LCPS attendance policy revision

[Anonymous]

I mean who cares if it's excused or unexcused? Why does that matter?

[Anonymous]

Can someone answer what's the difference between excused and unexcused?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone answer what's the difference between excused and unexcused?

If an absence is unexcused, then technically makeup work does not have to be accepted. In reality/practice, it still is. The distinction isn’t much which is why they are more focused on total days now.

[Anonymous]

Considering the sizeable indian population they always go on month long trips over the winter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really stinks for the families who have already booked their trips to visit family overseas in December, especially considering how short the break is this year. I wonder if there will be significant pushback.

Attendance Policy Revision to Reduce Absenteeism:
School attendance is a key issue in Loudoun County and around the country. In response, the Loudoun County School Board with guidance from the LCPS Department of Student Services and the Chronic Absenteeism Task Force has revised Policy 8140, Student Attendance Requirements and Procedures. This policy outlines what types of absences are categorized as excused or unexcused absences. Some revisions to this policy include:

Absences due to family trips or vacations are considered unexcused absences unless they are due to family emergencies or observations of religious holidays. Parents/guardians are advised to schedule such trips during school holidays.

Who cares if an absence is excused or unexcused? This is your family and they’re your kids.

Also, it’s not that short. Break starts on 12/21 and they go back 1/2, almost two weeks.

[Anonymous]

My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

[Anonymous]

True but it's so expensive to get over to India that I see most gone for 6+ weeks to make it worth their while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

As a teacher I absolutely do not support other kids going 3 weeks longer in summer so wealthy families can jet off for 3 weeks in the middle of the year. All they’d do is plan a separate trip from that one anyway.

[Anonymous]

School vouchers would help that. That way those wealthy families can go to whatever school works with their Jetsetting schedules and the kids who really need a public school education can be at school filling in knowledge gaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

That might work for elementary kids, but not high school.
There are standardized tests, like AP or IB exams that happen at the same day/time at every single school in the country in early May. If a school district lost 2-3 weeks in February, those kids would be at a huge disadvantage on those tests compared to other students around the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

As a teacher I absolutely do not support other kids going 3 weeks longer in summer so wealthy families can jet off for 3 weeks in the middle of the year. All they’d do is plan a separate trip from that one anyway.

OK well I support year round schools with larger breaks between quarters. We could still have summer but it would be like 6 weeks. Or maybe a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School vouchers would help that. That way those wealthy families can go to whatever school works with their Jetsetting schedules and the kids who really need a public school education can be at school filling in knowledge gaps.

Or parents can just make the choice for their own kids whether or not to pull their kids out for vacation. Make up work shouldn't be an option, but the school also shouldn't harass/bully parents about attendance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

That might work for elementary kids, but not high school.
There are standardized tests, like AP or IB exams that happen at the same day/time at every single school in the country in early May. If a school district lost 2-3 weeks in February, those kids would be at a huge disadvantage on those tests compared to other students around the country.

That's THEIR problem. Rather, it SHOULD be their problem. THE problem for all of us is that schools makes it SCHOOLS' problem instead of just letting those kids endure the consequences of their parents' decisions to pull them out of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

As a teacher I absolutely do not support other kids going 3 weeks longer in summer so wealthy families can jet off for 3 weeks in the middle of the year. All they’d do is plan a separate trip from that one anyway.

OK well I support year round schools with larger breaks between quarters. We could still have summer but it would be like 6 weeks. Or maybe a month.

As a parent, I would love this but teacher friends are not in favor. I can't see it ever happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

That might work for elementary kids, but not high school.
There are standardized tests, like AP or IB exams that happen at the same day/time at every single school in the country in early May. If a school district lost 2-3 weeks in February, those kids would be at a huge disadvantage on those tests compared to other students around the country.

That's THEIR problem. Rather, it SHOULD be their problem. THE problem for all of us is that schools makes it SCHOOLS' problem instead of just letting those kids endure the consequences of their parents' decisions to pull them out of school.

I'm not talking about the kids who go on these long vacations. I'm saying if the school built in these 3 week vacations in February, ALL the kids from that school would suffer--including kids whose parents don't take these trips.
You are correct that I really don't care if the kids who are taking 3 week vacations in the middle of the school year are at a disadvantage.