Trouble with the principal

[Jack Rabbit Run]

Here's the deal. We've been looking foward to this trip to the Fort since we were here last during spring break. We were planning to leave Wednesday morning @ 5-6 a.m.. It's Monday evening and NOW my DW says "Maybe we should leave Wednesday afternoon so that the kids would only miss 2 days of school rather than 3 days". I said "What is the differance?" Ok I know 1 day. But does it really matter? They're both exellent students and they even have most of their homework done for the week. DW says that we can get in trouble with the principal. Like what? I don't think they're allowed to paddle us anymore. Should we have told their teachers we were taking a little trip? I don't want my kids to get in trouble but, I also don't want to miss one second at Fort Wilderness!
Tell me what you think.

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

Nuts to the principal. Send him/her this Disney Vacation Absence Excuse Letter. It should work

http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/SchoolExcuse/SE1.shtml

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

It definitely gets harder once the kiddos are in school -- and then harder still when they get into all kinds of sports/activities. I'd say it probably depends on how old the kids are and what my spouse and I agree is best for the family (whichever way that goes!). Hope you have a great trip, no matter how long it turns out!

 

[cruising spud]

Here's input from a teacher/parent.

I'd say, first, a lot depends on the age of your kids. Any age lower than ninth grade, and I don't see going on a family trip an issue IF:

#1: Your kids are doing well in school.

#2: And this may surprise a lot of people, you let the teacher and the school
know ahead of time. At our school, provided we know early enough, we
can often have the kids do the work they will miss before they even
leave on vacation. That way your family has fun, and we are not
stressed out, wondering where your kids have disappeared to.

#3: I feel that once your kids hit ninth grade, they will be missing a whole
lot of information (good student or not) over a three day period.

Just my input.

 

[fla4fun]

I have also read posts here on the DIS about school districts that have strict attendance policies and harsh penalties if the kids miss too much school. Personally I believe it should be the parents decision whether their kid can miss school or not. But I can remember back when my parents took me out of school for a family vacation having some teachers that weren't so cooperative when it came to making up work.

So I would check out what the school district policy is, and if it's not a big issue, don't worry about it.

 

[thegoofyfamily]

We're in PBC and we're off Friday of this week as well. As the kids have gotten older, it's gotten harder to do, but we still do it from time to time and they will be missing 2 days in December due to my Fort habit.

I agree with PP, any time I'm taking the kiddos out for at least a full day, I email their teacher to let them know they will be out and to send them home with any work they could do on our trip. I don't go into detail as to the reason, but I will give the teachers a heads up. In PBC, there are a certain amount of days they can miss per trimester, but since this week is the end of our trimester, I wouldn't think twice about taking them out a day or two. Unfortunately, our extracurriculur activities are keeping us here until Thursday at 4:00 pm and THEN WE'RE FORT BOUND!

 

[npcougar]

As long as they have good attendance, 3 days isn't too much to miss. Academically 3 days can be a lot to miss even for good students. No matter how much you want to go to Disney, school is still more important.

ps Don't use that excuse letter unless you have really young students, it is really bad.

 

[des1954]

I asked a friend of mine who is the principal of an Elementary School here in Polk County, Florida. The policy here is that, other than an emergency, the school needs notification ahead of time that you plan on taking your child out of school. Depending on the grades the child is earning and how much absenteeism has accrued, the absence may be denied and the child considered a truant if you still pull him/her out of school. It doesn't sound like your kids are having scholastic troubles or absentee problems, but I would still give the teachers and/or office ample warning that you are pulling your kids out for a couple of days. It's just common courtesy, and you will be teaching your kids a lesson in responsible behavior. Also, unless you talk with someone at the school, you don't know if they will be missing any tests or other items of importance.

JMHO - which is not of any real value anyway.

 

[luckycharm19335]

In our local school district, you need to have a doctors if you are out of school 3 days or more.

 

[Judy in Texas]

I can understand both sides. I was brought up in small town Ohio and the only reason anyone missed school was if you had a temperature, were throwing up or were contagious. That's the way I raised my daughter. Both parent's feelings should be taken into consideration. If the school or one parent objects, they rule.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We had this issue once when our kids were in 6 and 8 grades.

My wife sent a note asking for homework (were we driving down 1 over night on the road) and the kids were told they were not allowed to miss school for a vacation. I called and was told by a secy of all people (who would not put the prinicpal on the phone) that WE were not permitted to take our kids out of school!

The secy was told that if my kids didnt have the homework by tomorrow or a note saying it would be made avialable to us, I would be in the prinicpals office the day after!

We got the homework....

I think the school adminastrations are getting a bit out of hand ...the fact is.............YOU are the PARENTS! not the school system.

AKK

 

[MomofSixinSC]

Just another reason why we homeschool.

We did school every day through June, July, and August when it was too hot out to want to much else. Now that it is cooling off, we can go on field trips and not run into crowds everywhere. Plus, we can take vacations when we want and even bring the schoolwork with us.

Praying you find a solution that works best for your family.

 

[auntie]

In our local school district, you need to have a doctors if you are out of school 3 days or more.

I'm soooo glad I no longer have to deal with this. My youngest graduated in June.
In our district if the student is out more than four consecutive days they need to return with a dr.'s note. PITA! They limit absences to 9 times per semester. If you exceed that...they don't have to give you credit for the courses.
Last few years they have sent home notices at the start of the school year discouraging parents from taking kids out for week long vacations.
Now, if your child hasn't been out more than nine times that semester..then you had nothing to worry about. They didn't care why the kid is out. Sickness, vacation, or whatever. It's that whole "9 days" of absences that they were sticklers about. In reality, that comes down to state aide. The district receives so much per student..and the kids have to be there for them to receive it.

That being said...my younger son did miss a week of school this past year. (he went on vacation with his older brother). He was a senior and none of his teachers gave him a hard time. For that matter he didn't even have a full day of school since his requirements for graduation had been met a year earlier. Pretty much his schedule consisted of three electives and work experience. He was home by 12 pm every day.
I figured "WTH"..see what happens.
NOTHING happened. Not one phone call..not a letter, zip, zero, nada.
Now maybe we were lucky..and if the worst had happened, he wouldn't have gotten credit for an elective that he didn't need for graduation anyway. That's why I figured he could risk taking the extra day.

The memories of two brothers vacationing together will last a lifetime. They won't always have that kind of time to spend together surfing. (and doing Lord knows what else ..I'm sure I'm better off not knowing..)

I cringed when I read that the current administration wants to extend the school year. I felt bad for my niece and nephew..they're both in middle school. I also felt bad for the teachers! I can't imagine too many kids were happy about that!

 

[auntie]

We had this issue once when our kids were in 6 and 8 grades.

My wife sent a note asking for homework (were we driving down 1 over night on the road) and the kids were told they were not allowed to miss school for a vacation. I called and was told by a secy of all people (who would not put the prinicpal on the phone) that WE were not permitted to take our kids out of school!

The secy was told that if my kids didnt have the homework by tomorrow or a note saying it would be made avialable to us, I would be in the prinicpals office the day after!

We got the homework....

I think the school adminastrations are getting a bit out of hand ...the fact is.............YOU are the PARENTS! not the school system.

AKK

This is why as the parent....YOU LIE.
You don't say the kids are on vacation. You call them in sick.

 

[bored]

I will take my kids out of school for vacation whenever I want. Mine is missing a week in Jan. If the principal gives us a hard time, I got a spot picked out he can kiss. The school doesn't own my kid, my kid is a great student, tests 3 grade levels ahead and will be missing 5 days. If the school wants them to be un-excused knock themselves out.

 

[Running_Bell]

We have taken our kids out of school for one week every year since they were of school age. The school requires us to submit a form for absence approval (it is always approved) and we tell the teachers about 2 months out of our plans and arrange homework (and not leave it up to the teacher) so it can be done while we are away. The kids have always taken an hour or so each night... or double up one night while we are on vacation. They don't mind and I consider it an obligation of theirs since they are out of school. DS just graduated HS with honors and DD is in all Academically Gifted classes.. so I can argue the case for people who think the kids suffer. I do agree that they are my kids and I can do what I want with them, I know it is our responsibility to make sure they don't get behind and stay deligent in keeping up with work missed. Just let the school, teacher, principal know in advance... and as long as the student isn't dreading miss the school time... have fun. I mean honestly... the school districts need to worry about retention and drugs in the schools more than a child missing a week to spend family time. More families should do it.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

This is why as the parent....YOU LIE.
You don't say the kids are on vacation. You call them in sick.




Auntie you have a idea is good.......but not our way..............

We never took them out for more the 4 or 5 days and the vacation was tied to Easter week...........On the night before we left and in the car they did most of thier homework............the rule was.......homework done, then the parks!

The funny thing was, they were always ahead of the classes when we got home!

AKK

 

[mdoc]

If it will have an adverse effect on your vacation to leave Wednesday afternoon instead of early Wednesday morning, then I'd have the kids skip school that day. If your kids otherwise have good attendance, I can't imagine there will be too much trouble with the principal. At my kids' school, if the absence is going to be 3 days or more you need to notify the school ahead of time, but you don't get in trouble. Now that two of my kids are in high school, pulling them out of school is no longer a good option, so we're having to reschedule our Thanksgiving week trip (which would have required them to miss 2 days) to a Christmas trip (which will be entirely over break). There will be bigger crowds, but we'll deal. In retrospect, we should have taken more school-year trips when they were in elementary school!!

 

[mikeymouse1]

Schools overrated take Dem kids to Disney!

 

[gillenkl]

At our school we just let the school know - students are allowed 5 days of "vacation" and are allowed to makeup the work they miss (there's a time frame for the makeup work but I don't recall what it is.) We've never done this because a week at the Fort wouldn't be enough for us.