Chronic Absenteeism in APS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

Again, what else can the school really do?

[Anonymous]

If parents are agreeing to the absences, I don’t see what the school can really do. I have two straight A honors kids and I pull them as needed. I sometimes let them stay home if nothing new is being covered or tested that day. There were definitely certain classes where they missed 18 times last year (10%) and nobody said boo to us. We didn’t miss 18 complete days though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

[Anonymous]

I thought it doesn't matter if the absence is excused or unexcused for this metric?

Or does this look only at unexcused absences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought it doesn't matter if the absence is excused or unexcused for this metric?

Or does this look only at unexcused absences?

I’m pretty sure all absences count.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

Except this varies widely by child/family and districts are paining everyone with a broad brush. My kids get straight A's and probably still would even if they missed twice as many days. My individual school seems to get this though because I have never been contacted. And if I was, I would simply refer the person to my child's academic record and ask them to clarify what the actual problem was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

Of course it's the school's business why you are taking them out of school. There is literally a law for compulsory school attendance and there are reasons that count for school absences and reasons that don't. The entitlement of parents never ceases to amaze me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

Of course it's the school's business why you are taking them out of school. There is literally a law for compulsory school attendance and there are reasons that count for school absences and reasons that don't. The entitlement of parents never ceases to amaze me.

+1. If you’re that offended at having to tell the school why your kid is out, just homeschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

Of course it's the school's business why you are taking them out of school. There is literally a law for compulsory school attendance and there are reasons that count for school absences and reasons that don't. The entitlement of parents never ceases to amaze me.

I just believe that if the parent is "excusing" their child's absence, the school should accept that. Except in the types of instances I noted above. There are things, worthwhile experiences, that I believe it's ok for students to miss a half day or a day for that the school does not accept as official excused absences. And if the student is keeping up with their work, not holding a group project up or otherwise interfering with instruction, parental permission should be sufficient for the absence to be "excused" v. "unexcused."

I'm not arguing that excessive absences are ok. Geez. Like I stated, if you read my comments thoroughly, if a parent is pulling a student out excessively, the school should be having a conversation with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

Of course it's the school's business why you are taking them out of school. There is literally a law for compulsory school attendance and there are reasons that count for school absences and reasons that don't. The entitlement of parents never ceases to amaze me.

+1. If you’re that offended at having to tell the school why your kid is out, just homeschool.

I'm not "offended." I just don't believe my child's record should be marked "unexcused absence" for non-frivolous things that the school would still consider "unexcused." I don't pull my child, or allow my child to stay out of school just for the hell of it or to take family vacations. But on rare occasions, there are other events/situations/activities that are important or worthwhile or valuable for my child and I don't think it's the school's place to "judge" whether that's "excusable" or not. Again, I am anti-excessive absences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much. Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not.

What else can the school really do?

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease.

People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence. If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not.

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask.

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.

Of course it's the school's business why you are taking them out of school. There is literally a law for compulsory school attendance and there are reasons that count for school absences and reasons that don't. The entitlement of parents never ceases to amaze me.

The law doesn't say students aren't allowed to miss a few days of school, just that they aren't to miss more than a certain # of days of school. And that law does not distinguish between "excused" and "unexcused" for such purposes. So it shouldn't matter to the school whether I'm an irresponsible parent letting my straight-A student just skip for "senior skip day" (which I think should be banned, btw) or I'm taking my junior to a college-visit/experience or my kid needs to miss part of a day to get to a long-distance event involving a special interest/activity related to a specific talent or extracurricular they are pursuing. All of which would be considered "unexcused" by the school. Only seniors are granted college days - and only one or two? of those.