Swim meet and missing school

[Anonymous]

If you have a child in public school who will be attending the NCSA/ISCA/spring zone meets do you have any tips in working with the school to not have these days be marked as unexcused absences or penalized for missing in class work? This is for a 7th grader who otherwise attends in person if it matters. I want to be upfront with the school and am hoping the end result would be to allow virtual asynchronous for a week. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

DD is sick. DD has a doctors appointment. DD has a dentist appointment. Just pick one an go with it if you want an excused absence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is sick. DD has a doctors appointment. DD has a dentist appointment. Just pick one an go with it if you want an excused absence

A week long dentist appointment?

[Anonymous]

it's not an excused absence. It's fine to pull your kid out for it- but it's not going to be an excused absence. Just like a family trip- own your decision.

[Anonymous]

When our principal said oh I will be there with my kid as well for a different sport tournament I knew it was ok,

Just put on a note Bob will be out of the school the week of ...........

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it's not an excused absence. It's fine to pull your kid out for it- but it's not going to be an excused absence. Just like a family trip- own your decision.

I always got it excused by contacting the principal a good 2-3 weeks out and referencing the “principal’s discretion” part of attendance policy.

3y of MS at NCSAs, this was not a problem.

I also never lied about Fridays of December/JO meets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it's not an excused absence. It's fine to pull your kid out for it- but it's not going to be an excused absence. Just like a family trip- own your decision.

this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it's not an excused absence. It's fine to pull your kid out for it- but it's not going to be an excused absence. Just like a family trip- own your decision.

I always got it excused by contacting the principal a good 2-3 weeks out and referencing the “principal’s discretion” part of attendance policy.

3y of MS at NCSAs, this was not a problem.

I also never lied about Fridays of December/JO meets.

Thank you! I really appreciate your response. I am also honest about meet Fridays. I really don’t want to put my kid in the middle of not telling the truth about where they were. The kids have worked really hard to qualify for this meet so I’m hoping the principal’s discretion request is approved.

[Anonymous]

Going through this right now with my 4th grader. We’re not in DC but another big swimming area. I was shocked he qualified for NCSA because he turns 10 shortly before the meet so had to meet 10 year old cuts at 9yo. That was hard to do so I’d like to let him go, especially since he likely won’t qualify next year. Feeling a little embarrassed about approaching the school about it.

[Anonymous]

There has never been a kid who failed out of school for missing a few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There has never been a kid who failed out of school for missing a few days.

The issue isn’t missing school- it’s the ability to make up assignments. Depending on the school district, you might not be allowed to make up the grades due to the absence being unexcused.

Fwiw, when my child missed 4 days in a row for one of those meets in middle school, I emailed the teachers and school counselor a few weeks prior. Some provided the missed work ahead of time, others said see me when you get back, one even said DC had a solid A and excused the assignment since it was near the end of the quarter. It worked out. The absences were still unexcused but DC didn’t receive any zeros.

What school district are you in, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going through this right now with my 4th grader. We’re not in DC but another big swimming area. I was shocked he qualified for NCSA because he turns 10 shortly before the meet so had to meet 10 year old cuts at 9yo. That was hard to do so I’d like to let him go, especially since he likely won’t qualify next year. Feeling a little embarrassed about approaching the school about it.

Congrats to your kid. But missing 4th grade is not the same as missing middle (if high school classes are taken during middle school) or high school.

[Anonymous]

My 7th and 9th grader have each missed school this year (same one in FCPS) for swim meets. I was honest and it was excused. i will be honest for ISCA too and hope for the best. I think the teachers will be understanding, as the meet usually falls over FCPS spring break(which only changed this year), and the fact that several of the teachers have taken vacation this year, so how could they be upset with my kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7th and 9th grader have each missed school this year (same one in FCPS) for swim meets. I was honest and it was excused. i will be honest for ISCA too and hope for the best. I think the teachers will be understanding, as the meet usually falls over FCPS spring break(which only changed this year), and the fact that several of the teachers have taken vacation this year, so how could they be upset with my kid?

Should add, I will have my kid meet with each teacher in advance and offer to do work when we are gone.

[Anonymous]

Death in the family! We always use that one. We are in DCPS and until recently that wasn't considered and excused absence but they just changed it again last summer to include it again. Phew.