the fear of missing school?

[dalt01]

my DW thinks that if for some reason they dont approve the planned vacation slip for 8 school days in october and we go anyway, which we will cause we already have over 3 grand non refundable into it, that when we get back we can be arrested. i say that they cannot do anything of the sort. she seems to think the school system is a totalitarian government in and of itself and i say they cannot tell you when and where you can go. anyone have any experience with this situation?

 

[safetymom]

I would think it depends on your school district. I would find out what the policy is for your district because it varies. They can charge the children with unexcused absences and not allow them to make up the work.

 

[izzys4]

My kids will miss a week of school in November. I already spoke to their teachers and they're ok with it. They're even going to try and put together some work for them to do in the car.....22 hour road trip. I'm lucky I guess that they're working with us. This is our last year taking them out though, since DS will be in Jr High next year. I won't pull them out at that level cause he'd get too far behind with classroom instruction being key at that level.

 

[lorilori]

Well......... no, they can't have you arrested UNLESS you accumulate 10 unexcused absences for the year. Then officials will come to your house, etc., etc. At least that's how it is here. We have to fill out a 'permission' form which is ridiculous because they won't approve travel. All that said, however, we will be taking them out 2 days next month to extend the 4 day weekend they have for their fall break. They used to get a week in October which of course was a lot easier but since DH can't take summer vacations they will miss the 2 days. And no, teachers don't cooperate and no, work cannot be made up during classtime. They must do it after school hours only on certain days of the week. My kids are in 2nd, 4th and 8th grade this year.

 

[momto3girls]

I worry about the absence not being approved, too. My kids tend to get very sick in January or February and last year, my oldest dd missed 14 days of school due to illness. I was in a panic as we got closer and closer to the 12 days (where you must have a doctor's letter explaining every excuse -could've gotten one but it would've been a pain) when I spoke to the principal. He laughed and said that my kids are straight A students, even with lots of illnesses and that I had NOTHING to worry about.

My dds' teachers have all said they'd send work for us to do, but not too much so the girls can enjoy their trip. I haven't received the official ok from the principal yet, though. We're taking the girls out for 5 days - they have 1 day off of school and we'll be gone for 9 days.

 

[disney junky]

Actually, your wife is right; 24 PA Statute Section 1333 does detail penalties for violation of the mandatory attendance requirement for the state of PA. If the school sees fit, it can impose a $300 fine per day of unlawful absence from school, which I would imagine applies if the absence wasn't preapproved. Though I have never heard of these fines being imposed for students on vacation, they could be if the school decided not to approve the absence.

Districts are not totalitarian governments but they are government agencies, and the attendance policies, while set by the state, are required to be enforced by the local districts.

Schools are funded by a formula based on daily average attendance, so the school is losing its state subsity for your children while they are on vacation. That is why the schools along with the local district justice can impose fines of up to $300. You may also be required to attend parenting classes. Again, these things are quite rare, but they are the law of the commonwealth of PA.

I'm sure your trip will be approved. Just make sure that you have all the appropriate paperwork completed.

 

[JulielovesDisney]

Go to the teachers beforehand and explain the situation. Or even just send a note in with your kids explaining the vacation and asking for some work. I'm sure they'll let you, as long as your kids aren't trouble makers or get bad grades. Have fun, and everything will work out!!

 

[laceemouse]

You need to talk to them ASAP!!!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

my DW thinks that if for some reason they dont approve the planned vacation slip for 8 school days in october and we go anyway, which we will cause we already have over 3 grand non refundable into it, that when we get back we can be arrested. i say that they cannot do anything of the sort. she seems to think the school system is a totalitarian government in and of itself and i say they cannot tell you when and where you can go. anyone have any experience with this situation?

It depends upon the law in your state. In some states, then can indeed arrest you. By the way, that's not totalitarian at all. There certainly is no prohibition against it in the constitution. Now they can't lock you up and throw away the key. That's unusual punishment. But they most certainly could arrest you and give you a bit of jail time or fine you if you have such a law.

 

[adisneylife4me]

Well......... no, they can't have you arrested UNLESS you accumulate 10 unexcused absences for the year. Then officials will come to your house, etc., etc. At least that's how it is here. We have to fill out a 'permission' form which is ridiculous because they won't approve travel. All that said, however, we will be taking them out 2 days next month to extend the 4 day weekend they have for their fall break. They used to get a week in October which of course was a lot easier but since DH can't take summer vacations they will miss the 2 days. And no, teachers don't cooperate and no, work cannot be made up during classtime. They must do it after school hours only on certain days of the week. My kids are in 2nd, 4th and 8th grade this year.

As a teacher, I cooperate as much as possible. I also ask that families cooperate, too. There have been many times that I have received a note the day before a family is leaving on a 1 week vacation, asking for anticipated missed assignments. I truly do not have time to get together work in such a short period of time. Also, as many teachers do, I do not teach from the text. Most of the learning comes from hands-on experiences in the classroom. So it is difficult to replicate what is happening in the classroom while a student is away for a long period of time. Having said that, I do understand why families take kids out of school, and I value the additional experiences that children are gaining with their families. I guess I'm just venting, as often times, teachers and schools are made out to be the "bad guys" in these situations.

 

[disney junky]

Well......... no, they can't have you arrested UNLESS you accumulate 10 unexcused absences for the year. Then officials will come to your house, etc., etc. At least that's how it is here. We have to fill out a 'permission' form which is ridiculous because they won't approve travel. All that said, however, we will be taking them out 2 days next month to extend the 4 day weekend they have for their fall break. They used to get a week in October which of course was a lot easier but since DH can't take summer vacations they will miss the 2 days. And no, teachers don't cooperate and no, work cannot be made up during classtime. They must do it after school hours only on certain days of the week. My kids are in 2nd, 4th and 8th grade this year.

That's really a shame that teachers don't cooperate. I know I try to be as accomodating as possible when a student brings one of those forms to me. Perhaps the teachers don't cooperate because it is a law, since apparently they don't approve travel. I am curious since you will be taking your children out for those two days, what will those days be considered?

These officials. Are they truancy officers from the school or are they agents of the police or are they juvenile authorities? We are a small school and don't have truancy officers, but some of the larger schools have them. They go to the homes of absent students during the day. We just have someone call the house to confirm the absence.

I usually tease the kids, telling them I won't sign their form unless they take me along.

The OP is from PA. I guess NJ has different laws.

 

[dixiedizfan]

Don't know the ages of OP's children, but if they're older I wonder how they'll feel about missing that time. Eight school days is a LOT to miss, making it very difficult to keep up with the rest of the class.

 

[Brooknwdw]

HI, first of all relax.
It is a public school system, not a totalitaran goverment!

You can disenroll your children from this school tomorrow if you wanted to...to homeschool..private school..whatever. Now I know that sounds harsh, but I am just saying I would do it before I let them tell me I could not take MY kids out for vacation.


Now, we are taking our kids out for six school days really soon as you can see by my ticker.

First thing you need to do is be aware of the school policy on absenses. Ours is, after 10 UNexcused absenses, they will/can send a truancy officer to your home (or whatever the case may be) to take care of the situation.
Yours is probably similar.

I know going in, that these six days will be counted as UNexcused. Okay...big whoopie. I know, being the good parent that I am, that my kids don't miss random school days for no reason. Therefore they will not be using the other 4 UNexcused absenses they are allowed.
(BTW our policy also is that student has as many days as missed to make up the work).

Second thing, is you need to talk directly to the teachers, office, princible, whoever is needed, and make sure they know you value education...this is a rare occurance for your family (to take kids out)..etc.

Usually communicating in person, even if the slip comes back unapproved , will ease the situation. If not I would go straight to the district office. Lastly I would take them out, as I said above.

These truancy laws are in place mainly for the parents that don't care enough about their kids to get out of bed in the morning. There are so many parents out there that let their kids miss for no reason other than that.

I think that reasonable adults up at that school can see the difference between those parents and you..just trying to take a vacation.

HTH!

 

[laceemouse]

As a teacher, I cooperate as much as possible. I also ask that families cooperate, too. There have been many times that I have received a note the day before a family is leaving on a 1 week vacation, asking for anticipated missed assignments. I truly do not have time to get together work in such a short period of time. Also, as many teachers do, I do not teach from the text. Most of the learning comes from hands-on experiences in the classroom. So it is difficult to replicate what is happening in the classroom while a student is away for a long period of time. Having said that, I do understand why families take kids out of school, and I value the additional experiences that children are gaining with their families. I guess I'm just venting, as often times, teachers and schools are made out to be the "bad guys" in these situations.

Thanks for presenting the other side of the story. I agree with you, too much "us against them" stuff going on around here!!!

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Just wait until they reach high school and have manditory sports practice all of August! They didn't get out of school until June 13. That left us with only a month and a few weeks of vacation. That still did not stop us from taking him out a week for Disney.

 

[laceemouse]

Don't know the ages of OP's children, but if they're older I wonder how they'll feel about missing that time. Eight school days is a LOT to miss, making it very difficult to keep up with the rest of the class.

Agree 100%!! We homeschool now, but when we were in PS we were in very tough, competitive school districts. From about the 6th grade up it was very hard to make up missed work even if my kids were out sick! Much of the work is lectures, group projects, experiments and such that CANNOT be made up with a couple of worksheets a night! Also, with different teachers for each subject just getting them all informed and cooperating with you was a royal pain. We took our kids out once in elementary school. Of course now with homeschooling, we still have activities and such to schedule around. Too bad! That's life!!! Deal with iit. I can't imagine planning a big trip and paying mega $$$ without checking out the rules of my school district first. Also, most people could travel at a time (one third of the year!) when school is out!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I don't know if they can ARREST you. My DS (4th grade) missed 4 days last year - unexcused - and they sent me a threat letter. If he missed more days they could have charged me with a Class C misdemeanor and fined me $500.

I have seen kids on the news that have REALLY excessive truancy (45 days and more!) that have to go into court handcuffed together and answer the judge's questions. None of them were at Disney for 9 straight weeks.

If a child has 3 or more unexcused days in a 4 week period or 10 or more unexcused days in a school year then Dallas ISD will threaten to prosecute you. Obviously if they still have middle schoolers skipping what amounts to 9 whole weeks of school then they have bigger fish to fry than worrying about me taking my 5th grader to WDW for 3 days in December.

 

[tiki23]

We're taking our kids out of school for 6 school days in November. I read the district policies beforehand and also checked testing dates, end-of-semester dates, etc. before we decided on a vacation date.

We had open house this last week for all three kids - 8th grade, 9th grade and 11th grade - and all of the teachers were supportive and impressed that I "did my homework" on scheduling our vacation around the testing dates. They asked that we send a note 1-2 weeks prior to leaving so that they can get work together for the kids.

We've only taken them out of school once before for vacation, when they were in K, 1st and 3rd grades respectively, so I don't feel missing 6 days of school is going to be a life-altering event for them academically!

 

[jeast]

My school district didn't have the dates for the new school year until May of the previous spring. Trying to plan a vacation one and a half to two years ahead, there is absolutely no way I can accomodate their schedule. Especially since I can't afford summer rates.

I'm currently planning either may or october 2008 cruise. I won't have the school schedule for may 2008 until may 2007. I won't have Oct. 2008 until May 2008. I'm not waiting on them.

 

[CarolA]

my DW thinks that if for some reason they dont approve the planned vacation slip for 8 school days in october and we go anyway, which we will cause we already have over 3 grand non refundable into it, that when we get back we can be arrested. i say that they cannot do anything of the sort. she seems to think the school system is a totalitarian government in and of itself and i say they cannot tell you when and where you can go. anyone have any experience with this situation?

There is a limited number of days of unexcused absences in EACH state and once you are over that your children are truant and YOU are responsible. (And no the school system does not have to consider "Family time" as more important as the DIS seems to believe)

There is a subculture on the DIS that believes that if thier kids are EVER punished for going to Disney they are going to scream, throw hissy fits, homeschool etc. It's an interesting theory, but....the law is the law.

I have a friend who is a teacher. She does not cooperate and I don't blame her. (She also posts on the DIS, but you won't find her on these threads LOL!) The parents think 'it's just my daughter" yeah, times about 100 times. Plus she teaches a "gifted kid" program. They move FAST. One parent actually hired a lawyer to try to SUE her for not providing extra tutoring for his darling son when they went on a ski vacation. After that she started laying down the law. She sends a letter home at the beginning of the school year explaining her absence policy. Exceptions are ONLY made for major illnesses covered by a Doctor's note. (ie. her student undergoing cancer treatment gets help) She tells the parents when they tell her that she will not provide "advance" assignements and the child will have the normal two days to make up all missed work. Some parents have had thier kids withdrawn from the gifted program in response, but.....