PK3 absences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm not sure why you don't think IB/OOB don't apply to PK3/PK4--although they are not mandatory grades and you have to lottery in, they are still distinctions, and IB students have more rights than OOB students with respect to unexcused absences.

Here is the absence policy for the DCPS parent handbook:

"Attendance
Regular school attendance is required by DC law for children ages 5 to 18. Although not required by law, it is just as important for children ages 3 and 4 to have regular attendance as well. Attending school every day and on-time is critically important and has a huge impact on learning from kindergarten through high school. Even as children grow older and become more independent, families play a key role in making sure regular attendance is a priority.

Some absences are unavoidable but when a student misses too much school—excused or unexcused—they
can fall behind academically. Students are much less likely to succeed when they are chronically absent and/or miss 18 or more days in a school year. Students who miss more than 20% of their scheduled periods in a school day will, by law, be considered absent for the entire day.

If your child received a seat through the out-of-boundary lottery and has 10 unexcused absences or 20 unexcused tardies, they may be asked to return to their neighborhood school at the end of the school year."

See http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Parents/DCPS%20Parent%20HandbookEnglishweb.pdf

So my read of this is that there is no rule governing PK kids, but they prefer you make an effort for your kids to be there. There is no "out of boundary lottery" for PK. All PK kids lottery in, and those in bound receive a preference at the school. I plan to check with his DCPS in any event.

To those who get snippy about us traveling to Florida, the kid freaking loves it and it's amazing for our family time. Spending a week of solid time with his dad (who travels for work a lot), with grandma and granddad etc etc.... is a million times more positive for his development at age 3 than one more week of the public school curriculum. Sorry the rest of you are jealous.

[Anonymous]

OP, you need to check you entitlement at the door. It's wonderful that your Florida jaunts are so beneficial to your entire family. But don't expect DCPS or DCPC schools to just accept that. If they start the process to push your DC out of the school for poor attendance, well that is just the consequence.

[Anonymous]

Vacations are UNEXCUSED, people. That's all, you will get a call from OSSE or whoever.

[Anonymous]

When my DS was in PK3 at DCPS, we got threatening calls if we forgot to call him in sick to excuse his absence and/or dropped him off a little late.

Also, OP, your posts reek of entitlement. So glad you can afford your jaunts to Florida for family vacation and bonding; let's just hope you're not taking a spot from a family who actually needs and can't afford quality early education for their kid while you're off on your jaunts.

[Anonymous]

My PK3 and PK4 missed a ton of school for travel. We got calls but didn't bother with them since school isn't compulsory at those ages.

[Anonymous]

It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

Seriously calm down. I prefer to teach my child that family is more important than anything else. I hope that carries on throughout their entire life. Happy to report that my kids are older now and don't miss school except when sick. They don't seem to draw from their vast storehouse of 3 yo and 4 yo memories about when you can skip school or work.

[Anonymous]

All the posts spouting off about the gravitas of pk3 or 4 are just silliness. The time (a week!) spent with the family at the beach is way more important than the time at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know some who've gotten away with this but then, every so often, there are highly publicized cases (including a recent one from Brent), where someone is being dragged before social services. I think that one involved a child in K and up. Another consideration of whether you'll want to take the risk of becoming such a case is whether you're OOB or IB. The rules are clear there and if you're at a popular school, whether others are vying for your spot, the principal will not hesitate to apply them: Racking up unexcused absences - and these will be and they'll be recorded as such - can mean you forgo your spot.
Most importantly, it's worth considering your child's sentiment in all of this. If he/she is outgoing and savvy, then arriving a week late or missing a week of instruction won't phase him/her. If not, that might make all the difference between feeling comfortable in a new environment or having a stressful transition, in the case of Labor Day for example.

Meanwhile, please consider becoming an advocate for year-round schooling. How much better off would we all be if the days these kids spend inside and outside of school were better distributed over the year. I'd love a meaningful fall break or another Winter Break Week, and a substantial Spring Break etc. The rest of the developed world operates that way; why can't we.

I agree. How do I help support this effort?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the posts spouting off about the gravitas of pk3 or 4 are just silliness. The time (a week!) spent with the family at the beach is way more important than the time at school.

While true, schools don't want to be seen as daycares. Our principal warned incoming PS3 parents that while they can't legally do anything about a child in PS3 or PK4 with too many absences, if the family is OOB, they do not have to let them back in the next year.

[Anonymous]

I could be wrong about this, but I am pretty sure I saw something in writing from DCPS saying that the number of allowable unexcused absences from PK was going to be 20, or something like that, for next school year. Maybe something in the lottery materials? I think it is a matter of finding out what the rules are, and then finding out how flexible the principal is willing to be with you.

And just to give my opinion on the rules, having 2 kids who have gone through DCPS PK, I don't think there is any way that missing a week or two of school (even consecutively) is going to affect their overall learning that year, or be disruptive to the other students. There simply isn't material to be made up in the same way that there is for the older years. Which jibes with the fact PK isn't compulsory in the first place! That said, I understand why public schools can't be too loose with the absences. I think a very liberal absence policy (eg, 20 unexcused) is the right approach at the PK level. Whether you are in Florida, visiting family in Asia, or just hanging out with your Grandma in the next town over, all of these experiences are arguably as meaningful and educational as a day of DCPS PK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm not sure why you don't think IB/OOB don't apply to PK3/PK4--although they are not mandatory grades and you have to lottery in, they are still distinctions, and IB students have more rights than OOB students with respect to unexcused absences.

Here is the absence policy for the DCPS parent handbook:

"Attendance
Regular school attendance is required by DC law for children ages 5 to 18. Although not required by law, it is just as important for children ages 3 and 4 to have regular attendance as well. Attending school every day and on-time is critically important and has a huge impact on learning from kindergarten through high school. Even as children grow older and become more independent, families play a key role in making sure regular attendance is a priority.

Some absences are unavoidable but when a student misses too much school—excused or unexcused—they
can fall behind academically. Students are much less likely to succeed when they are chronically absent and/or miss 18 or more days in a school year. Students who miss more than 20% of their scheduled periods in a school day will, by law, be considered absent for the entire day.

If your child received a seat through the out-of-boundary lottery and has 10 unexcused absences or 20 unexcused tardies, they may be asked to return to their neighborhood school at the end of the school year."

See http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Parents/DCPS%20Parent%20HandbookEnglishweb.pdf

So my read of this is that there is no rule governing PK kids, but they prefer you make an effort for your kids to be there. There is no "out of boundary lottery" for PK. All PK kids lottery in, and those in bound receive a preference at the school. I plan to check with his DCPS in any event.

To those who get snippy about us traveling to Florida, the kid freaking loves it and it's amazing for our family time. Spending a week of solid time with his dad (who travels for work a lot), with grandma and granddad etc etc.... is a million times more positive for his development at age 3 than one more week of the public school curriculum. Sorry the rest of you are jealous.

No judgment on what you do in your free time or how much your kid likes FL, but if you want to do this, you should go private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

Or you could just say to your kid, "real" school starts in K, or 1st, or wherever that line is. Many PK-aged children are in daycare centers all around town, and they are absent or take vacations whenever they want. These are also structured environments with little kids, and the absences don't seem to interfere with anyone learning their ABCs, 123s, or "social norms."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being political, but here's the thing: you're now attending public school, whether at a charter or DCPS, using public resources. That means you follow their attendance rules, which include a limit on unexcused absences. If you want to take a lot of vacations and pull your kid out whenever you want, you'll need to do that on your own dime--i.e., private school. You may not think of PK3 or PK4 as "real school," but the District does.

OP here. I get that with ages 5 and up. But I cannot find an attendance rule anywhere for PK3 and PK4. So my understanding is there is no rule to break. Clearly, my first post was asking people of they knew of any such rule, in which case I would absolutely abide by it. But to the extent there is no such rule, and the school therefore doesn't really care, and it works for my son and our family, I'm not sure what the problem is that we get some amazing quality time as a family.

Other people mentioned that this is more of an issue when you are OOB -- but there isn't really a concept of OOB and IB at the pre-K level so not sure if this rationale applies.

There is definitely such a thing as OOB in pre-K, and you can absolutely lose your spot over excessive absences. I know this because we took 6 days off for a family wedding and gave AMPLE warning to the teacher and the administration. No one told us we couldn't do it. But upon our return, we found we'd received a series of dire-sounding letters from the school social worker warning us we could lose our spot if our son missed 4 more days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about what you are teaching your kid also. It's okay to miss school (work/life) because there is something more fun or convenient ahead. So let's disrupt the whole class because it is convenient for me. Your kid may not be learning science or how to write at 3, but you are starting the foundation of what life will be. Extend your holiday if that is what you want for a day or two, but taking a kid a week out is just irresponsible in a structured environment with so many little kids trying to learn new social norms.

Or you could just say to your kid, "real" school starts in K, or 1st, or wherever that line is. Many PK-aged children are in daycare centers all around town, and they are absent or take vacations whenever they want. These are also structured environments with little kids, and the absences don't seem to interfere with anyone learning their ABCs, 123s, or "social norms."

Yes, fine, many people have advocated that OP keep her child in daycare or private preschool so she can do whatever she wants. If DCPS and OSSE have other rules, she is subject to them.