Attendance pressure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My problem is the uniform treatment given to a failing student with 20 absences and a straight A student with 6. The tone and lecture I receive when I pick up my child early from school is absurd and they can pound sand. I am the parent and will do as I see fit.

It has nothing to do with grades. To many absences and the school can get investigated by the state.

The fact that attendance is put on the schools is ridiculous. Parents control this. Schools cannot force kids to come to school.

But in theory they can force teachers to do so? Don’t have high-volume sub days (which are public information) because your staff wants to get cheaper flights to their families, but then send a screed when the parents want to. Hypocrisy isn’t a good way to get people to trust you.

I don't understand this post. States don't set attendance standards for teachers, they do for students. That's the focus, who cares about where trust falls in that equation? Teachers earn leave and can take it like any other profession.

The message says:

“Our teachers will be teaching, and our students will be learning. But it’s harder to teach and it’s harder to learn when too many students are absent.”

But parents know it a lie because of all the subs. Most workplaces have policies which guide when employees can use their earned leave— so make a policy that says no personal days in the week before winter break. Then we’ll know they care about “teachers teaching”

Once again, schools have to meet certain requirements for students attendance. If your kid doesn't go to school it hurts that school and in return it hurts your community. On their worst days schools will have 10-15% of their teachers out, which means the vast majority of teachers are there doing what the school is asking of them. Schools need to build trust with their community so that they can get buy-in from the stakeholders. The best schools are the schools with the most community support. Building trust is not about convincing you to participate in the system, that is a standard and an expectation. None of these things apply to the families that are missing less than 5 days a year, it is for the families whose students miss enough school to be considered chronically absent. The definition of chronically absent is a standard set by the state government. If your student hasn't missed school this year and you want to take them out a few days, then take them out. If they have then don't.

I think shouting at parents that they shouldn’t be influenced by the cost of seeing their families with 15% of teachers out of the building is a pretty poor way to build trust. How do you suggest schools become more credible on the issue of attendance?

If a school has 4 teachers per grade at the elementary school level that would be a total of 28 teachers. 10% out would be 2.8 teachers who are not in the building. Even adding specials and other people in the building on its worst days schools are down at most 6 or 7 school based professionals. I am not sure why that is breaking the trust of the community. Money for substitutes in counted in the yearly budget based on data from the previous years. Wasted spending in the FCPS budget is not going to teacher/substitute pay, its going to huge amounts of employees at gatehouse that do nothing and make big money doing it (educational specialists, executive principals, the Dr. Reid security team, etc). There are a ton of things to be mad about in the county, the school trying to get your kid to come consistently isnt one of them

Let’s make the math easy and say 10% is 3.

Best case scenario three teachers represent 75 students. Should those 75 families *truly* feel obligated to have their kids in school the day before the break when their teachers aren’t bothering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many Asian families don’t take that email seriously because their students are the ones driving FCPS’s academic performance metrics. These students tend to be highly self-directed and often learn far beyond what is taught in the classroom, largely because they are trained and supported from an early age to do so.

+1. FCPS knows there's no moving the attendance needle with families who aren't invested in their children's education. The parents simply don't care and that ship has sailed. They're trying to improve the attendance numbers by going after the families on the other end of the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funds to schools from above are usually based on the Average Daily Attendance.

Absences hurt the bottom line. Fact.

Then do better at engaging the parent body so they GAF what you say about attendance.

Make next Friday a teacher planning day for elementary and cancel the subsequent two early dismissals. Then we’ll talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In ES, the week before Christmas break is movies and parties and pajama days. My kid likes it but don't tell me they're learning a lot.

My upper ES has FLE that week and the teacher already said they have a test that week in math. My kid is having a winter party for 1 hour and that is it. They have never had a week of no learning the week before winter break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They aren't talking about students who are doing well despite their absences. They aren't talking about Asian kids going to visit family overseas.

They absolutely are talking about Asian and other families who take their kids out for one to three weeks for travel.
This is about increasing attendance metrics. The above group is easily guilted and might respond to passive aggressive threats. The other groups in low income schools who chronically miss school are more difficult to reach.

Asians excel in school. They are talking about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They aren't talking about students who are doing well despite their absences. They aren't talking about Asian kids going to visit family overseas.

They absolutely are talking about Asian and other families who take their kids out for one to three weeks for travel.
This is about increasing attendance metrics. The above group is easily guilted and might respond to passive aggressive threats. The other groups in low income schools who chronically miss school are more difficult to reach.

Asians excel in school. They are talking about them.

I live in a neighborhood with lots of Asians. I don't see them taking extended vacations during the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My problem is the uniform treatment given to a failing student with 20 absences and a straight A student with 6. The tone and lecture I receive when I pick up my child early from school is absurd and they can pound sand. I am the parent and will do as I see fit.

It has nothing to do with grades. To many absences and the school can get investigated by the state.

The fact that attendance is put on the schools is ridiculous. Parents control this. Schools cannot force kids to come to school.

But in theory they can force teachers to do so? Don’t have high-volume sub days (which are public information) because your staff wants to get cheaper flights to their families, but then send a screed when the parents want to. Hypocrisy isn’t a good way to get people to trust you.

I don't understand this post. States don't set attendance standards for teachers, they do for students. That's the focus, who cares about where trust falls in that equation? Teachers earn leave and can take it like any other profession.

The message says:

“Our teachers will be teaching, and our students will be learning. But it’s harder to teach and it’s harder to learn when too many students are absent.”

But parents know it a lie because of all the subs. Most workplaces have policies which guide when employees can use their earned leave— so make a policy that says no personal days in the week before winter break. Then we’ll know they care about “teachers teaching”

Once again, schools have to meet certain requirements for students attendance. If your kid doesn't go to school it hurts that school and in return it hurts your community. On their worst days schools will have 10-15% of their teachers out, which means the vast majority of teachers are there doing what the school is asking of them. Schools need to build trust with their community so that they can get buy-in from the stakeholders. The best schools are the schools with the most community support. Building trust is not about convincing you to participate in the system, that is a standard and an expectation. None of these things apply to the families that are missing less than 5 days a year, it is for the families whose students miss enough school to be considered chronically absent. The definition of chronically absent is a standard set by the state government. If your student hasn't missed school this year and you want to take them out a few days, then take them out. If they have then don't.

How many kids are absent on the "worst days" for attendance? Surely the system can't be affected if only 10-15% of the students are absent. They must be sending emails about this because there are lots of days where absence reaches 20%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My problem is the uniform treatment given to a failing student with 20 absences and a straight A student with 6. The tone and lecture I receive when I pick up my child early from school is absurd and they can pound sand. I am the parent and will do as I see fit.

It has nothing to do with grades. To many absences and the school can get investigated by the state.

The fact that attendance is put on the schools is ridiculous. Parents control this. Schools cannot force kids to come to school.

But in theory they can force teachers to do so? Don’t have high-volume sub days (which are public information) because your staff wants to get cheaper flights to their families, but then send a screed when the parents want to. Hypocrisy isn’t a good way to get people to trust you.

I don't understand this post. States don't set attendance standards for teachers, they do for students. That's the focus, who cares about where trust falls in that equation? Teachers earn leave and can take it like any other profession.

The message says:

“Our teachers will be teaching, and our students will be learning. But it’s harder to teach and it’s harder to learn when too many students are absent.”

But parents know it a lie because of all the subs. Most workplaces have policies which guide when employees can use their earned leave— so make a policy that says no personal days in the week before winter break. Then we’ll know they care about “teachers teaching”

Once again, schools have to meet certain requirements for students attendance. If your kid doesn't go to school it hurts that school and in return it hurts your community. On their worst days schools will have 10-15% of their teachers out, which means the vast majority of teachers are there doing what the school is asking of them. Schools need to build trust with their community so that they can get buy-in from the stakeholders. The best schools are the schools with the most community support. Building trust is not about convincing you to participate in the system, that is a standard and an expectation. None of these things apply to the families that are missing less than 5 days a year, it is for the families whose students miss enough school to be considered chronically absent. The definition of chronically absent is a standard set by the state government. If your student hasn't missed school this year and you want to take them out a few days, then take them out. If they have then don't.

How many kids are absent on the "worst days" for attendance? Surely the system can't be affected if only 10-15% of the students are absent. They must be sending emails about this because there are lots of days where absence reaches 20%?

I taught elementary for years. Rarely would there be 10-15% out. This only happened when strep or flu was going on---and, even then it would just be rarely. Most days--no one was out.

[Anonymous]

FCPS less time off at Christmas in the 1980s and we did not have a problem like this with attendance. People now feel entitled to their vacations even at the expense of school. But that is where we are now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS less time off at Christmas in the 1980s and we did not have a problem like this with attendance. People now feel entitled to their vacations even at the expense of school. But that is where we are now.

Just look at the moms on here begging for snow days.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am kicking myself that we did not travel for the full week of Thanksgiving. There was no content taught and no assessments and so many kids were out that the school sent several emails begging parents to not call, but to send in absenses through SIS.

Parents, take your children out of school when you need do, especially before breaks. There is nothing going on the days leading up to Winter Break.

Of course families are leaving early.

This is ridiculous and wrong. I hope people don't listen to the likes of these idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am kicking myself that we did not travel for the full week of Thanksgiving. There was no content taught and no assessments and so many kids were out that the school sent several emails begging parents to not call, but to send in absenses through SIS.

Parents, take your children out of school when you need do, especially before breaks. There is nothing going on the days leading up to Winter Break.

Of course families are leaving early.

This is ridiculous and wrong. I hope people don't listen to the likes of these idiots.

I’m a DP but…do you really think kids gain more sitting in front of a movie or on lexia unsupervised than being with family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS less time off at Christmas in the 1980s and we did not have a problem like this with attendance. People now feel entitled to their vacations even at the expense of school. But that is where we are now.

School felt entitled to their schedule of choice at the expense of parents. Why are parents supposed to treat schools with more respect than they recieve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS less time off at Christmas in the 1980s and we did not have a problem like this with attendance. People now feel entitled to their vacations even at the expense of school. But that is where we are now.

School felt entitled to their schedule of choice at the expense of parents. Why are parents supposed to treat schools with more respect than they recieve?

But the school schedule provides more breaks. Why would parents need more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS less time off at Christmas in the 1980s and we did not have a problem like this with attendance. People now feel entitled to their vacations even at the expense of school. But that is where we are now.

School felt entitled to their schedule of choice at the expense of parents. Why are parents supposed to treat schools with more respect than they recieve?

But the school schedule provides more breaks. Why would parents need more?

Families with international jobs, families of immigrants, families of military/transient DC residence— all very well represented in the area— can’t fly to visit relatives in the 1 and 2 and .5 day breaks that are all over the calendar. Summer, spring, and winter breaks are expensive (which is why the teachers aren’t sticking around) and the principal correctly noticed a lot of people don’t want to spend thousands of extra dollars to have their kids watch a movie on Friday afternoon. FCPS should make it a planning day.