Vacation during school year.

[ShayBells]

I know it's always a spilt decision. Some people are against it and some people are for it,but I'm curious after reading a comment about checking with your child's school on policy.

Is there any school out there that forbids taking a child out of school for vacation? It seems harsh. What's the punishment, expulsion?

I know my kids catholic school kinda frowns upon it, but there is no punishment and no real rule.

 

[MamaLema]

In the part of Canada where I live, there are no issues with taking kids out for vacation during the school year. They usually say "have a great trip"

I am always surprised how strict most schools in America are with vacation policies.

I always took my kids out for vacation until the day came where they found it too hard to catch up and now we just go on holidays, March Break, etc.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Pretty sure there are states where it is actually illegal. The Today show was chatting about it earlier this week or late last week. I missed the first part of what they said though.

The punishment is severe as in reporting you to authorities resulting in misdemeanor charges and/or fines rather than just marking the absences unexcused.

Not sure why it is illegal. I think that is stupid.

 

[anniemae]

I have hears that some schools require permission from the principal. I guess you have to request it in writing, but I think that is pretty rare. Our schools policy is that they won't give you homework to take with you, they have to wait until they get back, and it will be unexcused absence. Mostly they are fine and tell you to have a great trip. I think common courtesy dictates communicating with the teacher prior to leaving.

 

[ShayBells]

Pretty sure there are states where it is actually illegal. The Today show was chatting about it earlier this week or late last week. I missed the first part of what they said though. The punishment is severe as in reporting you to authorities resulting in misdemeanor charges and/or fines rather than just marking the absences unexcused. Not sure why it is illegal. I think that is stupid.

Wow that is insane!

 

[abdmom]

I know it's always a spilt decision. Some people are against it and some people are for it,but I'm curious after reading a comment about checking with your child's school on policy.

Is there any school out there that forbids taking a child out of school for vacation? It seems harsh. What's the punishment, expulsion?

I know my kids catholic school kinda frowns upon it, but there is no punishment and no real rule.

No real punishment for the child, but the parents could be taken to court and convicted of a criminal offense.

Both in the UK

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jul/11/parents-children-holiday-school-term-court

And the US

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/frisco/headlines/20110516-texas-truancy-law-offers-guidance-for-some-loopholes-for-others.ece

 

[Mizzoufan]

I know it's always a spilt decision. Some people are against it and some people are for it,but I'm curious after reading a comment about checking with your child's school on policy.

Is there any school out there that forbids taking a child out of school for vacation? It seems harsh. What's the punishment, expulsion?

I know my kids catholic school kinda frowns upon it, but there is no punishment and no real rule.

My school attendance policy you can miss 8 days per semester. Not including excused absences. After 8 absence the school says they will place you on probationary status. Which means they will without hold your grades till you make up the time. If you don't make up the time. You will not pass your current grade level.

 

[ShayBells]

I have hears that some schools require permission from the principal. I guess you have to request it in writing, but I think that is pretty rare. Our schools policy is that they won't give you homework to take with you, they have to wait until they get back, and it will be unexcused absence. Mostly they are fine and tell you to have a great trip. I think common courtesy dictates communicating with the teacher prior to leaving.

Yes I told both times I took my kid and the teacher said have a good trip and let him bring something in to show. He was in preschool at the time so I see it being a little different not to mind. He'll be in 1st when we go this sept. I'll tell the teacher before but am worried I know the hand out student book is sketchy on the subject.

 

[ShayBells]

My school attendance policy you can miss 8 days per semester. Not including excused absences. After 8 absence the school says they will place you on probationary status. Which means they will without hold your grades till you make up the time. If you don't make up the time. You will not pass your current grade level.

With all these stories my own high school seems lax and easy. I never went to school and I never got in trouble and i always made up work when I went and ended up Graduating with honors. So either my school was too lenient or times have changed.

 

[anniemae]

I think they get more touchy about it when the kids are older and it becomes more difficult to make up work. Preschool, K, 1st and 2nd, 3rd are fine I think. I know a bunch of kids in my dd's class have missed school to go to Disney.

 

[ldadar]

The US has such strict attendance policies because federal funding is tied to attendance.

 

[Mizzoufan]

With all these stories my own high school seems lax and easy. I never went to school and I never got in trouble and i always made up work when I went and ended up Graduating with honors. So either my school was too lenient or times have changed.

MY kids school is horrible! We don't even get a spring break this year. They were afraid we would get lots of snow this year.

When I was a kid it was no biggie. The school would send your wok with you.

 

[Mizzoufan]

The US has such strict attendance policies because federal funding is tied to attendance.

You hit the nail on the head!!

 

[Bluestars]

The attendance policies differ by school district and even by school, if private. My kids went to a school that allowed parents to take them out for a week's vacation. I didn't do it when my kids were in middle school or up though. My youngest didn't want to miss school once he got into middle school. They were allowed to make up the work when they got back.

I think public schools get funding per day per student, so their rules have to be stricter.

 

[tvguy]

I know it's always a spilt decision. Some people are against it and some people are for it,but I'm curious after reading a comment about checking with your child's school on policy.

Is there any school out there that forbids taking a child out of school for vacation? It seems harsh. What's the punishment, expulsion?

I know my kids catholic school kinda frowns upon it, but there is no punishment and no real rule.

My kids went to Catholic High School, and are 4 years apart. The policy change drastically over the 8 years. When my oldest started in om 2001, taking time off for vacation was no problem if you completed the work you missed.

By the time my youngest started in 2005, it had changed to discouraged, and you had to make up the work, but you only got half credit.

And by 2009, it was forbidden...with the school saying they had no choice because it could be grounds for them to lose their accreditation.

I would be a hypocrite if I took my kids out for vacation. DW and I somehow managed to schedule all their Doctor, Dentist and Orthodontist appointments around school. Actually, not very tough, Dentist appointments during Christmas Break and Summer Break, annual physical during Easter break, Orthodontist was only closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, so any of the other holidays he was open.

 

[barkley]

The US has such strict attendance policies because federal funding is tied to attendance.

it's also because of lawsuits based on equal treatment under the law.

I can only speak to the state I worked in, but it became a HUGE issue in the late 90's when welfare reform required all aided children who were of the age to attend school be verified as attending within a given state's guidelines. some counties/states (like I worked in) did massive mailings to school districts on thousands of kiddos, and if the kiddos had absences that exceeded the tolerance level we had to ding (decrease) the grants. decreased grants equals p.o.'d clients and legal aide running to their defense. legal aid raised a stink and said that only public assistance clients were being held accountable for their kid's attendance (and correctly points out that the majority of referrals to truancy court are again-public assistance clients). da required the schools to provide attendance data on ALL kiddos and finds out attendance rules are being inequitably applied (like coding vacations as unexcused but not referring those kiddos for truancy court when they exceed the tolerance level). the hammer came down hard on the schools, and rules got tighter.

the district we lived in only allowed excused absences for-personal illness, quarantine, medical/dental/chiro appointments, jury duty (kid's not parent's), funerals (1 day in state/3 days out) and they had to be verified w/proof (illness required a doctor's note if more than 3 days). beyond getting referred to truancy court a student exceeding the tolerance level received an automatic N/M (no mark) for their classes for the semester-not a big deal for say an elementary/middle school kid but we're talking not getting a grade or credits for an entire semester's worth of classes for a high school student. principals had the ability to approve a vacation as an excused absence but it was well known that it wasn't going to happen.

 

[mnrose]

It's allowed in my kids school, however, once in high school, you are still responsible for ALL the work and must turn it in on time or take a zero, which pretty much makes it impossible to do it as a practical matter unless your kid is willing to do the work while on vacation. Otherwise, you take a zero for that work, which can be grade impacting.

Now, you CAN take your chances that the teacher will allow you to submit late work and still get full or partial credit. Some will and some won't.

In grade school and middle school, it was much easier. Now, not so much.

Plus, my kids are involved in things like choir and drama. There are often mandatory performances scheduled at random times. Hard to "plan" for a vacation at any time other than scheduled breaks. That is how we roll now. Summers and scheduled breaks only.

 

[Colleen27]

In elem and middle school it is no big deal here. In high school, strict attendance limits kick in and I'm afraid to pull them out because it is an automatic loss of credit to exceed the limit pretty much regardless of reason. The limit is, I think, 7 days per semester right now (it seems to change fairly often; not long ago it was 10), so even 2-3 days missed for a trip puts the student in the position where one bout of strep or the flu can mean losing credit for the semester.

That's one thing I really like about having my girls in private school - their attendance policy is all about achievement, not numbers. If a child can miss a lot of school and still keep up it is a non-issue. We have students involved in gymnastics and equestrian competitions on a national level who miss a fair bit of school for competitions and it is no problem - they take their work along, sit in on lectures via Skype, e-mail completed work, etc. DD is planning on going back to public for high school and I'm going to miss that flexibility.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

MY kids school is horrible! We don't even get a spring break this year. They were afraid we would get lots of snow this year.

When I was a kid it was no biggie. The school would send your wok with you.

I can't honestly EVER remember anyone being gone for vacation when I was in school. I think it's far more common today.

 

[Hrhpd]

The US has such strict attendance policies because federal funding is tied to attendance.

You can't make that blanket statement.

Everywhere is different. Our state has 1 week of count days, the first week in October, where they take attendance to determine state funding. Absences the rest of the school year have no bearing on funding.

Our school district follows truancy laws. If you have more than 7 unexcused absences, you can be referred to the courts. However, it usually takes way more than that to actually go to court.

Our district will not provide homework nor assignments for unexcused absences. And any work, quizzes or tests missed cannot be made up and are automatic zeros.

So, it can be very costly for a high school student who is trying to keep their GPA up for college purposes. All homework that was to be turned in when they are gone and any quizzes or tests will be automatic 0's, really harming a GPA.

And our teachers are notorious for giving big tests on days before holiday breaks to discourage parents from leaving early for a vacation.