Tiny bits of our Vacation are going down the tubes!

[Canyon girl]

Thanks guys. I guess I'm a little nervous, and I am a very play by the rules kind of Mom. The last thing I want is school trouble!

What if you went into the principal's office and ask for school work to do in exchange for an excused absence. Offer to help DD pick an animal at the park to do a report on (with pictures). Go to www.themouseforless.com under downloads and pick some worksheets for DD to do and take those to the principal's office, too. If you offer to make it a schooling vacation, you might get better results.

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

Don't worry...I "hold" those meetings in my state....you will get a slap on the wrist if they even hold the meeting...

Rules are made to be broken! GOOOO don't even think twice, just make sure she makes up all of the work and communicate with the teachers.

 

[bumbershoot]

They claim, statistically, children really shouldn't need more than that.

Oh good gosh! Statistics are made up of averages! So some kids miss a lot (me) and other kids miss nothing (my brother), and in between is the average. NOT fair to judge everyone based on the middle of the road.

Anyway, there's a lot of MAYs in there. May require a doctor's note if the excused absences go over 7. May get a letter. May get a court date. May get a fine. "May" gives you wiggle room. "May" allows them to find the actual truants from the not totally well kids going on a family trip.

I might meet with the principal, but I'd go, absolutely! Then again, we're homeschoolers so we're already keeping ourselves out of most of that nonsense. In WA I don't even have to declare DS's existence to the school district until he's 8!

 

[Albort]

It looks to me like you are all set. It differentiates between excused and unexcused. They are two different things. After 7 excused absences you are required to bring in a doctors note to explain that they truly are illness related.

#2 shows that you are allowed 5 unexcused absences. These are separate from the excused illness absences.

You should be good to go. Just so she doesn't fall behind send a note in to her teacher ahead of time letting her know she will be gone for vacation and she will probably make her a work packet so she can keep up with her class.

yes, i believe its an excuses vs. unexcused. I think it just protects the school from kids missing school without the parents knowing. I think you should be fine as long as you excuse your kid which should be fine...

 

[jham]

We're in Utah.

The kind of sucky thing is that my DD has Juvenile Arthritis, and we've managed all of her specialist appt's, which are quite numerous, and controlled it so well that she hasn't missed a single minute of school due to her condition.

Here's the policy:
The District policy states:
1. Seven or more days (or equivalent class periods ) of excused absences
within a school year are considered excessive and may require a doctor’s
note to excuse subsequent absences.
2. After five or more days (or equivalent class periods) of unexcused
absences within a school year, the school will mail the student/parents a
Truancy Letter asking for the parent’s help with their student’s attendance
and warning of consequences for further truancy. Please note, a student
must be in attendance 4/7th of a school day to receive credit for one full
day.
3. After 10 days (or equivalent class periods) of unexcused absences within
a school year, the school will mail the student and parents a Habitual
Truancy Notice/Pre-Court Hearing. The Habitual Truancy Notice requires
the student and parents to appear at a Pre-Court hearing. Schools may
assess a $48.00 truancy fine.
4. After 15 or more days (or equivalent class periods) of unexcused
absences within a school year, student and parents will be mailed a
Habitual Truancy Notice. Students in seventh through twelfth grades will be
referred to the Third District Juvenile Court. Younger students may be
referred to the Salt Lake County District Attorney.

I'm also in Utah and have had kids in 3 different school districts. Which district are you in? I know in Jordan and Canyons if we fill out paperwork ahead of time if they are missing 3 or more days, and the kids do a project or a makeup packet then it doesn't count as an absence.

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

We're in Salt Lake too. What district is this?

 

[geekypeach]

We're in Granite. That policy is pulled right from their website, and our school attendance secretary said specifically that is the one the school adheres to.

It sounds like it is Utah State Law, and not just a district policy. It states earlier in the document: "According to the Utah Compulsory Attendance Laws ( Utah Code 53A-11-101-
105)..."

You all are just full of good advice though. I feel much more confident that if we get our ducks in a row and prepare that we should be a-okay!

 

[Leofoenget]

It's not as bad as our school district. We are only allowed 3 unexcused before we get the nasty letter

 

[Judy from Boise]

Wow, Idaho must be full of "keep your nose out of our business" type people! Rules like that would never fly. I would break them just so I could call the local media and make a stink when I got my letter! But I am a rebel at heart, and a civil libertarian in many areas of my personal philosophy.

 

[Rosanne]

It looks to me like you are all set. It differentiates between excused and unexcused. They are two different things. After 7 excused absences you are required to bring in a doctors note to explain that they truly are illness related.

#2 shows that you are allowed 5 unexcused absences. These are separate from the excused illness absences.

You should be good to go. Just so she doesn't fall behind send a note in to her teacher ahead of time letting her know she will be gone for vacation and she will probably make her a work packet so she can keep up with her class.

I read this slightly differently in that for #2 I read that nothing will happen at all for up and including four unexcused absences. Then you get some sort of note. I would not worry about it though because nothing particularly major will happen until 10 unexcused absences and it doesn't sound like you are planning any more.

I'm a teacher and my school knew full well with documentation from docs etc. that my daughter had strep four times in the fall (there was probably a carrier in the room) and missed seven days of school. We still got the "scary-type" all official form letter. She hadn't missed a day for anything other than contagious illness. I was annoyed but when they told me it was standard I just figured it was more BOOrockracy, LOL.

You'll be fine but it is nice to talk to the principal.

 

[heather_sue_98]

I teach elementary school in Jordan. Those meetings almost never happen. Or they happen with the kids who have missed over 30 days of school. (Not a joke.) Let the principal know, and let the teacher know, and be willing to have your kid to make up work and I really think it will be fine.

 

[NVDisMom]

Wow, Idaho must be full of "keep your nose out of our business" type people! Rules like that would never fly. I would break them just so I could call the local media and make a stink when I got my letter! But I am a rebel at heart, and a civil libertarian in many areas of my personal philosophy.

I'm right there with you! We Northern Nevadans are just trouble makers.

 

[ttds17]

This is similar to CA state law...and you're right, it's a law, not a district policy.

#1 means you basically get 6 days where you can call the office and say, 'Jane is home sick today' or provide a dr. note and they will excuse them as illness. Once you hit 7, it's called "excessive excused" and they require a dr. note to excuse them from that point forward.

#2 means after 5 or more unexcused days (and the state only allows certain reasons for a school to excuse an absence) you start the truancy process. So the absences in #1 don't apply to this unless you hit the "excessive excused" mark and don't provide dr. notes from that point forward. Meaning, once you are "excessive excused" you can no longer call the school and say, 'Jane is home sick today." If you do not provide a dr. note, they are marked as unexcused and qualify for the truancy process. Basically, the first truancy letter will be to notify you of the truancy issue, note the law and explain that you need to comply with the law in order to avoid further penalty. Usually the process stops here, because parents don't want anything more to happen and therefore comply.

#3 means that if you receive letter number one and continue to have a problem, you will be asked to attend the pre-court hearing. In CA we call it SARB (School Attendance Review Board). It's a board of local officials (i.e. reps from probation, court, DA, sheriff and school district, etc.) who come together to discuss the truancy issue with the parent and student. They explain the law to you and ask why your child has missed so much school. It's an informal hearing and nothing to be afraid of. Based on what you've told us, you will not reach this point. As long as you provide dr. notes for all illnesses, you should not reach 10 or more unexcused absences for your vacation.

I would go and not worry about it.

The instance where someone left the country is not considered truancy. Usually, schools dis-enroll those students from their school and then re-enroll them when they return. It's a risk because schools will not guarantee the student a spot when they return. They could very well end up in a different classroom or even at an overflow school.

Allyson

 

[heather_sue_98]

There's a thought... Unenroll her for the week and tell them you are homeschooling, then re enroll when you get back. That's my kind of homeschool!!

 

[Brian Shepherd]

I'm right there with you! We Northern Nevadans are just trouble makers.

We here in Canada are also trouble makers. My dd15 is in grade 10 and has missed a good 20 or more days of school October to date as she got mono. She then lost a very good friend in a car accident this past week. She's still passing her classes and she's going to tough out final exams next week. My daughter is stressed and needs a happy place to go. We leave in 23 days. She going to miss 4 days of her first semester.

I really don't care what they say, WE'RE GOING!!!!