MCPS tardy policies

[Anonymous]

I have a meeting at my child's school with the school principal to discuss her multiple tardies for this month (4). I checked the school handbook, but all they say is that "frequent tardies will be met with the appropriate disciplinary action". I already had a phone call to discuss the situation several weeks ago, and I assured them that the matter is being resolved. But now I got called to a personal meeting. This is at the elementary school level. Can anyone provide some insight into what might they discuss with me? Thanks in advance...

[Anonymous]

Is she coming later due to appointments...over sleeping...traffic? They probably want to know why and how to stop it from being a problem.

[Anonymous]

How tardy has she been?

Schools are under some pressure to reduce the number of tardies and absent children -- regardless of whether the tadies and absences are excused or unexcused, they just want the numbers down.

If your child has just been late a minute or two four times, it's probably just about their numbers.

If she's been late 15 minutes or more, they probably genuinesly care about why she is late.

They probably are just dragging you in for a conference to make it a hassle for you so you will try harder to get your kid to school on time. Which, you probably should try to do, as you know.

I went through this last year with my child. Now whenever we are late to school, even for a minute, I write a note that he was tardy due to illness. If asked I say he had diarrhea or complained he was going to throw up, for a while, but then seemed better so I sent him to school. They never ask though.

Although I don't like to lie, they seem so much nicer to me at school when I lie and say it was illness, rather than when I tell the truth (we were running late, forgot lunch and had to go back home, etc.) that I can't help but feel better about it.

[Anonymous]

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/jeara.pdf

B. Elementary School (Including Kindergarten)

1. At the beginning of the school year, elementary school principals will
request that parents notify the school when their child is to be absent for
any reason on any given day.

2. Whenever possible, parents of elementary school-age children will be
contacted by noon of each first day of absence, if the parents have not
previously notified the school of the absence.

3. Elementary school students with excessive absences and/or tardies, both
lawful and unlawful, may be referred for appropriate intervention. At the
discretion of the principal/designee, students who demonstrate a pattern of
absences may be referred to appropriate staff and/or outside agencies for
intensive interventions designed to increase regular attendance.

[Anonymous]

Can't you just get your child to school on time? It's disruptive to the whole class when a child constantly arrives late. Not to mention setting a poor example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't you just get your child to school on time? It's disruptive to the whole class when a child constantly arrives late. Not to mention setting a poor example.

NP here with the same issue. Yes, I can and do get her to school on time. But my DH, who takes her most days, cannot manage to function in the morning and get out of the house at an appropriate time. It drives me bonkers, because it's so incredibly disrespectful to the other kids and teachers to have a kid who is always wandering in whenever. If anyone has any suggestions for how to impress upon DH that he needs to get up earlier and get out of the house earlier, I'm all ears. This has been going on for over 2 years now, and apparently nothing I say or do can convince him to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't you just get your child to school on time? It's disruptive to the whole class when a child constantly arrives late. Not to mention setting a poor example.

NP here with the same issue. Yes, I can and do get her to school on time. But my DH, who takes her most days, cannot manage to function in the morning and get out of the house at an appropriate time. It drives me bonkers, because it's so incredibly disrespectful to the other kids and teachers to have a kid who is always wandering in whenever. If anyone has any suggestions for how to impress upon DH that he needs to get up earlier and get out of the house earlier, I'm all ears. This has been going on for over 2 years now, and apparently nothing I say or do can convince him to change.

Does he understand what he is teaching your child? That it is ok to be late to school/work/appointments, and inconvenience everyone else?

I would ask the school to work with him on this. They should cite your child for frequent tardiness, and you should send your DH to discuss with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't you just get your child to school on time? It's disruptive to the whole class when a child constantly arrives late. Not to mention setting a poor example.

NP here with the same issue. Yes, I can and do get her to school on time. But my DH, who takes her most days, cannot manage to function in the morning and get out of the house at an appropriate time. It drives me bonkers, because it's so incredibly disrespectful to the other kids and teachers to have a kid who is always wandering in whenever. If anyone has any suggestions for how to impress upon DH that he needs to get up earlier and get out of the house earlier, I'm all ears. This has been going on for over 2 years now, and apparently nothing I say or do can convince him to change.

Does he understand what he is teaching your child? That it is ok to be late to school/work/appointments, and inconvenience everyone else?

I would ask the school to work with him on this. They should cite your child for frequent tardiness, and you should send your DH to discuss with them.

He says he understands, but he refuses to get up any earlier in order to get his morning routine done earlier. Having the school talk to him is a good idea - apparently I am unable to get through, so maybe they will be. I can't wait until next year, when both kids will be in the same place and I can control drop-off. Although I almost feel like that's giving in to a kid who misbehaves until he gets what he wants.

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread. It just pisses me off, and it's one of the few things DH does that drives me up and down a wall.

[Anonymous]

And the award for Best Role Model goes to . . .

Anonymous wrote:How tardy has she been?

Schools are under some pressure to reduce the number of tardies and absent children -- regardless of whether the tadies and absences are excused or unexcused, they just want the numbers down.

If your child has just been late a minute or two four times, it's probably just about their numbers.

If she's been late 15 minutes or more, they probably genuinesly care about why she is late.

They probably are just dragging you in for a conference to make it a hassle for you so you will try harder to get your kid to school on time. Which, you probably should try to do, as you know.

I went through this last year with my child. Now whenever we are late to school, even for a minute, I write a note that he was tardy due to illness. If asked I say he had diarrhea or complained he was going to throw up, for a while, but then seemed better so I sent him to school. They never ask though.

Although I don't like to lie, they seem so much nicer to me at school when I lie and say it was illness, rather than when I tell the truth (we were running late, forgot lunch and had to go back home, etc.) that I can't help but feel better about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the award for Best Role Model goes to . . .

Sorry -- I teach my child that stupid rules deserve to be flagrantly violated.

Like I said, we went through this last year. My child was legitimately sick 10 times last year, I wrote a proper excuse each time (mostly it was due to flu, fever, vomiting.... and we're supposed to keep the child home for at least 24 hours after having a fever.... those days added up!). And there were three tardies for missing the bus (then I had to drive him in... school is a magnet school not close to us). I was dragged in to meet with the attendance officer, sent nasty letters, etc. These were for EXCUSED illnesses, not because I took the kid on a trip to Disneyland. It was all because the school was in danger of not making AYP for attendance. I understand, really I do, it was just the attitude.

In the end they couldn't really say anything -- kid was sick, he was sick, that's a legal excuse. But I just got annoyed by the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the posts. All of her tardies were legitimate with notes, sick a couple of times, doctor and dentist appointments the other times. Had the meeting, and all they asked was that if everything was okay, because she had an "unusual amount" of tardies. Seems like they made a big deal out of nothing to me, but if they have to maintain good attendance records, then I can understand. The meeting was quite pleasant, so all is well.

[Anonymous]

They are doing that for your own good. It is a sign of an abusive relationship, not saying you are in one but they are trained in signs of abusive relationships, not just for students but for parents. Perhaps they were reaching out to you to see if everything was OK-for example, the PP who said her husband refuses to change his habits, that is going to become an abusive relationship sometime down the road if it isn't already.

Imagine you have a coworker who is late 10 times in 8 weeks, you will start to think and wonder why and it is a classic sign of an abusive relationship.

flame on and get your kid to school on time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are doing that for your own good. It is a sign of an abusive relationship, not saying you are in one but they are trained in signs of abusive relationships, not just for students but for parents. Perhaps they were reaching out to you to see if everything was OK-for example, the PP who said her husband refuses to change his habits, that is going to become an abusive relationship sometime down the road if it isn't already.

Imagine you have a coworker who is late 10 times in 8 weeks, you will start to think and wonder why and it is a classic sign of an abusive relationship.

flame on and get your kid to school on time

Are you serious? How did you get from my husband being perpetually late to being abusive? Or are you implying that I will become abusive towards him because he's perpetually late?

And how exactly is being late a "classic" sign of an abusive relationship? I can only speak for DH, but in his case, it's a complete inability to recognize the ACTUAL amount of time something takes, versus the amount of time he THINKS something will take (i.e, a shower should take 5 minutes, but in reality, it takes 10). Not abuse, just poor time management.

[Anonymous]

" I can only speak for DH, but in his case, it's a complete inability to recognize the ACTUAL amount of time something takes, versus the amount of time he THINKS something will take (i.e, a shower should take 5 minutes, but in reality, it takes 10). Not abuse, just poor time management. "

He's passive-aggressive, he knows how long it takes to take a shower... he probably is the type that makes everything about him. I'm not trying to be hateful, I've lived with this my entire marriage, and this has been a pattern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the posts. All of her tardies were legitimate with notes, sick a couple of times, doctor and dentist appointments the other times. Had the meeting, and all they asked was that if everything was okay, because she had an "unusual amount" of tardies. Seems like they made a big deal out of nothing to me, but if they have to maintain good attendance records, then I can understand. The meeting was quite pleasant, so all is well.

Yup -- if you had already written thenotes of excuse, then this was just a "harassment" meeting - did they let you know that they'll call you in for another such meeting, if she continues this pattern of tardies?

I asked my school and they said that it is better (for their attendance records) to take a child out 2 hours early than to have her arrive two hours late, fyi. As long as she gets in for attendance, that's what really matters. Just FYI.