New APS Quarterly Attendance Report

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well I find it ridiculous that my kids teacher took a week long trip to Dubai all while the school is sending me annoying texts about my kid missing 10 days of school because he had the flu and a stomach bug.

I think our kids are in the same class, unless several teachers are jetting off to Dubai.

I actually don't begrudge a teacher a trip, but I did not love DC barely had any homework for 3 weeks, on top of the little they normally get. I came on DCUM today during my biannual freak out that we should be in private school...

Your post made me laugh. That is all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the part of the text that says to contact the school if there’s something getting in thr way of attendance. Germs. Germs are what’s getting in the way of attendance.

Can people really not see beyond their own lives to realize lots of other kids are missing a lot of school not due to germs? If the effort and intent behind all this doesn't really apply to you, then must move on.

Can you really not see beyond your own life to realize lots of kids are missing a lot of school DUE TO germs. I bet you're one of those who doses your kid with tylenol and sends them in sick.

You really believe the attendance issue affecting public schools is because they are all sick all the time. This is your hypothesis.

#dumb

Try some reading comprehension. I did not say ALL were missing school due to sickness. I said LOTS. Covid is still here even though you are probably in denial. Whether you will admit it or not, Covid messes up people's immune systems, and this just gets worse the more they get it. So yes, it was a bad season for flu and now we even have things like whooping cough. And no this isn't just my hypothesis, I've seen the notices from public health for whooping cough which I don't recall ever going around before.

Ok now we see. Thanks for revealing yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the part of the text that says to contact the school if there’s something getting in thr way of attendance. Germs. Germs are what’s getting in the way of attendance.

Can people really not see beyond their own lives to realize lots of other kids are missing a lot of school not due to germs? If the effort and intent behind all this doesn't really apply to you, then must move on.

Can you really not see beyond your own life to realize lots of kids are missing a lot of school DUE TO germs. I bet you're one of those who doses your kid with tylenol and sends them in sick.

You really believe the attendance issue affecting public schools is because they are all sick all the time. This is your hypothesis.

#dumb

Try some reading comprehension. I did not say ALL were missing school due to sickness. I said LOTS. Covid is still here even though you are probably in denial. Whether you will admit it or not, Covid messes up people's immune systems, and this just gets worse the more they get it. So yes, it was a bad season for flu and now we even have things like whooping cough. And no this isn't just my hypothesis, I've seen the notices from public health for whooping cough which I don't recall ever going around before.

Pertussis is returning to prepandemic patterns, but it's still much lower than it was for most of the 2000s.

[Anonymous]

Flu is thankfully declining now but this was a high severity flu season for all age groups, with the most child deaths since the swine flu pandemic.

[Anonymous]

I think the quarterly attendance report is probably meant to address absences unrelated to illness. And I kinda doubt people who can't or won't get their kid to school on a regular basis will be moved by this report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the part of the text that says to contact the school if there’s something getting in thr way of attendance. Germs. Germs are what’s getting in the way of attendance.

Can people really not see beyond their own lives to realize lots of other kids are missing a lot of school not due to germs? If the effort and intent behind all this doesn't really apply to you, then must move on.

Actually, many parents, when contacted by the school social worker or similar personnel, explain that they are afraid of sending their children to school in the cold, or they are going to their country for an extended time to see their dying grandma.

Can you really not see beyond your own life to realize lots of kids are missing a lot of school DUE TO germs. I bet you're one of those who doses your kid with tylenol and sends them in sick.

The majority is not due to sickness. Folks just take their kids out for 3 weeks for vacation. Folks don't send their kids to school when its cold! We have something like a 30% chronic absentee rate for kinder. It is not all sickness. People say that they don't see the point. Parents won't send their kids to school on half days because it is too much work. So many reasons that people miss a lot of school. If you know yours was because of sickness than ignore it. But missing a lot of school EVEN due to illness has a negative impact on your kids ability to learn. I am not saying send in your sick kid, but am saying that it is important to recognize and if your kid is out a ton due to illness that it is good to speak to the school to figure out a way to help them catch up.

I’d love to see data showing that people are taking kids out for vacation or because it’s too cold.


Anecdotally, when my kid was out for COVID they got 2 math worksheets. When another one of my kids was out for surgery the teacher said there was nothing they needed to catch up on. I would hope MS and HS is better, but ES teachers haven’t been interested in helping my kids catch up.

I don't think there's a way to tease out who is blowing off school for vacation in the data. It's too easy to lie and say they were sick or just never respond at all. Circumstantially, they could probably look to see if there's an uptick on days that surround scheduled no school days. Kids that were out Nov 6-8, for example, could have been on a week and half long vacation. Also, the 2 days before Thanksgiving are always suspect.

[Anonymous]

A child in my daughter’s class was sent home with a fever one day and was back in class the next day. WHY DID THEY ALLOW HIM BACK? This is why we are all sick all the time.

[Anonymous]

Regarding “I’d love to see data showing that people are taking kids out for vacation or because it’s too cold.”

I can definitely verify that when our social worker touches base with families, they often say they’re concerned about the cold and how that kept them from sending their kids. Or the rain. It’s not uncommon for kids to come from places in the world where school is not held during that weather, so that is what parents expect… until rather extensive outreach and relationship building help them learn otherwise.
There are also trips that might not actually be vacations, per se, but visiting family in faraway places often takes kids out of school for long periods of time. Still other kids are brought to work with their parents on days when they don’t have any after-school care or transportation. So yes, there is (at least the potential for) real data to show that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A child in my daughter’s class was sent home with a fever one day and was back in class the next day. WHY DID THEY ALLOW HIM BACK? This is why we are all sick all the time.

Exactly. APS needs to step up and do their part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the part of the text that says to contact the school if there’s something getting in thr way of attendance. Germs. Germs are what’s getting in the way of attendance.

Can people really not see beyond their own lives to realize lots of other kids are missing a lot of school not due to germs? If the effort and intent behind all this doesn't really apply to you, then must move on.

Can you really not see beyond your own life to realize lots of kids are missing a lot of school DUE TO germs. I bet you're one of those who doses your kid with tylenol and sends them in sick.

The majority is not due to sickness. Folks just take their kids out for 3 weeks for vacation. Folks don't send their kids to school when its cold! We have something like a 30% chronic absentee rate for kinder. It is not all sickness. People say that they don't see the point. Parents won't send their kids to school on half days because it is too much work. So many reasons that people miss a lot of school. If you know yours was because of sickness than ignore it. But missing a lot of school EVEN due to illness has a negative impact on your kids ability to learn. I am not saying send in your sick kid, but am saying that it is important to recognize and if your kid is out a ton due to illness that it is good to speak to the school to figure out a way to help them catch up.

I’d love to see data showing that people are taking kids out for vacation or because it’s too cold.


Anecdotally, when my kid was out for COVID they got 2 math worksheets. When another one of my kids was out for surgery the teacher said there was nothing they needed to catch up on. I would hope MS and HS is better, but ES teachers haven’t been interested in helping my kids catch up.

I mean I have work in school attendance. I can see why people called out. And everyone time its cold we have to call parents and convince them the cold is not dangerous for the 2 mins their kid is out in it. APS has a lot of families from differnt cultures abd countries with many different beliefs.

Anyway when we kid missing MS he then has a ton of work. They dont get to not do the work. He often has to come in before or after school or during lunch to do things

+1 I'm a teacher with access to schoolwide attendance data. Yes, our attendance rate is *absolutely* lower on short weeks. It's lower when it's pouring rain outside. It's lower when it's really cold outside.

Or maybe every bout of viral illness just so happens to hit every year at the exact same time or with the exact same weather patterns. Yeah. That's it.

[Anonymous]

This report is now available in ParentVue under Document.

[Anonymous]

I’m seeing that my kids missed fewer days than the average in their grade. Sounds like we should take a few extra long weekends next year.

[Anonymous]

The fact this doesn't distinguished between excused absences and unexcused remains ridiculous but have opened the report for the first and the last time now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact this doesn't distinguished between excused absences and unexcused remains ridiculous but have opened the report for the first and the last time now.

It is because the impact on your kid is the same. If they miss 20 days from being sick that impacts their learning as much as it would of they missed 20 days from vacation even if you cant prevent it.

Moreover, the state doesn't care about excused or not excused when it comes to absences funding and accreditation..

Anyway, mine is wrong. Or at least differnt than that is in parentvue