LCPS attendance policy revision

[Anonymous]

One thing I dislike here is all the random days off. I wish they would group them better.

Please make this known to the school board. Yes, the next calendar is already set, but they need to know people dislike it. As a teacher I urged them to give us as many 5-day weeks as possible to keep things consistent, but they need to hear from parents that the random days off are disruptive to children’s routines and schedules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

As a teacher I absolutely do not support other kids going 3 weeks longer in summer so wealthy families can jet off for 3 weeks in the middle of the year. All they’d do is plan a separate trip from that one anyway.

OK well I support year round schools with larger breaks between quarters. We could still have summer but it would be like 6 weeks. Or maybe a month.

My kids attended a school overseas like this and it was great. Wish we did it here. Summer was 6-7 weeks, but there was a week long fall break, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week long winter break, 3 weeks off in the spring, and a few other random days off.

One thing I dislike here is all the random days off. I wish they would group them better.

That might be ok for some families/students but it could wreak havoc on a lot of others. As a parent of older teens, I know many of them use the long summer break to work (some families actually NEED that money, or the students need it for college), do internships, get ahead/replace a course by taking summer school (for example, my son wanted an extra elective and one option was to take PE during summer school so he'd have extra room in his schedule during the year.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One thing I dislike here is all the random days off. I wish they would group them better.

Please make this known to the school board. Yes, the next calendar is already set, but they need to know people dislike it. As a teacher I urged them to give us as many 5-day weeks as possible to keep things consistent, but they need to hear from parents that the random days off are disruptive to children’s routines and schedules.

I’m calling it right now - they will end up closing school 11/4 because so many teachers take off they won’t have enough subs to fill. It’s like that week two years ago where something similar happened. End of quarter aligns with Diwali and Election Day

[Anonymous]

Surveys were sent out with regards to parental preference on calendar year 24-25. Options were A, B, C. Yet D was the calendar that was adopted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't disagree with you in general. However, this student was asking for the work. They weren't just skipping school. Clearly she did believe the work is important. I don't know why families "have" to visit their international family during the school year. I don't get to see my long distance family any time I want, and they're all in the US.

There is no way I could pull together 8 weeks of work for a student who notified me the Friday before break. And in my experience, when I take the immense amount of time required to pull together work, it does not get completed.

And won’t they unenroll the student before the eight weeks are up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One thing I dislike here is all the random days off. I wish they would group them better.

Please make this known to the school board. Yes, the next calendar is already set, but they need to know people dislike it. As a teacher I urged them to give us as many 5-day weeks as possible to keep things consistent, but they need to hear from parents that the random days off are disruptive to children’s routines and schedules.

I mention it every year. Honestly seems worse than a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My school lost some accreditation this year due to absences. I'd say that 95% of the absences were sicknesses.

I do think that there's a lot of people taking long vacations though in the higher SES schools. Seems like if there's such a demand for that, that maybe it could be baked into the calendar. 2-3 weeks off in February or so. I personally can't vacation travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays because we're seeing family members. And travel in the summer is ridiculously hot in a lot of areas of the world. I'd love to have a long break at a time when most other schools are in session. It would make traveling easier. I do have a lot of Indian friends who pull their kids out for 2 weeks and Loudoun county has a very large Indian population.

As a teacher I absolutely do not support other kids going 3 weeks longer in summer so wealthy families can jet off for 3 weeks in the middle of the year. All they’d do is plan a separate trip from that one anyway.

OK well I support year round schools with larger breaks between quarters. We could still have summer but it would be like 6 weeks. Or maybe a month.

My kids attended a school overseas like this and it was great. Wish we did it here. Summer was 6-7 weeks, but there was a week long fall break, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week long winter break, 3 weeks off in the spring, and a few other random days off.

One thing I dislike here is all the random days off. I wish they would group them better.

That might be ok for some families/students but it could wreak havoc on a lot of others. As a parent of older teens, I know many of them use the long summer break to work (some families actually NEED that money, or the students need it for college), do internships, get ahead/replace a course by taking summer school (for example, my son wanted an extra elective and one option was to take PE during summer school so he'd have extra room in his schedule during the year.)

If a family needs the money of a working teen, the teen may already be working year round. 6-7 weeks is plenty of time to take an online summer class or work an internship. And with larger breaks throughout the year, some companies may be willing to make the intern a year round intern where they work over those long breaks. Might benefit the student and company.

[Anonymous]

Aren't there enough religious holidays on the school calendar where there will be very few unexcused absences due to trips? Just look at the calendar and claim your trip is due to the nearest religious holiday. Not like school administrators in this area have the gall or power to challenge religious claims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there enough religious holidays on the school calendar where there will be very few unexcused absences due to trips? Just look at the calendar and claim your trip is due to the nearest religious holiday. Not like school administrators in this area have the gall or power to challenge religious claims.

You are missing the point. There is no longer a meaningful difference between excused and unexcused. A distinction without a difference. Work can still be made up. They are just trying to get overall absences down. Whether its "excused" or "unexcused" does not matter. Parents, especially low income and from different cultures do not place a high value on attendance, and those are the very students who are most harmed by the frequent absences. I don't see the issue improving any time soon.

[Anonymous]

Two weeks is short if you need to visit your family abroad, especially if it takes 2-3 days on a flight like mine. Summer is not the right time to visit my back home, especially with kids. My humble suggestion for school boards is that they make some adjustments, if possible. Shorten the summer vacation, and add more days on winter break so that we can plan the trip based on the weather. I lost my mom a few years back without being able to see her for 10 years. My dad is also going through several health conditions, so I decided to visit him this winter and planned a trip. My kids miss several days of school. One of my kids got sick a few months after coming back from a trip, and now she is on chronic absenteeism. The school tells us that the court may get involved if she continues to be absent. I don't understand what this is. They are complicating things for the family rather than providing support. I understand the school system is also under the burden of understaffing, but not trying to help the families and students but imposing strict policies is not going to make attendance any better. School systems need to do better root cause analysis on the reason behind the increasing rate of absenteeism and come up with a solution. Maybe we need to reform the education system or school structure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. Stinks for the families who have already booked their trips to visit family overseas in December, especially considering how short the break is this year. I wonder if there will be significant pushback.

Attendance Policy Revision to Reduce Absenteeism:
School attendance is a key issue in Loudoun County and around the country. In response, the Loudoun County School Board with guidance from the LCPS Department of Student Services and the Chronic Absenteeism Task Force has revised Policy 8140, Student Attendance Requirements and Procedures. This policy outlines what types of absences are categorized as excused or unexcused absences. Some revisions to this policy include:

Absences due to family trips or vacations are considered unexcused absences unless they are due to family emergencies or observations of religious holidays. Parents/guardians are advised to schedule such trips during school holidays.

Who cares if an absence is excused or unexcused? This is your family and they’re your kids.

Also, it’s not that short. Break starts on 12/21 and they go back 1/2, almost two weeks.

[Anonymous]

My kids miss several days of school. One of my kids got sick a few months after coming back from a trip, and now she is on chronic absenteeism. The school tells us that the court may get involved if she continues to be absent. I don't understand what this is. They are complicating things for the family rather than providing support

I am sympathetic that your family is far away. But what is the support you want the public schools to provide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boo hoo. “Push back” all you want but attendance is in literal crisis right now at all levels so they’re doing what they need to do to address it. I had a student come up to me the Friday before Thanksgiving break and say she was going to her family’s country Monday and could I give her the work for the next 8 weeks. I said no. She’s going to end up failing Q2 and having to revive her grade for Q3 and Q4 but she is not the only student who will be gone for 6+ weeks this year and teachers cannot just accommodate that or other frequent absences because people think school is optional.

For over a year we were told that not only was school "optional" it was even PROHIBITED for several months. Every single parent and kid with kids 3rd grade and up lived that. As a teacher, were YOU fighting and advocating to re-open schools on March 14, 2020? If not then YOU are to blame.

No. You clearly misinterpreted whatever you think you were "told." You were told school would be online, virtual. That's not the same as "optional" or "prohibited"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My kids miss several days of school. One of my kids got sick a few months after coming back from a trip, and now she is on chronic absenteeism. The school tells us that the court may get involved if she continues to be absent. I don't understand what this is. They are complicating things for the family rather than providing support

I am sympathetic that your family is far away. But what is the support you want the public schools to provide?

+1
Schools can't accommodate everybody's preferences or needs. Bottom line is you've chosen to live here and this is the system. YOU are responsible for making whatever adjustments or decisions you feel you need to make. Accommodating you and your schedule impacts other families in other ways. If you don't like it or it doesn't work for your family, homeschool. You can make whatever schedule you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boo hoo. “Push back” all you want but attendance is in literal crisis right now at all levels so they’re doing what they need to do to address it. I had a student come up to me the Friday before Thanksgiving break and say she was going to her family’s country Monday and could I give her the work for the next 8 weeks. I said no. She’s going to end up failing Q2 and having to revive her grade for Q3 and Q4 but she is not the only student who will be gone for 6+ weeks this year and teachers cannot just accommodate that or other frequent absences because people think school is optional.

For over a year we were told that not only was school "optional" it was even PROHIBITED for several months. Every single parent and kid with kids 3rd grade and up lived that. As a teacher, were YOU fighting and advocating to re-open schools on March 14, 2020? If not then YOU are to blame.

No. You clearly misinterpreted whatever you think you were "told." You were told school would be online, virtual. That's not the same as "optional" or "prohibited"

No You clearly think that your experience is universal. The school year ended entirely on March 13, 2020 in our district.
Virtual school is not school.
There was no in person school.
It 100% was prohibited to enter the school building during that time.

[Anonymous]

What’s the point of revisiting your anger about the school closures? Since that time LCPs has had two superintendents, co7ntless other changes in the admin building, and at least at my schools, most of the teachers and admin have turned over, too.