DCPS communications about school absences

[Anonymous]

Same here. Agree with the PP consensus that these notices are automated, have not been cross-correlated with school records of absences actually excused, and can be safely ignored by families who are familiar with all of the absences identified in the email and the reasons for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I almost posted this same vent this week. The letters are super annoying. I understand they are intended to be interventions, but I wonder if their intention will backfire for some families who will start to send their kids into school semi-sick to avoid the DCPS nasty-grams.

I did notice that on the back (in fine print), it says that you can request to stop the notifications by calling a phone number. I called the phone number but of course you leave a voicemail. So who knows if the letters will stop or not.

PP here - I actually received a call back today confirming my opt-out. So if you want to opt-out, call the phone number on the back of the mailed letters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

Ah yes please visit the truancy thread to see how well DCPS’ attendance policies and methods are helping get students to attend school. These texts just start to piss people off. Lots of families don’t even get the texts .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

But why is an intervention needed for an excused absence? This is what people are annoyed about. Your kid is sick, you tell the school, you still get multiple reminders about how important it is to be there. I can ignore them, sure. But they’re like little tiny reminders of DCPS’ incompetence. (Also I truly question that they increase attendance for the group they’re actually targeting, but ok.)

[Anonymous]

We get texts, calls, and letters! DS has missed three days…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

Oh, come on. Parents of students in low performing schools are going to be just as turned off as I was getting the call. DD missed 5 days when she wasn’t allowed in the building because of COVID, which was already documented in DCPS records. No one respects DCPS when they do things like this — families in low performing schools included. There’s no reason whoever’s doing this couldn’t check the records first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

But why is an intervention needed for an excused absence? This is what people are annoyed about. Your kid is sick, you tell the school, you still get multiple reminders about how important it is to be there. I can ignore them, sure. But they’re like little tiny reminders of DCPS’ incompetence. (Also I truly question that they increase attendance for the group they’re actually targeting, but ok.)

Because parents will send in a fake sick notice when their car breaks down and they can't get their kid to school? Parents don't want their kids labeled as truants when they are the reason their kid can't get to school. That's why the notice says DCPS can help if they need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

But why is an intervention needed for an excused absence? This is what people are annoyed about. Your kid is sick, you tell the school, you still get multiple reminders about how important it is to be there. I can ignore them, sure. But they’re like little tiny reminders of DCPS’ incompetence. (Also I truly question that they increase attendance for the group they’re actually targeting, but ok.)

Because parents will send in a fake sick notice when their car breaks down and they can't get their kid to school? Parents don't want their kids labeled as truants when they are the reason their kid can't get to school. That's why the notice says DCPS can help if they need it.

Is DCPS going to buy the family a new car so it doesn’t keep breaking down? Get a school bus for a kid OOB who has a 45 minute commute on public transport? Talk to WMATA about not having trains break down or single tracked so kids aren’t late to school? DCPS doesn’t do anything except send these letters, texts and emails. And honestly? A car breaking down on the way to school should be an excused absence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

Oh, come on. Parents of students in low performing schools are going to be just as turned off as I was getting the call. DD missed 5 days when she wasn’t allowed in the building because of COVID, which was already documented in DCPS records. No one respects DCPS when they do things like this — families in low performing schools included. There’s no reason whoever’s doing this couldn’t check the records first.

Lots of parents do not even get these notices. It does not prevent truancy- it makes UMC parents nervous about absences or truant court. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

I think DCPS pays an outside company to do this annoying outreach. It is annoying but ineffective. My senior last year missed 16 days of school last year due to being sick or college stuff. We were bombarded with emails and calls and letters from DCPS. We ignored them all and in the end, they did nothing. No further escalation beyond the letters, emails, texts, etc.

[Anonymous]

You get these notices for a small number of absences so that when families accrue larger amounts the school can already say parent contact was made and escalate to further interventions. You won’t see these further interventions if your absences never reach that higher threshold. That said- school are pretty bad in accurately recording absences. Also, plenty of families do provide “sick” notes for students to excuse absences for things like short vacations, hair appointments, etc. also schools get a chunk of true ratings from overall in-seat attendance. Getting a responsive family to reduce a few absences (I.e. avoid missing a full day for a medical appointment or vacation) helps the school data even when that student might only have a couple of absences that year.
—DCPS teacher and parent of DCPS student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could reach out and ask how you ensure absences are excused. But otherwise DCPS will not do anything about absences. That is a CYA form letter.

It is not CYA. It is an intervention meant to address the truancy issues many posters are noting and complaining about in other threads.

Not every intervention is perfect for every family. This specific texting approach is evidenced based and in low performing schools was shown to boost attendance by a modest amount.

But why is an intervention needed for an excused absence? This is what people are annoyed about. Your kid is sick, you tell the school, you still get multiple reminders about how important it is to be there. I can ignore them, sure. But they’re like little tiny reminders of DCPS’ incompetence. (Also I truly question that they increase attendance for the group they’re actually targeting, but ok.)

Because parents will send in a fake sick notice when their car breaks down and they can't get their kid to school? Parents don't want their kids labeled as truants when they are the reason their kid can't get to school. That's why the notice says DCPS can help if they need it.

Is DCPS going to buy the family a new car so it doesn’t keep breaking down? Get a school bus for a kid OOB who has a 45 minute commute on public transport? Talk to WMATA about not having trains break down or single tracked so kids aren’t late to school? DCPS doesn’t do anything except send these letters, texts and emails. And honestly? A car breaking down on the way to school should be an excused absence.

My DCPS helped me get into a family carpooling arrangement when I needed it.