Absentee letters

[Anonymous]

My son (elementary school) received a letter from our principal warning us that he has been absent too much this quarter and that there is a concern. This appears to be a templated letter, but it also said a copy will be placed in his permanent record.

To be clear, the only absences he’s had this entire year were the two half days the week of Thanksgiving break.

The letter is off putting and excessive. Are others receiving this letter if your child has had unexcused absences?

[Anonymous]

At my elementary, we are sending letters to all students who have missed 10% or more. The state is coming down hard on absenteeism so we are being proactive. If your son only missed twice, you should call the attendance secretary to make sure that there are no mistakes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my elementary, we are sending letters to all students who have missed 10% or more. The state is coming down hard on absenteeism so we are being proactive. If your son only missed twice, you should call the attendance secretary to make sure that there are no mistakes

If the state was actually “coming down hard” on absenteeism, the threat of being held back due to chronic absences would be held over people’s heads, but they’ll never do that so…. I don’t think letters in a permanent file mean much to parents who let their kids miss weeks at a time.

[Anonymous]

At this point in the year, 10% is 7 absences. You should check with the attendance secretary to see what other days he was marked out.

The state has indeed tightened up requirements on schools to warn about excessive absences. Attendance has always been part of the student permanent record. I think saying that the letter is going into the record is to capture that the school sent notice and that the parent was informed. Not sure what else may follow down the road, but the state definitely wants a better paper trail.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Letter referenced 17% this quarter (two days absent). Not sure how many days are in a quarter.

[Anonymous]

I got one for my child, all for sick days listed as excused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Letter referenced 17% this quarter (two days absent). Not sure how many days are in a quarter.

By my math he would have had to miss 7 days in a quarter to reach 17%. You should call or email to ask for the number they have, if you only know about 2 days absent.

[Anonymous]

2 days absent would not trigger this. Either you are mistaken or the school is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Letter referenced 17% this quarter (two days absent). Not sure how many days are in a quarter.

By my math he would have had to miss 7 days in a quarter to reach 17%. You should call or email to ask for the number they have, if you only know about 2 days absent.

The math is off because we’re still in second quarter. Regardless, 2 absences is not a big deal and OP should just disregard. The only concern would be if they have absences that were recorded erroneously.

[Anonymous]

I would call the office. We always saw weird attendance things on report cards but it never seemed to matter so we ignored. If something is going on your kids file I would check it.

[Anonymous]

We got that letter twice last year and it’s the school protocol to send these. I don’t think it’s a cause for concern unless their record is wrong.

My DD has asthma and it’s hard for her to breathe when she has a cold or worse. So she’s just going to miss more days than most others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Letter referenced 17% this quarter (two days absent). Not sure how many days are in a quarter.

Well for two days to be 17% it would have to be something like 12 which is clearly wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2 days absent would not trigger this. Either you are mistaken or the school is.

+1

You can go into ParentVUE and verify what dates your child is marked absent. Then come back and update the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got one for my child, all for sick days listed as excused.

Since they were all for medical reasons, file a cease and desist letter and inform them that it’s an ADA issue

[Anonymous]

Don't worry, there are literally no consequences for chronic absenteeism. There are state laws and all but no consequences for parents, or students really.