Excused absences for taking children out of MD public schools (January 2022)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

Let the middle schoolers who need in person stay in person.
For some of you, the risk of getting Covid is worth it.

For many - it is not.
Some want to protect their children from a virus that leads to brain damage and more than twice the normal risk of getting diabetes. That is important to them and to say that it's not a valid concern would be ridiculous, right?

Virtual is the best way to protect them since MCPS cannot adhere to proper Covid protocols. My son thrived for over a year in virtual. Not true for all but I cannot relate to these posts that make it sound terrible. Isolation is tough but my son had a sport he could do safely every day where he saw friends (in masks and distanced). He did zooms with friends and had zoom parties where he met new people. Is it better than in person? I'd say no but it's better than having long Covid or passing it on to a family member and then spending your life as a caregiver. Temporary sacrifice is not the end of the world - especially when there is a good reason to do it

Excused absences are different from unexcused absences. Why ask that here? You can Google it. For parents taking kids out of school for a while, there is more of a need to get it right than if it' a week or so for vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

Let the middle schoolers who need in person stay in person.
For some of you, the risk of getting Covid is worth it.

For many - it is not.
Some want to protect their children from a virus that leads to brain damage and more than twice the normal risk of getting diabetes. That is important to them and to say that it's not a valid concern would be ridiculous, right?

Virtual is the best way to protect them since MCPS cannot adhere to proper Covid protocols. My son thrived for over a year in virtual. Not true for all but I cannot relate to these posts that make it sound terrible. Isolation is tough but my son had a sport he could do safely every day where he saw friends (in masks and distanced). He did zooms with friends and had zoom parties where he met new people. Is it better than in person? I'd say no but it's better than having long Covid or passing it on to a family member and then spending your life as a caregiver. Temporary sacrifice is not the end of the world - especially when there is a good reason to do it

Excused absences are different from unexcused absences. Why ask that here? You can Google it. For parents taking kids out of school for a while, there is more of a need to get it right than if it' a week or so for vacation.

What will change in a week and a half?

If you are on earth in 2022 you will be exposed to covid19. I'm sorry to break the news to you. It.will.happen.eventually.

I could post the links to the articles which give the real statistics on how schools are safe. I could even post how low the actual risk of diabetes is in children post covid19 compared to other risk factors. I would hope people have gotten their children vaccinated but the majority of families have not had their children vaccinated which shows that the majority of families do not deem the risk of covid19 for ages 5-12 as a major concern.

Schools are safe. Protocols and masking works to keep the level of spread close to the community spread. You can keep your elementary school children home but even with "excused" absences, your child is missing instruction that has been proven to be more effective and productive than virtual learning. For middle to high school levels, it's a disadvantage. What MoCo high school parent is going to purposely put their student to a disadvantage?

Buy better masks for your children. You can keep telling yourself that zoom is a good alternative. It's not. Our children's mental health has had documented impacts from being isolated. I'm not a troll and I'm not saying to "get it over with" and catch Omicron. I think if you are choosing virtual learning right now, you need to look for a long term option because there is probably another wave coming, and another, and another until we accept covid19 like the flu season we all deal with every single year.

[Anonymous]

I believe that HCPSS just told the school board that the Governor's order is not a reason to excuse absences at this time. They emphasized the importance of learning in person and the relationship between attendance and achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

Let the middle schoolers who need in person stay in person.
For some of you, the risk of getting Covid is worth it.

For many - it is not.
Some want to protect their children from a virus that leads to brain damage and more than twice the normal risk of getting diabetes. That is important to them and to say that it's not a valid concern would be ridiculous, right?

Virtual is the best way to protect them since MCPS cannot adhere to proper Covid protocols. My son thrived for over a year in virtual. Not true for all but I cannot relate to these posts that make it sound terrible. Isolation is tough but my son had a sport he could do safely every day where he saw friends (in masks and distanced). He did zooms with friends and had zoom parties where he met new people. Is it better than in person? I'd say no but it's better than having long Covid or passing it on to a family member and then spending your life as a caregiver. Temporary sacrifice is not the end of the world - especially when there is a good reason to do it

Excused absences are different from unexcused absences. Why ask that here? You can Google it. For parents taking kids out of school for a while, there is more of a need to get it right than if it' a week or so for vacation.

This statement about diabetes is not correct. The study is not peer reviewed and many respected experts have questioned its conclusions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe that HCPSS just told the school board that the Governor's order is not a reason to excuse absences at this time. They emphasized the importance of learning in person and the relationship between attendance and achievement.

Adding to my PP because a Board member asked a clarifying question, the State has clarified that the Governor's State of Emergency that is in effect right now only relates to hospitals and is not considered ground for an excused absence under the policies cited above.

[Anonymous]

HCPSS is not considering the abscences excused. They are saying it falls under part K ("other emergency"). I don't see how it is an "other" emergency when we are in one of the named reasons for an excused absence (part H). Then they state it's not excused and their rationale it seems like gaslighting.

Have other counties been having the absences excused. Ideas on who to raise these issues with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HCPSS is not considering the abscences excused. They are saying it falls under part K ("other emergency"). I don't see how it is an "other" emergency when we are in one of the named reasons for an excused absence (part H). Then they state it's not excused and their rationale it seems like gaslighting.

Have other counties been having the absences excused. Ideas on who to raise these issues with?

By the time you track down who to complain to, the Omicron surge will be over. It looks like we've hit the peak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

Let the middle schoolers who need in person stay in person.
For some of you, the risk of getting Covid is worth it.

For many - it is not.
Some want to protect their children from a virus that leads to brain damage and more than twice the normal risk of getting diabetes. That is important to them and to say that it's not a valid concern would be ridiculous, right?

Virtual is the best way to protect them since MCPS cannot adhere to proper Covid protocols. My son thrived for over a year in virtual. Not true for all but I cannot relate to these posts that make it sound terrible. Isolation is tough but my son had a sport he could do safely every day where he saw friends (in masks and distanced). He did zooms with friends and had zoom parties where he met new people. Is it better than in person? I'd say no but it's better than having long Covid or passing it on to a family member and then spending your life as a caregiver. Temporary sacrifice is not the end of the world - especially when there is a good reason to do it

Excused absences are different from unexcused absences. Why ask that here? You can Google it. For parents taking kids out of school for a while, there is more of a need to get it right than if it' a week or so for vacation.

This statement about diabetes is not correct. The study is not peer reviewed and many respected experts have questioned its conclusions.

Long COVID is a serious concern. Plenty of data to show it in kids - both vaccinated and unvaccinated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+11 to the homeschool suggestions above. What good is excused vs. unexcused absences? Who cares?

If your child is old enough for being home, or too young and you want them home, the most important thing is that they keep learning, right? Focus your energies to teaching them yourself rather than piling onto teachers to make special allowances / differences for one student vs. the class.

There's a swathe of middle students, students with mental/social needs who are vaxxed and need to be in-person with their teachers.

Let the middle schoolers who need in person stay in person.
For some of you, the risk of getting Covid is worth it.

For many - it is not.
Some want to protect their children from a virus that leads to brain damage and more than twice the normal risk of getting diabetes. That is important to them and to say that it's not a valid concern would be ridiculous, right?

Virtual is the best way to protect them since MCPS cannot adhere to proper Covid protocols. My son thrived for over a year in virtual. Not true for all but I cannot relate to these posts that make it sound terrible. Isolation is tough but my son had a sport he could do safely every day where he saw friends (in masks and distanced). He did zooms with friends and had zoom parties where he met new people. Is it better than in person? I'd say no but it's better than having long Covid or passing it on to a family member and then spending your life as a caregiver. Temporary sacrifice is not the end of the world - especially when there is a good reason to do it

Excused absences are different from unexcused absences. Why ask that here? You can Google it. For parents taking kids out of school for a while, there is more of a need to get it right than if it' a week or so for vacation.

This statement about diabetes is not correct. The study is not peer reviewed and many respected experts have questioned its conclusions.

Long COVID is a serious concern. Plenty of data to show it in kids - both vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Grasping at straws here. Long COVID is not a serious concern in vaccinated children. Link a study which shows that it is.
Homeschool your child or enroll your child in the county's virtual academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What happens to high schoolers and their grades? Now that colleges are test-optional, grades matter more than ever.

Can schools calculate a grade based on what the student has handed in prior to the excused absence, and not penalize them for what they have missed?

I would suggest pulling your child out to homeschool them versus relying on the school to somehow provide adequate instruction for little Larla who can't be exposed to covid19 even vaccinated and boosted.
Why should teachers and the school system provide extra support to your family when school has been deemed safe and appropriate in person for your county? Because you choose to not agree with public health officials? Because teachers want parents to cause drama and pull their children out because of the state of emergency so they can say, "look! see! Parents don't even want to their kids here?"

If you don't need in-person instruction and your child will thrive at home, homeschool them and avoid covid19 until the pandemic ends. Don't add to work of the overworked and stretched thin teaching staff to somehow keep your child up to speed or be added to the already long list of legitimately quarantined students.

whoever wrote this is my hero.