Inaccurate MCPS messages on absences on Remind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Now read the message. You are wrong.

+1 Have you read the message?
Child X has missed 3 days of school this quarter. This includes both excused and unexcused absences. How can we help?
It implies that the kids have both excused and unexcused absences which is inaccurate in many cases. If MCPS wants to treat them the same, don't be surprised if parents send sick kids to school so MCPS can "help" them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Got a note from MCPS via Remind saying my kid has missed 3 days of school which includes both excused and unexcused absences. It expressed concerns and asked if anything could be done but had no option to respond or info to contact anyone.

I was puzzled because my kid did have 3 sick days which I reported and thought were excused. I called the school and they said the message comes from MCPS higher up and they it says “excused and unexcused” even if all are excused. Is MCPS so sloppy that it can’t verify whether all the absences are in fact excused?

I would argue this is a reading comprehension problem and MCPS is acting responsibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got a note from MCPS via Remind saying my kid has missed 3 days of school which includes both excused and unexcused absences. It expressed concerns and asked if anything could be done but had no option to respond or info to contact anyone.

I was puzzled because my kid did have 3 sick days which I reported and thought were excused. I called the school and they said the message comes from MCPS higher up and they it says “excused and unexcused” even if all are excused. Is MCPS so sloppy that it can’t verify whether all the absences are in fact excused?

I would argue this is a reading comprehension problem and MCPS is acting responsibly.

Your argument fails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got a note from MCPS via Remind saying my kid has missed 3 days of school which includes both excused and unexcused absences. It expressed concerns and asked if anything could be done but had no option to respond or info to contact anyone.

I was puzzled because my kid did have 3 sick days which I reported and thought were excused. I called the school and they said the message comes from MCPS higher up and they it says “excused and unexcused” even if all are excused. Is MCPS so sloppy that it can’t verify whether all the absences are in fact excused?

I would argue this is a reading comprehension problem and MCPS is acting responsibly.

+1. It may be annoying for some but the fact remains that MCPS is trying to address a problem with Chronic Absenteeism. If they did nothing folks would complain and then ratings of the school would go down giving folks something else to complain about. Not to mention, often when schools do reach parents say they had no idea their kid had missed so many days either because they as parents weren’t keeping track or the kid was skipping.

So now, MCPS is regularly looking, sending a notice which informs people AND which first inquires if there are any problem so they can potentially work with families and help.

If you’re fine, then this is not a problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

How is it not? The number of absences includes both excused and unexcused absences. If OP kid has 3 excused and 0 unexcused, then that’s three absences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

How is it not? The number of absences includes both excused and unexcused absences. If OP kid has 3 excused and 0 unexcused, then that’s three absences.

Because the message which was posted upthread says the child has 3 absences including BOTH excused and unexcused absences. That implies the child has BOTH types of absences.

I complained about this to the school the first time I got this type of message and they said it was the MCPS central office way of writing and that they get parent calls about this all the time but that the school itself has nothing to do with it. If they wanted to write it clearly, they could say the child has 3 absences including excused and/or unexcused absences. Or they could actually differentiate between the excused and unexcused absences, but I guess that's asking too much from that bloated MCPS bureaucracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

How is it not? The number of absences includes both excused and unexcused absences. If OP kid has 3 excused and 0 unexcused, then that’s three absences.

Because the message which was posted upthread says the child has 3 absences including BOTH excused and unexcused absences. That implies the child has BOTH types of absences.

I complained about this to the school the first time I got this type of message and they said it was the MCPS central office way of writing and that they get parent calls about this all the time but that the school itself has nothing to do with it. If they wanted to write it clearly, they could say the child has 3 absences including excused and/or unexcused absences. Or they could actually differentiate between the excused and unexcused absences, but I guess that's asking too much from that bloated MCPS bureaucracy.

Actually it does not imply that it’s an interpretation by the reader. I read it and understand exactly what MCPS is trying to say. Sure they can reword it to be more clear but I promise you the office will still get questions because people don’t have good interpretation skills and many have short attention spans so don’t read the whole message.

Regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused, the key point is still the child’s number of absences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

How is it not? The number of absences includes both excused and unexcused absences. If OP kid has 3 excused and 0 unexcused, then that’s three absences.

Because the message which was posted upthread says the child has 3 absences including BOTH excused and unexcused absences. That implies the child has BOTH types of absences.

I complained about this to the school the first time I got this type of message and they said it was the MCPS central office way of writing and that they get parent calls about this all the time but that the school itself has nothing to do with it. If they wanted to write it clearly, they could say the child has 3 absences including excused and/or unexcused absences. Or they could actually differentiate between the excused and unexcused absences, but I guess that's asking too much from that bloated MCPS bureaucracy.

Actually it does not imply that it’s an interpretation by the reader. I read it and understand exactly what MCPS is trying to say. Sure they can reword it to be more clear but I promise you the office will still get questions because people don’t have good interpretation skills and many have short attention spans so don’t read the whole message.

Regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused, the key point is still the child’s number of absences.

Clearly multiple readers interpret it as such or schools wouldn't say they get calls asking about these reminders all the time. And what do you expect MCPS to be able to do about a child's excused absence for illness? Are they sending a doctor over, when they can't even write an automatic email message clearly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

How is it not? The number of absences includes both excused and unexcused absences. If OP kid has 3 excused and 0 unexcused, then that’s three absences.

Because the message which was posted upthread says the child has 3 absences including BOTH excused and unexcused absences. That implies the child has BOTH types of absences.

I complained about this to the school the first time I got this type of message and they said it was the MCPS central office way of writing and that they get parent calls about this all the time but that the school itself has nothing to do with it. If they wanted to write it clearly, they could say the child has 3 absences including excused and/or unexcused absences. Or they could actually differentiate between the excused and unexcused absences, but I guess that's asking too much from that bloated MCPS bureaucracy.

Actually it does not imply that it’s an interpretation by the reader. I read it and understand exactly what MCPS is trying to say. Sure they can reword it to be more clear but I promise you the office will still get questions because people don’t have good interpretation skills and many have short attention spans so don’t read the whole message.

Regardless of whether the absences are excused or unexcused, the key point is still the child’s number of absences.

Clearly multiple readers interpret it as such or schools wouldn't say they get calls asking about these reminders all the time. And what do you expect MCPS to be able to do about a child's excused absence for illness? Are they sending a doctor over, when they can't even write an automatic email message clearly?

Depends. If you as the parents are the person excusing a kid for illness but have not been to a doctor after a week due to lack of insurance, they can recommend appropriate resources. Lets say the kid is having a mental health break, the school knowing about this can also help in pointing a parent/family to appropriate resources as well as working on plans with school resources such as social workers/counselor/teachers. You naively assume that all illness is as simple as needing 3-5 days rest and some ibuprofen.

[Anonymous]

The goal of the message is to help the kid attend school more often, to develop better English language comprehension than mom has.

It's a noble goal.

[Anonymous]

Adults get a standard 10 sick days per year, so harassing a parent about 3 sick says between September and December is excessive, especially if the kid isn't falling behind academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adults get a standard 10 sick days per year, so harassing a parent about 3 sick says between September and December is excessive, especially if the kid isn't falling behind academically.

Both my kids were sick this fall and we received the message for each of them. It’s hard to say that a single email per kid is “harassing.” If you’re not concerned, ignore it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS has had 2 bouts of illness. The first one resulted in 3 missed days in a row so we were contacted. They should be saving the messages for unexcused absences. It makes parents feel they should send sick kids to school. I know it made me hesitant to keep mine home for the 2nd illness.

No they shouldn’t. What they need is to be able to dig deeper into each cases and determine if they are generally spaced out and so likely more related to simple illness or school activities. They need to cross reference grades and other social impacts. But just assuming I excused absences is not correct.

You're expecting MCPS to be thoughtful, accurate and rational and to apply effort. That's asking too much of them.

I don’t think people are asking for an automatic message to be thoughtful. But it’s not too much to ask that it not be wrong.

The message is not wrong. OP's kid has missed 3 more more days of school. The intent of the message is not to notify OP of unexcused absences.

Sure, the message may be technically correct, but I like to find fault with MCPS regardless.

It is not technically correct.

How is it not? The number of absences includes both excused and unexcused absences. If OP kid has 3 excused and 0 unexcused, then that’s three absences.

Because the message which was posted upthread says the child has 3 absences including BOTH excused and unexcused absences. That implies the child has BOTH types of absences.

I complained about this to the school the first time I got this type of message and they said it was the MCPS central office way of writing and that they get parent calls about this all the time but that the school itself has nothing to do with it. If they wanted to write it clearly, they could say the child has 3 absences including excused and/or unexcused absences. Or they could actually differentiate between the excused and unexcused absences, but I guess that's asking too much from that bloated MCPS bureaucracy.

Some people are so pedantic that MCPS needs to say “Your child has had a total of 3 absences. Though some or all may have been excused…”