Unexcused absence for MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI. Everyone is in school in late September, public and private.

A couple possibilities:

1)OP is Jewish and thought her child would attend a Jewish day school. Many are closed for the high holidays.
2) OP intended for the child to attend a secular private school and some are casual about attendance in ES. My child had many health related absences and the school didn’t care. When we took a once in the life time international trip, the headmaster acted annoyed that we asked if it would be an issue.

[Anonymous]

Do not worry! I used to pull my kids out for extended family travel once a year all through elementary and nobody ever batted an eye.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not worry! I used to pull my kids out for extended family travel once a year all through elementary and nobody ever batted an eye.

No one bats an eye because they are tired of arguing with parents about the importance of school and kids being present. Which is why now they did enroll so they can point to issues when folks start blaming them for performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will be gone for 10 consecutive school days

Current rules require that she be disenrolled. So when you get back you have to reenroll her. Only potential consequence I see, beyond inconvenience, is that she might end up in a different class when you get back. No one is failing a kindergartner.

If you’re doing early admission, you might have an issue because they might not take her back and they wouldn’t have to.

Ten days would include two weekends so it would be fine. They aren't going to disenroll her. We've done two week vacations combining weekend and holidays and it was fine.

She said ten consecutive school days. Rules changed this year and ten unexcused absences requires disenrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is absent for 10 consecutive days, they may be unenrolled and you will have to re-enroll them. One of my kid's friends (in 8th grade) did that this year. You will need to work with your school on how to handle it.

THE KID IS IN KINDERGARTEN. No school would ever unenroll a kid without talking to the parent. Stop fear mongering someone who is new to the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is absent for 10 consecutive days, they may be unenrolled and you will have to re-enroll them. One of my kid's friends (in 8th grade) did that this year. You will need to work with your school on how to handle it.

THE KID IS IN KINDERGARTEN. No school would ever unenroll a kid without talking to the parent. Stop fear mongering someone who is new to the system.

Agree. It is true that whether the school counts it as unexcused will depend on that school's principal. It would be a pretty aggressive move for the school to unenroll a kindergartner. I'd start with the teacher and be upfront about it, explain these plans were made before deciding to go to this school. It's just kindergarten, though. OP's child will have plenty of time to get used to the routine before the trip and then get back into the routine after the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is absent for 10 consecutive days, they may be unenrolled and you will have to re-enroll them. One of my kid's friends (in 8th grade) did that this year. You will need to work with your school on how to handle it.

THE KID IS IN KINDERGARTEN. No school would ever unenroll a kid without talking to the parent. Stop fear mongering someone who is new to the system.

You can’t know that. MCPS is cracking down on absences. You might end up at a school with hardline principal or teacher who wants to play by the rules. Rules which say this would be an unexcused absence. Odds of that happening are low but it’s a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is absent for 10 consecutive days, they may be unenrolled and you will have to re-enroll them. One of my kid's friends (in 8th grade) did that this year. You will need to work with your school on how to handle it.

THE KID IS IN KINDERGARTEN. No school would ever unenroll a kid without talking to the parent. Stop fear mongering someone who is new to the system.

You can’t know that. MCPS is cracking down on absences. You might end up at a school with hardline principal or teacher who wants to play by the rules. Rules which say this would be an unexcused absence. Odds of that happening are low but it’s a possibility.

First, a teacher can’t unenroll someone. Second, no principal or school would ever hinder with the learning process of a 5 year old. Especially in regular kindergarten, not some type of magnet that many kids want to get into. Third, no one is debating whether this is an unexcused absence. It is. I just got a letter from the principal of my child’s school saying DD missed 10 days of school, she is in 3 rd grade. Nothing happened, no principal unenrolled my child. MCPS has way bigger problems to deal with than a kindergarten going on vacation. Again, stop fear mongering someone new to the system.

[Anonymous]

As others have indicated unexcused absences are really being looked at and so is chronic absenteeism (which occurs at 18days). So yes, if you are going to be missing for 10days early in the school year you really need to have a discussion with the teacher and admin early.

[Anonymous]

It's not "fear-mongering" to let the parent know that the new policy this year states that "Students with 10 school days of consecutive unlawful absences must be exited following procedures outlined under the Maryland Student Record Systems Manual." The parent should know that it's possible they will have to work with the school to re-enroll their student after the absence.

That said, it's possible that individual schools/principals may not follow this policy for kindergarteners with advanced notice. It's also possible that the unenroll/re-enroll process isn't that big a deal, aside from paperwork hassles. My kid's friend who was unenrolled/re-enrolled in 8th grade this fall due to absences was able to keep their exact same schedule, etc. It was a paperwork issue and a process that needed to be followed, but not a huge problem.

[Anonymous]

It would prob work out better if you homeschool the first month and then enroll your child after the trip is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just give the school a heads up.

And even if they unenroll your kid, so what, just re-enroll them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just give the school a heads up.

And even if they unenroll your kid, so what, just re-enroll them.

Teacher here. It’s not a big deal to re-enroll. Schools are really cracking down on chronic absences so just tell them what you are doing ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

Don’t ask the teacher to provide the missed work but make sure your child stays up on the skills. Have them write their big and little letters, cut and paste paper, work on counting, simple addition and days of the week, etc. Read to them and focus on sight words. Doesn’t need to be a lot of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t ask the teacher to provide the missed work but make sure your child stays up on the skills. Have them write their big and little letters, cut and paste paper, work on counting, simple addition and days of the week, etc. Read to them and focus on sight words. Doesn’t need to be a lot of time.

OMG, come on. It's ten days, not ten weeks, and this will be during the first month of the kindergarten school year. I don't think this child's cutting and pasting skills will be at risk.