to. it's not the way it used to be, where kids just went to school, then went home, did their stuff on the weekends and visited family or had vacations in thw summer. It's just not like that anymore.

Recently here, a high school honor student was taken to court. She's an aspiring olympic horse jumper. She would have to miss school for competitions and would collect her work and make it up the best she could. She was taken to court for truancy. She was an A student, trying to cpmpete for the Olympics!! Meanwhile, i won't go into how many classes were missed by the footbal players and the other school athletes. We have kids that enter their livestock in the rodeo. we have kids that travel for cheer, dance/gymnastics competitions. My kids film a TV show. My neighbor is fixing to deploy and is actually cancelling his vacation plans with his family because of school.

I honestly think that kids should be given so many sick/personal days a school year that are excused. No questions asked, you take those days and when they're done, that's it.
 
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.

How much time should a teacher spend on making accomodations to students that miss for vacation?

Multiply that times the number of kids in the class and that is a LOT of accomodating that needs to be made.
 
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??

Easy - you don't. It appears that taking a vacation isn't going to work given your situation.

I believe that my family went on one vacation before I entered first grade. I don't remember it though. There was never a family vacation after that.

There are plenty of things you can do as a family that won't take away from school or work time.
 
Why is it that people think that a week in WDW is interchangeable with 35 hours of classroom time?

If a student misses one week of classroom time in a science class with lectures and labs, how can they be expected to be on par with the class when they are doing the next lesson which is building on the one they missed? The student is NOT just missing the one week of lessons. They are missing that piece of the puzzle which is part of the whole semester.

If you could just simply learn everything you need to learn from reading the textbook, we wouldn't have teachers and classrooms would we?
 
Why is it that people think that a week in WDW is interchangeable with 35 hours of classroom time?

If a student misses one week of classroom time in a science class with lectures and labs, how can they be expected to be on par with the class when they are doing the next lesson which is building on the one they missed? The student is NOT just missing the one week of lessons. They are missing that piece of the puzzle which is part of the whole semester.

If you could just simply learn everything you need to learn from reading the textbook, we wouldn't have teachers and classrooms would we?



Not to be nitpicky, but I had a 7 period school day in high school and clock time in class was only 29 hours a week for a 50 minute class. I am not sure the OP is even speaking about high school. Elementary and even middle school are less than that (at least out of the 10 institutions I attended in 4 different states).

While I get your point, I disagree that a classroom is the be all end all and while I dont' have to worry about "missing school" for us to do family vacations, in early years--it isn't at all that detrimental that the child will be broken from missing a week of school.

The times that I have missed due to illness or other "legitimate excuse" were no different than the one week my parents took us on a cruise in 3rd grade. (that year actually was the year I missed 1 week of school due to the flu). Surprisingly, it didn't impact me in a negative manner for my life.

We were in PA and the teacher didnt' even bother having me do makeup work the week I was gone as there really wasn't a need. I was just squeezed back in upon my return.

I had little control over my mother controlling my schedule and cannot say that I would do the same if my kids were in school. But in all the states that I have lived in, the school policies have been much more leniant than Texas as there is some understanding that not everyone's schedule perfectly fits the June/July August travel season.


I did miss nearly a week in high school for a cruise as well--but I think that ended up being a hurricane makeup situation my freshman year for hurricane hugo just before Christmas.

Evidently some wise-butt student decided that bomb threats would be perfect that week and many people got sick b/c the day they did it was torrential downpour. They brought in busses for the students to sit on. Gotta say, my cruise was a tad bit more fun and no less educational than that experience. Though we had our share of karma to pay us back as we had a few mini-disasters before and after...like the "snowstorm" in Jacksonville on our drive home.:laughing:

And one final note--the teachers didn't seem to mind striking for 3 weeks one fine September in New Orleans. In most of my classes, we had to do lots of catch up work. It seems when it fits their agenda, they can help us catch up. Sure a strike isn't a vacation--however, they could have done something over their summer break that wouldn't have interfered with the student schedules. It was a new school for me and a very tough academic school and I do think that negatively impacted my transition that year.

Now--we homeschool to avoid all this nonsense.
 
We used to live in California. The school was paid for every child that attended school each day. So, if a kid missed school a lot, they would receive a notice and phone call from the district. I once had my son out for 3 days due to the stomach flu and was sent home a warning letter. When I called the school to complain, I was told that they were required to send those letters out but not to worry because my son was sick.:confused3 Then why send that letter? What a waste of postage.

I have 2 autistic sons and we have pulled them out of school to go on vacation. It's usually only been a few days missed. We always do independent study while we are gone. I would complete a form with the school district and show them the work that our sons were going to do. The teachers didn't even have to give me the work. I'd gather the materials myself. Then we would turn everything in when we returned. We never had a problem. The kids received excused absenses.

Here in Kansas, I've been told there is no problem with pulling the kids from school for vacations if they are special needs. I'm not sure if this is the case with all kids though.

I do feel that education is very important. But in the case of special needs children, learning is something that can take place anywhere, not just in the class. and trips to WDW during peak times would be miserable for my kids. Heck, just going through an airport on the slowest day is something that I dread.

For those of you who say it's wrong to take your kids out of school for vacation. I would trade with you in a heartbeat. I would love for my sons to go to WDW in the Summer and wait in line patiently like every other kid. Unfortunately, my kids can't.
 

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