Would you send your kid

[barkley]

who are you going to turn your excuse into on the LAST day of school?

Eh I let my son skip school to watch a new backyardagins that was on... I'm sure he'll be in juvie by the time he's 13

in some regions it may be that you justify that absence to the district attny's office.

depending on a district/state's law, and a child's individual attendance record, missing that last partial day of school can result (despite stellar grades) in a failure to complete a necessary course to be promoted (and if unexcused absences have reached/exceeded a certain level-criminal prosecution is pursued for the parents).

i know it sounds extreme, but in the region i worked for social services in this was the norm (we got the cps referral from the schools b/c they were mandated to do so after a set number of unexcused absences which often were comprised of -not to offend the posters on this particular board-days for vacations the parents believed /attempted to justify as to be "educational" in combination with "oh it's no big deal b/c it's a minimum day"(s)). in the previous school district we lived in-despite the academic performance of a student, if they had in excess of a set number of absences (without verified medical validation) they failed their coursework.

neither of my kid's schools have the kind of ruling that the jr/sr high i went to did, but when i attended (and from what i understand is the rule now)-for non seniors, attendance the final minimum day of class was a requirement to successful completion of any individual course. every year there were students who "tested" this only to find that there parents received automated phone calls advising that b/c their student failed to attend the last day of the course they needed to make an appointment with the office to arrange with counseling staff to take measures necessary in order to complete what were there now failing courses.

 

[MiniGirl]

Would I send my kids to school that day?

Nope. Not if they didn't want to go.

Then again, I routinely took them out to go to Disney or would check them out to go see a new movie just opening. Loved getting there before the big crowds. LOL!!!

 

[kinntj]

My kids wouldn't miss the last day for anything. Okay, maybe if I dangled WDW in front of them they would.

ps.ignore the thumbs down. I'm not sure how that got there.

 

[daisyduck123]

I say skip if she wants, but it is an illegal absence.

In my county, elementary students (we have about 80 elem. schools) are automatically considered "present" for the last five days of school.

Report cards are printed a full week before the final day & ALL students are considered in attendance...even if a student is out that entire time, it WILL NOT count against him/her.

 

[Rora]

If she wants to stay home, let her stay home! I'm a 3rd grade teacher and IMO, it's a waste of a day!

 

[lovesmurfs]

To school in this case?

The last day is tomorrow, it is 2.5 hours long. There are NO teaching materials left in the building as it is being remodeled. In fact kids and teachers MUST be out at 10:30 because the demo crews come at 11:30.
Her teacher is going to cook pancakes, which is a very nice gesture, then theyre going outside to play.

I figured why bother She has no interest in going at all. Both of her siblings are out of school as of today so it isnt like they would be going to school.

So would you send your child in that circumstance?


FTR, I went in early today and told the teacher and had her go around and say her goodbyes and make sure she had all of her stuff. Teacher is fine with it. She will be back at the same school next year anyway

Yes, I would. I sent DD10 to school for one (1) hour last Friday (8am - 9am). I still can't believe taxpayers had to pay for bussing for that day.

 

[MoniqueU]

My oldest dd is in 7th and asked to go to the 8th grade graduation instead. I said sure why not. Grades are finalized and report cards will be mailed home. The whole last week of school unless you are graduating from something is a waste IMHO. And I don't really care if the school gets paid for my kid being there or not. Sorry if that is not politically correct but I don't OWE the school anything.

 

[C.Ann]

No - my kids never went on the last day of school.. That was the day we made the move up here to the lake for the summer.. In their case, they only would have been in school for a little over 1 and a half hours - with no activities planned at all.. They simply had the kids come in to pick up their report cards - which they were also able to do the day before - and then sit and wait for the busses to come back and bring them home..

If your child isn't interested in going - and you have already spoken with the teacher about it - I don't see where there's any reason she should "have" to go..

Wish her a happy summer vacation for me!

 

[tinkerbowler]

I would send them., even though it is a short day and everything.. I lived for the last day of school as well as many other kids in the schools.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I would encourage my kid to go, but if he didn't really want to go, I wouldn't force him.

 

[Va-bear]

I'm surprised she doesn't want to go! My kids wouldn't miss the last day of school for anything, even though they only go for a half day and do nothing! The last day has always been a fun day for them!

I would send her, but that's me. I'm sure she won't regret going, and would probably have fun eating pancakes with her friends.

Ditto!

 

[Magpie]

in some regions it may be that you justify that absence to the district attny's office.

depending on a district/state's law, and a child's individual attendance record, missing that last partial day of school can result (despite stellar grades) in a failure to complete a necessary course to be promoted (and if unexcused absences have reached/exceeded a certain level-criminal prosecution is pursued for the parents).

i know it sounds extreme, but in the region i worked for social services in this was the norm (we got the cps referral from the schools b/c they were mandated to do so after a set number of unexcused absences which often were comprised of -not to offend the posters on this particular board-days for vacations the parents believed /attempted to justify as to be "educational" in combination with "oh it's no big deal b/c it's a minimum day"(s)). in the previous school district we lived in-despite the academic performance of a student, if they had in excess of a set number of absences (without verified medical validation) they failed their coursework.

neither of my kid's schools have the kind of ruling that the jr/sr high i went to did, but when i attended (and from what i understand is the rule now)-for non seniors, attendance the final minimum day of class was a requirement to successful completion of any individual course. every year there were students who "tested" this only to find that there parents received automated phone calls advising that b/c their student failed to attend the last day of the course they needed to make an appointment with the office to arrange with counseling staff to take measures necessary in order to complete what were there now failing courses.

Wow - that sounds like living in a police state!

Where I live, we don't have to give any reason for our child not showing up at school. In elementary and middle school, the office will call home if I forget to call first and say my child will be absent, but that's just so they can confirm that I know where my child is.

Once they're in high school, they stop even calling, unless your child has been absent for awhile and the teacher's worrying that they've dropped out.

If I want to home school my child tomorrow, all I have to do is call the school and let them know. To quote a local school official, "If they're not in school, they're not our concern."

This has been the non-policy for at least the last 10 years, probably longer. Canadian students still manage to place well in international standings.

I would let my child decide whether or not to go for the last half-day.

 

[BabyPiglet]

I wouldn't force the issue. I wouldn't want to go either! Maybe you could take her out to a movie, lunch, or do something special with her to signify the ending of the school year (after sleeping in, of couse, lol)?

 

[binny]

I guess I should clarify, this is my soon to be 5th grade student. We just moved here in the winter and she really doesnt have any particular attachments to anyone at the school yet. We do have phone numbers to call and hopefully strengthen friendships over the summer.

She has had really good attendance since we've been here and her teacher honestly did not care, she said several were not coming tomorrow. Its really obvious the teachers are all stressed out about having to get everything out by tomorrow at 11:30 before the demo crew got there. I think they are fine with kids not showing up.

One teacher told me that she is taking the first 12 weeks of curriculum because she doesnt trust that things will be done in time thats a whole lot of stress!

 

[bumbershoot]

It always strikes me, just how DIFFERENT things are from school to school and teacher to teacher! There's no ONE rule...some teachers LOVE presents, others hate them. Some teachers like this, others like that. etc etc. And it's no different with this. Some teachers want their kids there...others are trying to tell the kids to stay away. How does a parent ever figure out which kind of teacher their kids have?



My mom worked, sometimes more than one job, so I'm fairly certain that we went to school on the last day. Plus, my brother almost always got the perfect attendance awards and it was important to him (he never got sick, unlike me, so it wasn't hard for him), so if he was going I might as well go (unless actually sick). Plus, I would have felt like I was "missing something". And the last days of school always had a...hmm...kind of fun, nostalgic, feeling to them (instant nostalgia, LOL), and I liked them, even though I despised most of my school "career" b/c I'm so darned shy.

On the other hand, my DH teaches at the same school where the last day is really a special time for him to spend with his class. Each year his classes become very close because he does a great job at fostering a community of friends. Every year he has only one or two kids missing on the last day (usually because of a family trip or something). His students WANT to be there. They don't want the year to end. They cry -- the whole class cries. They sit in a circle and watch videos of the year (they do a lot of filming all year long) and talk about fun times. They order pizza and just enjoy each other.

Awwww...that made me well up. And trust me, I don't well up about teachers easily! Didn't like most of them, didn't like school, if my mom had told me about homeschooling I would have hounded her to make it happen for me...just hated the whole thing, especially the social aspect of it. Even as a senior in HS, having gone to school with the same kids since 1st grade, I would go home with hives on my chest and throat, bright red cheeks, from the difficulty I had with talking to my peers all day long. STarted off every morning nauseated with nervousness as well. Good times, good times...not.

But anyway, that must be very special. Those kids will probably remember him forever. And not in the way I remember my teachers, either!

And I don't want to talk about the 84K gym teacher that has the HS kids sitting for this last week of school, cause theres "nothing left to do" ...either, okay, rant over!

Does that mean the gym teacher is paid $84,000??? Sign me up for that!

 

[Becky2005]

I just didnt see the point in having school for 2.5 hours. Im sure its just a numbers deal but dang! How annoying, really. One of her other teachers said "Yeah I dont get it either"

At least it was for 2.5 hours -- our last day of school here is for ONE hour! That's it. It's been that way since my DD started school. I think it's the weirdest thing ever. They technically have it in HS to but that is when I stopped sending DD to it. They even run the busses for that hour! I'm sure the teachers really don't want to be there for that hour.

If you didn't want to send her then I really don't see an issue with it. Everything is done already.

 

[lovesmurfs]

At least it was for 2.5 hours -- our last day of school here is for ONE hour! That's it. It's been that way since my DD started school. I think it's the weirdest thing ever. They technically have it in HS to but that is when I stopped sending DD to it. They even run the busses for that hour! I'm sure the teachers really don't want to be there for that hour.

If you didn't want to send her then I really don't see an issue with it. Everything is done already.

Yep -- U-46 does that. I can't imagine why we're paying for bus drivers for the day.

 

[HelenePA]

in some regions it may be that you justify that absence to the district attny's office.

depending on a district/state's law, and a child's individual attendance record, missing that last partial day of school can result (despite stellar grades) in a failure to complete a necessary course to be promoted (and if unexcused absences have reached/exceeded a certain level-criminal prosecution is pursued for the parents).

i know it sounds extreme, but in the region i worked for social services in this was the norm (we got the cps referral from the schools b/c they were mandated to do so after a set number of unexcused absences which often were comprised of -not to offend the posters on this particular board-days for vacations the parents believed /attempted to justify as to be "educational" in combination with "oh it's no big deal b/c it's a minimum day"(s)). in the previous school district we lived in-despite the academic performance of a student, if they had in excess of a set number of absences (without verified medical validation) they failed their coursework.

neither of my kid's schools have the kind of ruling that the jr/sr high i went to did, but when i attended (and from what i understand is the rule now)-for non seniors, attendance the final minimum day of class was a requirement to successful completion of any individual course. every year there were students who "tested" this only to find that there parents received automated phone calls advising that b/c their student failed to attend the last day of the course they needed to make an appointment with the office to arrange with counseling staff to take measures necessary in order to complete what were there now failing courses.

He's in prek I dont even think they take attendance.... I didnt write him a sorry he wasn't in sick note all year I did with the older kids of course.. but if need be I'd just say he was sick.. tell him to lie too... yep I'm a BAD mom..

 

[IDoDis]

I say skip if she wants, but it is an illegal absence.

But I also want to comment that the "teachers" that have responded saying "we don't want your kids here either we're too busy?????", Really Irked me!!

That is Not what any parent wants to hear from their childs educator/s!

And I don't want to talk about the 84K gym teacher that has the HS kids sitting for this last week of school, cause theres "nothing left to do" ...either, okay, rant over!

So, lets hope there are many more educators that are doing what "Disykat" is doing/feels, and to all the deserving teachers, THANK YOU for your hard work, it IS appreciated!
Me....I love having my son home, more "relaxed" for the summer, but thats just me....

I agree! I did post about how my DH's class usually has a full turn-out on the last day. He wants the kids there and they want to be there. Since my program is a special ed pull-out for students with learning disabilities, we say our goodbyes a couple days prior to the last day because their teachers want them to participate with their general ed classes for all of the end-of-the-year activities.

Years ago when I team taught all day in a full class my co-teacher and I always enjoyed doing special things with the kids on the last day. However, once the the school buses drove away at the end of that last day, we did our "Thelma and Louise" jump and kick and woots in the air. But that last day with the kids was always cherished.

One last thing -- attendance is not taken on the last day in my school district.

 

[IDoDis]

Awwww...that made me well up. And trust me, I don't well up about teachers easily! Didn't like most of them, didn't like school, if my mom had told me about homeschooling I would have hounded her to make it happen for me...just hated the whole thing, especially the social aspect of it. Even as a senior in HS, having gone to school with the same kids since 1st grade, I would go home with hives on my chest and throat, bright red cheeks, from the difficulty I had with talking to my peers all day long. STarted off every morning nauseated with nervousness as well. Good times, good times...not.

But anyway, that must be very special. Those kids will probably remember him forever. And not in the way I remember my teachers, either!

Oh, they do remember him! He gets email messages from kids he's had years and years ago. They still say he was always their favorite teacher. They keep in touch and come by his classroom to visit. In fact, on the last day he had some old high school students show up.

I don't mean to brag, but if you'd had my DH for a teacher, you'd have loved school that year and you'd have felt very special. Sorry to hear you had such a crummy school life!