Is this Truancy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think part of the problem is that kids who do this stuff place a large burden on the teacher. They have to get assignments ahead of time, correct them when they turn them in, keep the kid up to speed etc.

Not sure its fair to as a school to do that.

I can understand that to a point. But this is a straight A kid already so clearly she has goood sutdy habits and school managment skills. And its not as if she is missing half the year. Again, I just think they should use more discretion. Isn't this a kid we want to keep in DCPS?

Not at the cost of having to essentially create a unique school curriculum for them, no.

I wonder if she or he could have applied for an IEP?

Does he or she have a disability?

[Anonymous]

THe most ridiculous thing about that article is the point that most of the time, when a student really needs help, DCPS doesn't notice truancy. If that is true, the attendance office is really filled with the bureaucrats of the worst kind. Glad they are finally getting some well-deserved PR.

[Anonymous]

Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of us have kids at Deal and this is NOT the case at all. My kid always forgets to hand in his note and not once have we gotten a call (besides the robo call). As the year was ending I realized my kid had 15 unexcused and sent an e-mail to the attendance lady who didn't even respond until we break!

I think the parents made a bad decision and are now trying to get press for their daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Plenty of us have kids at Deal and this is NOT the case at all. My kid always forgets to hand in his note and not once have we gotten a call (besides the robo call). As the year was ending I realized my kid had 15 unexcused and sent an e-mail to the attendance lady who didn't even respond until we break!

I think the parents made a bad decision and are now trying to get press for their daughter.

Are you serious?? A bad decision?? To let their daughter participate in international and national competitions?? Come on. It is ridiculous to say that her parents made as bad decision.

Jealous much???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

So if the kid is missing a month of school at a time for all of this travel, practice and performance, the teachers should just suck it up and basically play the role of private tutor in addition to teaching a class of kids? Would you really like it if half your kid's teacher's prep time was spent catering to one student?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

So if the kid is missing a month of school at a time for all of this travel, practice and performance, the teachers should just suck it up and basically play the role of private tutor in addition to teaching a class of kids? Would you really like it if half your kid's teacher's prep time was spent catering to one student?

There is no reason for any teacher to spend oodles of time for lesson planning or curricula nowadays when all of the major textbooks have all of the teacher and student materials spelled out. Frankly, I do not want many teachers who are not content experts doing lesson planning or curricula development when there are tons of materials already developed by professional content experts with the textbook companies.

If the materials are adequate, then it should be fairly simple to instruct the student and family on what material to study and do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

So if the kid is missing a month of school at a time for all of this travel, practice and performance, the teachers should just suck it up and basically play the role of private tutor in addition to teaching a class of kids? Would you really like it if half your kid's teacher's prep time was spent catering to one student?

There is no reason for any teacher to spend oodles of time for lesson planning or curricula nowadays when all of the major textbooks have all of the teacher and student materials spelled out. Frankly, I do not want many teachers who are not content experts doing lesson planning or curricula development when there are tons of materials already developed by professional content experts with the textbook companies.

If the materials are adequate, then it should be fairly simple to instruct the student and family on what material to study and do.

You don't understand how teaching works, do you? It's not just about teaching a chapter of a math book, then a chapter of a social studies book, then a chapter of a language arts book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Plenty of us have kids at Deal and this is NOT the case at all. My kid always forgets to hand in his note and not once have we gotten a call (besides the robo call). As the year was ending I realized my kid had 15 unexcused and sent an e-mail to the attendance lady who didn't even respond until we break!

I think the parents made a bad decision and are now trying to get press for their daughter.

The parents did everything right here. DCPS looks absolutely foolish and inflexible. Apparently when Michelle Rhee swung her broom a few years ago. She must have missed a few old line bureaucrats who must have received their original training at the DC DMV!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

So if the kid is missing a month of school at a time for all of this travel, practice and performance, the teachers should just suck it up and basically play the role of private tutor in addition to teaching a class of kids? Would you really like it if half your kid's teacher's prep time was spent catering to one student?

There is no reason for any teacher to spend oodles of time for lesson planning or curricula nowadays when all of the major textbooks have all of the teacher and student materials spelled out. Frankly, I do not want many teachers who are not content experts doing lesson planning or curricula development when there are tons of materials already developed by professional content experts with the textbook companies.

If the materials are adequate, then it should be fairly simple to instruct the student and family on what material to study and do.

You don't understand how teaching works, do you? It's not just about teaching a chapter of a math book, then a chapter of a social studies book, then a chapter of a language arts book.

I'm afraid your description pretty much does sum up a lot of teaching today. Except for the constant testing -- there is that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

So if the kid is missing a month of school at a time for all of this travel, practice and performance, the teachers should just suck it up and basically play the role of private tutor in addition to teaching a class of kids? Would you really like it if half your kid's teacher's prep time was spent catering to one student?

There is no reason for any teacher to spend oodles of time for lesson planning or curricula nowadays when all of the major textbooks have all of the teacher and student materials spelled out. Frankly, I do not want many teachers who are not content experts doing lesson planning or curricula development when there are tons of materials already developed by professional content experts with the textbook companies.

If the materials are adequate, then it should be fairly simple to instruct the student and family on what material to study and do.

It seems that the parents put together the study an during their her absence. All the teachers would have to do is review and less it. Are they really too busy for that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does beg the question what if this was an A-student at Deal who was a very talented rapper/poet and was traveling around the world competing in spoken-word slams. Are some talents more acceptable and deserving of flexibility than others?

Yes, if it displays the wonderful diversity of DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think part of the problem is that kids who do this stuff place a large burden on the teacher. They have to get assignments ahead of time, correct them when they turn them in, keep the kid up to speed etc.

Not sure its fair to as a school to do that.

I can understand that to a point. But this is a straight A kid already so clearly she has goood sutdy habits and school managment skills. And its not as if she is missing half the year. Again, I just think they should use more discretion. Isn't this a kid we want to keep in DCPS?

Not at the cost of having to essentially create a unique school curriculum for them, no.

I wonder if she or he could have applied for an IEP?

Do you understand what an IEP is? It's for kids with actual educational needs, not someone who wants to pull their kid out of the school all the time to pursue outside interests.

She's obviously a talented child, and that should be fostered. But not at the expense of school resources and the other children in her class. If the family can't afford a private school that will accommodate these pursuits, it sounds like they'd be better off home schooling.

But doesn't developing and following through (assuming that happens) on an IEP take resources? Are school resources only to be expended on the kids who are behind, but nothing at all to accommodate a gifted prodigy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normally I love Petula Dvorak's columns and opinions on a range of topics from the profound, third world aspects of the city she knows well to the superfluous first world worries of those of us who should know better.

But this article is disturbing on several levels. Nothing can compare to Relisha Rudd's case. Nothing. But if we do go there, let's not forget that she has a brother from the same mom who went to the same school without the fake doctor's notes from that horrific predator. How much intervention is too much and can that happen without enough intervention?

We can't have it both ways. Adults will say and do a lot of things in the supposed interests of a child. Without policies, procedures and, gasp, bureaucrats, the majority of our children could be in horrific conditions. My heart wants to believe that these parents who live not far from me are indeed upstanding citizens who want the best for their amazingly talented child.

Deal and DCPS could have likely handled this particular situation with more sensitivity. But at what cost? How many competitions are too many? Do straight As mean straight happiness? Does she miss her friends because of school or because she's put on an airplane by adults?

I wouldn't want to be in DCPS or Deal administrator shoes in this case. However, I'm grateful for my own kid's sake that someone is checking up on the kids.

Are you an idiot? The DC truancy law does give schools discretion in this matter and Deal chose to not use here it which is stupidity. And for you to suggest that a child not pursue her talent just because her parents may be spurring her on is incredulous. I seriously doubt this child would be displaying that much talent if she hated playing the piano.

So if the kid is missing a month of school at a time for all of this travel, practice and performance, the teachers should just suck it up and basically play the role of private tutor in addition to teaching a class of kids? Would you really like it if half your kid's teacher's prep time was spent catering to one student?

There is no reason for any teacher to spend oodles of time for lesson planning or curricula nowadays when all of the major textbooks have all of the teacher and student materials spelled out. Frankly, I do not want many teachers who are not content experts doing lesson planning or curricula development when there are tons of materials already developed by professional content experts with the textbook companies.

If the materials are adequate, then it should be fairly simple to instruct the student and family on what material to study and do.

It seems that the parents put together the study an during their her absence. All the teachers would have to do is review and less it. Are they really too busy for that?

To busy to create a unique system of testing and assessment for one child (who most likely missed plenty of tests and graded assignments during her absense)? Yes, I imagine they are too busy for that.