What is your school's attendance policy?

[DOREEN1779]

After reading the thread about "taking your child out of school for Disney" I was curious about other school districts attendance policy. Presently, our elementary school in central New Jersey allows 6 unexcused absences. Some neighboring towns are at 3. I thought 6 was a bit harsh. Not everyone can afford the co-pay to go to the Dr. everytime and most of the time they don't even prescribe an antibiotic. A lot of parents have chosen to send their child in sick, of course spreading their illness, and wait for the school nurse to call. If the school calls and tells you to come get your child, it is an excused absence. So what is your school's number?

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

We live in Texas, and I think the policy is state-wide (I think?). Excused or unexcused, a student has to be present for 90% of the school days. If they are in attendance for less than that, for whatever reason, there is a truancy hearing.

At our kids' school district, any sick or doctor's appointment absence is excused by either a doctor note or a parent note. The unexcused absences are the ones for vacation/family trips, etc. We have to fill out a form before hand and at the elementary level they are allowed one week of these trip unexcused absences. I pulled my son out for a week last year (he was in kindergarten) and it wasn't a big deal. He came nowhere near the 10% absentee rate (which I think is missing 18 or 19 days of school).

 

[henry72]

In Texas:
Under the law, if the student is absent from school on ten (10) or more days or part of days within a six month period in the same school year or on three (3) or more days or parts of days within a four week period:
• Student's parent/guardian is subject to prosecution under Section 25.093 and
• Student is subject to prosecution under Section 25.094 of the Texas Education Code

You cannot miss more than 18 days and pass the grade. Our student handbook specifically says that vacations are NOT excused absences. Pop Warner and cheerleading not associated with the school are not excused either.

You do not need a doctors note each time your child is sick. DS was sick one Friday with a fever. I called it in that morning and then when he returned on Monday I simply sent a note stating he was sick. It has been marked as an excused absence.

 

[watkinsme]

10 absences with a hand written note - after that they must bring a doctor note.

Mine have missed 6 total all year - all to disneyworld. None for being sick. they are missing on friday so we can fly out of state for spring break - they are missing "field day" (bunch of outside games)

I have been lucky but my kids haven't been sick (DS missed once in Kindy for being sick) and DD hasn't missed ever for being sick.

 

[Samar]

Six day in a row gets a child reported for truancy. 10 days and beyond get the child unenrolled from the school system.

 

[loafer74]

In Arkansas if you are absent there is no excused or not excused. Its up to each district to set the days they allow , our is 6 per semester , even if you child is in the hospital they are required to turn you in to the prosecuting attorney when they miss over 6 , doesnt matter what the reason is.

That being said , the genious that came up with this law really screwed up , the PA was getting so many orders brought in from schools they finally just started ignoring them , other wise their office would be spending all of their time on this.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

In Texas:
Under the law, if the student is absent from school on ten (10) or more days or part of days within a six month period in the same school year or on three (3) or more days or parts of days within a four week period:
• Student's parent/guardian is subject to prosecution under Section 25.093 and
• Student is subject to prosecution under Section 25.094 of the Texas Education Code

You cannot miss more than 18 days and pass the grade. Our student handbook specifically says that vacations are NOT excused absences. Pop Warner and cheerleading not associated with the school are not excused either.

You do not need a doctors note each time your child is sick. DS was sick one Friday with a fever. I called it in that morning and then when he returned on Monday I simply sent a note stating he was sick. It has been marked as an excused absence.

We're in the same boat w/Texas attendance laws. I know most of the schools are pretty strict about upholding the laws as well since attendance is tied into respective school funding. Some schools are better about excusing things than others. I have a friend who had to go to battle over absences relating to the death of a grandparent! The state initially designed these laws to help the at risk kids, yet those are the kids I always hear about where nobody is enforcing attendance. A friend's child was cutting school for over a month and nobody did anything. Sorry- venting!

To the OP- I know NJ is not nearly as strict as other states so you may be able to just go with school policy. I grew up in NJ and most of my childhood friends are able to pull their kids out for around a week.

 

[RachaelA]

So I just checked the current school year handbook for where DD will go (Catholic grade school) (obviously this could very well change, but it hasn't since I went to school there in the early 90s), for vacations outside of vacation days, the school just needs a note ahead of time. Pre-K through grade 4 will get assignments ahead of time. Grades 5 through 8 can complete everything when they get back unless the teacher wants to give them the work early. No limitation on number of days.

I have no idea what the current state policy is, but I know my aunt pulled my cousin's son out of 6th grade (at the local public school) for over a week for a Disney trip and it was no problem.

Its crazy how it varies so much from school to school across the US.

 

[treehugnmama]

we take two weeks off for vacation every year and the miss days going to the children's hospital 2 hrs a way maybe 4 days and probably sick another 4. both kids above grade level and the school doesn't seem to care.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Our new policy as of this school year is no more than five unexcused absences in one school year. The last time we went to Disney, we flew out early on Friday morning, but this year we will have to send them to school on Friday and pull them out half-day for a late afternoon flight.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Our new policy as of this school year is no more than five unexcused absences in one school year. The last time we went to Disney, we flew out early on Friday morning, but this year we will have to send them to school on Friday and pull them out half-day for a late afternoon flight.

On that note, attending for 1/2 a day is "generally" not considered an absence here, nor where you are I assume.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Here in SC,

in Lexington School District , your child may have upto 10 unexcused absences. After 5 days they send you a letter at every interim and report card staying the number of absences and if you have any documents to bring them in to clear them up. There are no things such as parent notes for excuses. You can tell them all you want in advance it dosen't matter if they are planned or not.

You can have endless excused absences all the live long day. They must either be a doctors note, hospital note, or a court note.

If the parents know the child will be absent for more than 10 excused days they place the student on "homebound" and make special arrangements with monitored progress followed by the school's special services.

 

[tzolkin]

Hmm... our schools don't really have a set policy

They just say illness is the only "excused" absence and that they can take action for excessive "unexcused" absences. I assume this is only the case if they believe the child is skipping school.


I have taken my older DD out for up to 14 school days in a row (that was for a Disney trip plus a wedding when she was in 4th grade). Every time I have told the teachers in advance, they provided work, and never seemed to have any issue with it. The elementary teachers always tell us to have a good time and usually give work that is something fun and related to our trip (researching plants during the Flower & Garden festival, keeping a journal, writing word problems for math, etc)

Last year oldest DD was in 7th grade (in our district K-6 is at the Elem school and 7-12 is HS). I notified all 8 of her teachers in advance and they all gave her work, but I didn't tell the school (I never told the office at the elem school so I didn't even think about it). Monday of the second week of our trip I got a call on my cell phone from the attendance office making sure she was okay since she'd missed a week of school.


This year we're going in August and are now planning around school breaks since DD is in HS. I'm not worried about the school telling us we can't go, it's just more difficult for her to make up work (even for gym she had to stay after to make-up each class missed)

 

[mrsltg]

Absence is at the discretion of the parents at our school. I like it that way!

 

[blessedby3]

Our high school lets the kids miss up to 10 days each semester...so 20 in a school year. After that you get a letter from the school board and you have to deal with them. The middle/lower school's dont have a set number, but they arent on the block scheduling that the high school is on. We have always pulled our kids out for a week (and a day sometimes) and have never had a problelm. Thankfully they dont miss too much for sick days

 

[jodifla]

At our public elementary school, if the parent says the child is excused, then they are excused. Just like when I was a kid!

 

[nchulka]

At our public elementary school, if the parent says the child is excused, then they are excused. Just like when I was a kid!

At our school excused means the parents called. Unexcused is a teenager skipping without the parents knowledge. I can't believe some school say it's not excused when a parent calls about a sick kid or a vacation! I have no idea about numbers, don't know if they have some set one or not. I know that my kids missed 12 days last year for our 2 1/2 week vacation to Disney. The office lady and their teachers just told them to have fun. They gave them work to make up. This past month alone my daughter missed 7 days while we were skiing in Colorado and then 3 days when I took her to Mall of America for her 10th birthday trip. As long as they make up the work and get good grades I don't care and neither does the school, as is should be!!!

 

[Leajess99]

The policy here in our school district in Kentucky is 3 unexcused gets a letter and 6 unexcused gets you reported for truancy.

A parent can write notes for 6 excused absences but they can not be for more than 2 days. A doctor's note is needed otherwise.

At 6 unexcused absences a child may be held back in middle school and high school. Elementary school kids don't generally get held back without a parent requesting them to be.

My youngest missed 32 days of school last year due to illness and such BUT she is above grade level and you could never tell she missed that much school.

Parents can request an educational trip waiver and it is up to the principal whether or not it gets approved.

 

[emma'smom]

Ohio State Law is 21 days and you could be held over.....

However, my dd's private school is not dependent of attendance #'s for fund, so we've never had an issue (we also don't abuse it). We usually know our planned trips even at the beginning of the year---so I can tell the principal from Day 1 so there are no surprises.

This year they have missed 10 days for trips so far and dd9 has been sick one day. I've never bothered trying to get them tagged as independent study time---but if we ever wanted to do a long trip somewhere, I suppose I would get it approved as an independent study. When we went to Europe a few years ago, I made a list of content standards we would be addressing and specific academic work we had planned relevant to the trip. They each did an oral presentation when they got back...but that was about it.

 

[juliebug]

in Nebraska,

you can't miss more than 20 days a school year. you will get a note mailed home at 5, 10, and 15 absences. At 20 you are turned over to the state attorney. My son missed 6 this year because he had strep for 5 days! no way was i going to let him infect everyone in his class we did get a note from the dr. too!

We will be pulling both kids out in Oct and i have no worries. i will get a note, and be told at every conference how many days they have missed!