Extended unexcused absence in APS

[Anonymous]

Our 1st grader went to our country of origin with her grandmother for 3 weeks in November. We talked to the teachers and principal ahead of time who were enthusiastic about the trip, thought it would be a great experience, but noted that it would be unexcused. None were worried about her missing class, she’s pretty far ahead, reading/math at 3rd/4th grade level, etc.

We recently got a letter outlining the absence policy and noting that more than 10 days could require court intervention, a meeting with court staff, etc. Has anyone received such a letter? Is there follow through?

[Anonymous]

Wow. That sounds like a little much.

I did not receive a letter like that but I did have to have a visit with a social worker after DD missed more than maybe 18 days of school. This was because of major stomach aches and a family trip. It was actually a great conversation; I learned that DD's stomach aches were likely a result of anxiety and got her into therapy. I genuinely felt like it was to help our situation rather than to "get after us."

In your situation that form letter is just to get parents who are blase about attendance to act. Statistically speaking, it is really bad to miss a ton of school, so schools highly discourage it. Also, if too many kids in a school miss more than 18 days of school, the school gets a bad grade on their school report card and might sink to level 2 status. That means the school gets a lot more scrutiny from the county (and probably the state, I am not too familiar with how it works). Teachers hate that because it means much less autonomy, so I don't blame the schools for wanting to avoid that situation.

TLDR I am 99.99% sure they would not haul you to court for this because you aren't the target audience of that letter. Even if they did, I personally wouldn't let that stop me from going on this trip. Connecting with grandparents and family of origin is important and the educational consequences will be minimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. That sounds like a little much.

I did not receive a letter like that but I did have to have a visit with a social worker after DD missed more than maybe 18 days of school. This was because of major stomach aches and a family trip. It was actually a great conversation; I learned that DD's stomach aches were likely a result of anxiety and got her into therapy. I genuinely felt like it was to help our situation rather than to "get after us."

In your situation that form letter is just to get parents who are blase about attendance to act. Statistically speaking, it is really bad to miss a ton of school, so schools highly discourage it. Also, if too many kids in a school miss more than 18 days of school, the school gets a bad grade on their school report card and might sink to level 2 status. That means the school gets a lot more scrutiny from the county (and probably the state, I am not too familiar with how it works). Teachers hate that because it means much less autonomy, so I don't blame the schools for wanting to avoid that situation.

TLDR I am 99.99% sure they would not haul you to court for this because you aren't the target audience of that letter. Even if they did, I personally wouldn't let that stop me from going on this trip. Connecting with grandparents and family of origin is important and the educational consequences will be minimal.

I agree with above. However, I believe it's a problem as the student gets older. Hopefully this isn't a yearly occurrence for your child. I don't get why families can't/won't make their long trips during the times that would minimize their student's absences. Nevertheless, I do believe it's a case-by-case basis. Your child is ahead and won't likely suffer academically. Please keep in mind, though, that going into middle and high school, kids do more group projects and classes are more significantly impacted by absences.

[Anonymous]

The teachers and admin can be enthusiastic about the trip and confident your kid will handle the absence well. I agree that they should (likely they're required to) also inform you formally of the actual words of the absence policy.

[Anonymous]

^^^and in your case I'd send DD without hesitation about school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. That sounds like a little much.

I did not receive a letter like that but I did have to have a visit with a social worker after DD missed more than maybe 18 days of school. This was because of major stomach aches and a family trip. It was actually a great conversation; I learned that DD's stomach aches were likely a result of anxiety and got her into therapy. I genuinely felt like it was to help our situation rather than to "get after us."

In your situation that form letter is just to get parents who are blase about attendance to act. Statistically speaking, it is really bad to miss a ton of school, so schools highly discourage it. Also, if too many kids in a school miss more than 18 days of school, the school gets a bad grade on their school report card and might sink to level 2 status. That means the school gets a lot more scrutiny from the county (and probably the state, I am not too familiar with how it works). Teachers hate that because it means much less autonomy, so I don't blame the schools for wanting to avoid that situation.

TLDR I am 99.99% sure they would not haul you to court for this because you aren't the target audience of that letter. Even if they did, I personally wouldn't let that stop me from going on this trip. Connecting with grandparents and family of origin is important and the educational consequences will be minimal.

I agree with above. However, I believe it's a problem as the student gets older. Hopefully this isn't a yearly occurrence for your child. I don't get why families can't/won't make their long trips during the times that would minimize their student's absences. Nevertheless, I do believe it's a case-by-case basis. Your child is ahead and won't likely suffer academically. Please keep in mind, though, that going into middle and high school, kids do more group projects and classes are more significantly impacted by absences.

OP here, thanks for the reassurance!! I wasn’t nervous about it before the trip based on my conversations with the teachers and principal, but this made me anxious. This was likely once in a lifetime — grandmother was traveling, it was a major holiday in the country where she went, and she can do her first grade schoolwork in her sleep — and I definitely wouldn’t plan to pull her routinely or after she gets older.

[Anonymous]

I think those letters are automatically sent when you trigger a certain number of absences. We have gotten them before.

[Anonymous]

It's cute when APS pretends to care about whether kids are in school or not.

[Anonymous]

In Virginia, I wouldn’t worry about it. In DC, you would be summoned to court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's cute when APS pretends to care about whether kids are in school or not.

Yesterdays email: Attendance is important! Every day matters! Also, we’re cancelling school on Tuesday, March 5 and have proposed many disjointed days off that you will turn into long weekends next year!

[Anonymous]

FYI - pulling your kids to homeschool for a period of time and then re-enrolling them is perfectly legal. You don’t need their permission, just a letter of intent to homeschool. And they can’t stop you from re-enrolling when you want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI - pulling your kids to homeschool for a period of time and then re-enrolling them is perfectly legal. You don’t need their permission, just a letter of intent to homeschool. And they can’t stop you from re-enrolling when you want to.

You need more than a letter of intent. You need your transcript, list of subjects you plan to teach, and the letter of intent, and then of course you have to send it in. And to re-enroll obviously you need all those documents, proof of residency, etc. I'd rather go to court and explain that I wanted my kid to see their grandma. Not that that will happen, obviously.

[Anonymous]

Your child will likely be dropped from enrollment and you will have to re-enroll when you return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think those letters are automatically sent when you trigger a certain number of absences. We have gotten them before.

This. Throw it in the trash and don’t think about it again. Nothing will happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI - pulling your kids to homeschool for a period of time and then re-enrolling them is perfectly legal. You don’t need their permission, just a letter of intent to homeschool. And they can’t stop you from re-enrolling when you want to.

You need more than a letter of intent. You need your transcript, list of subjects you plan to teach, and the letter of intent, and then of course you have to send it in. And to re-enroll obviously you need all those documents, proof of residency, etc. I'd rather go to court and explain that I wanted my kid to see their grandma. Not that that will happen, obviously.

Your transcript and a list of subjects takes about 5 minutes to gather.

Just saying it can be done. Want to take a two month vacation? Voila! (I *would* recommend providing instruction — aka actually homeschooling — in that case. Good news is it takes very little time to cover what’s done in a public elementary! Then the rest of the day is yours. 😎)