Unexcused absences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

if kids are doing well in school, they can take family holidays without requiring a fake sick note unless posters like above are in school admin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've got kids in elementary, middle, and high school at FCPS. (FWIW, they are all doing fine academically.) We pulled them out of school last month for five days for a trip. I left an honest message on each of the attendance lines. For two of the kids, they had not previously missed a day of school (for illness or otherwise) this year. I didn't hear from the high school or middle school but the elementary school sent me a fairly personal (clearly not automated) admonishing email directing me to fill out a form, and explaining that I will be assigned a counselor if the number of unexcused absences gets to five. l was annoyed but ignored the email, and didn't complete the form. Yesterday, the office again sent me a personal three-paragraph email from a "member of the XX ES attendance committee" again giving us an attendance lecture, explaining that the school is "being tasked this year by the Virginia Department of Education to make an attendance plan for any student who has 5 or more unexcused absences" but that they've decided to let me go with a warning this time, but I am on notice that my double secret probation will be elevated to a meeting to discuss attendance if there are further infractions.

Is this something that VA DOE is telling schools to do, or is my ES just over-achieving in pointless ways?

Unfortunately it’s a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

if kids are doing well in school, they can take family holidays without requiring a fake sick note unless posters like above are in school admin

Why do you say this? Because you have advantages and privileges that others don’t, you can do whatever you like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

if kids are doing well in school, they can take family holidays without requiring a fake sick note unless posters like above are in school admin

Why do you say this? Because you have advantages and privileges that others don’t, you can do whatever you like?

That's how the world works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

if kids are doing well in school, they can take family holidays without requiring a fake sick note unless posters like above are in school admin

Why do you say this? Because you have advantages and privileges that others don’t, you can do whatever you like?

everyone has some advantages and disadvantages in life - this is not a status or income issue … it is simply that families should be able to take holidays if kids are doing well without any problems or need for fake sick notes

this matters even more if holidays are needed to stay in touch with extended family regardless of income or expense or distance of trip

[Anonymous]

The VDOE includes "Chronic Absenteeism" under "Learning Environment" as part of the schools' quality profiles.

Could that be why some are cracking down more on absences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic absenteeism is a huge problem post-pandemic. Including the OP, who thinks it is NBD.

School districts in Virginia and around the country are trying to deal with it. This is a good thing. Even for UMC kids, missing a week of school is hard and can lead to lasting problems.

Guess they should have thought of that when they closed schools.

Exactly. Wish they would’ve valued it as much during the 150 days of online “school” in 2020-21.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP here, responding to both:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic absenteeism is a huge problem post-pandemic. Including the OP, who thinks it is NBD....

and...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic absenteeism is a huge problem post-pandemic. Including the OP, who thinks it is NBD.

School districts in Virginia and around the country are trying to deal with it. This is a good thing. Even for UMC kids, missing a week of school is hard and can lead to lasting problems.

This is OP, and guilty as charged. The school year is longer than it needs to be, filled with a bunch of busy work, and a last month where they run out the clock. If the school year allowed for reasonable breaks long enough to take trips, we would use those instead of pulling the kids out of school. There is a big difference between a kid skipping a bunch of school enabled by parental ignorance or indifference, and a kid travelling with his family and keeping up on his work while he's out.

I used to be cowed by all those lectures about chronic absenteeism. Then I saw exactly what OP saw, as did all the other UMC parents. Plus we saw how the schools have no problem interrupting student education when it's convenient for them (the lack of 5 day weeks in the calendar), or treating education like it's optional in other ways. It's really annoying to be lectured by people who don't themselves work their hardest to ensure our kids' time is well used when they are in school or that they have a consistent academic schedule.

+1 not to mention seeing so many of my kids’ teachers take off a full week mid year and get a sub so they can take a vacation as well. Well why can’t they go during the designated breaks either? People want to travel when it’s cheaper, which doesn’t coincide with school break times. That goes for both families and teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

if kids are doing well in school, they can take family holidays without requiring a fake sick note unless posters like above are in school admin

Why do you say this? Because you have advantages and privileges that others don’t, you can do whatever you like?

everyone has some advantages and disadvantages in life - this is not a status or income issue … it is simply that families should be able to take holidays if kids are doing well without any problems or need for fake sick notes

this matters even more if holidays are needed to stay in touch with extended family regardless of income or expense or distance of trip

So if you don’t care, then why write a fake note - just tell them where you’re going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP here, responding to both:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic absenteeism is a huge problem post-pandemic. Including the OP, who thinks it is NBD....

and...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic absenteeism is a huge problem post-pandemic. Including the OP, who thinks it is NBD.

School districts in Virginia and around the country are trying to deal with it. This is a good thing. Even for UMC kids, missing a week of school is hard and can lead to lasting problems.

This is OP, and guilty as charged. The school year is longer than it needs to be, filled with a bunch of busy work, and a last month where they run out the clock. If the school year allowed for reasonable breaks long enough to take trips, we would use those instead of pulling the kids out of school. There is a big difference between a kid skipping a bunch of school enabled by parental ignorance or indifference, and a kid travelling with his family and keeping up on his work while he's out.

I used to be cowed by all those lectures about chronic absenteeism. Then I saw exactly what OP saw, as did all the other UMC parents. Plus we saw how the schools have no problem interrupting student education when it's convenient for them (the lack of 5 day weeks in the calendar), or treating education like it's optional in other ways. It's really annoying to be lectured by people who don't themselves work their hardest to ensure our kids' time is well used when they are in school or that they have a consistent academic schedule.

+1 not to mention seeing so many of my kids’ teachers take off a full week mid year and get a sub so they can take a vacation as well. Well why can’t they go during the designated breaks either? People want to travel when it’s cheaper, which doesn’t coincide with school break times. That goes for both families and teachers.

So many? Really. I’ve been teaching for over 20 years and I’ve only seen this a couple times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a letter after DS had been absent 5 days. Threatening court action if we missed 10 or more. We already had another trip scheduled that would be obvious he wasn’t sick (coming back tanned) so we said he was on vacation a couple of days and came back sick. He was out a week and still scored perfect on his math test. It’s ES for goodness sake they’ll learn more a week in Europe or wherever than they will in class. Which is constantly interrupted with whatever activity is that week. Boosterthon, movie time, flashlight reading time etc. All this has done is teach parents to lie. He’s going to have another cold for the upcoming Eclipse trip.

What? Court action for 10 days off for family trips for a kid with perfect scores on his tests?

Truant laws apply to everyone, not just to "other families"? Oh no!

Truant laws for high performing kids - really? Family vacations for high performing kids should be excused absences.

Your kids are no better than anyone else's kids and will suffer the consequences as any other kid if they do not abide by truancy laws for FCPS.

if kids are doing well in school, they can take family holidays without requiring a fake sick note unless posters like above are in school admin

Why do you say this? Because you have advantages and privileges that others don’t, you can do whatever you like?

everyone has some advantages and disadvantages in life - this is not a status or income issue … it is simply that families should be able to take holidays if kids are doing well without any problems or need for fake sick notes

this matters even more if holidays are needed to stay in touch with extended family regardless of income or expense or distance of trip

So if you don’t care, then why write a fake note - just tell them where you’re going?

We do care about education. Like OP kids have done well in school. Unlike OP excused absence for family trips were allowed for us. OP should expect the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The VDOE includes "Chronic Absenteeism" under "Learning Environment" as part of the schools' quality profiles.

Could that be why some are cracking down more on absences?

Yes. Also VDOE is pushing crackdowns statewide.

Realistically most people who are chronically absent are not like OP's family, though OP is not alone.

[Anonymous]

Person in charge of sending the letter here. We are required to do it by the VDOE. Some schools are more slack than others but they all *should* be doing it. When my ES kids were out for two short trips this year I was honest with the teachers but just called the attendance line with 'sick' as it saves everyone the trouble in the long run. Pre-arranged absences don't count as excused anymore, again back to the VDOE requirements.

[Anonymous]

My child is an athlete who competes internationally. They've missed 15 days so far this year- I had the back and forth with the administration- meanwhile, the teachers are telling me that it's not affecting them in the slightest. Grades are perfect, they are in advanced math and not struggling at all. As they get older and school gets harder, I will be watching for any signs of struggle and we will adjust accordingly. If FCPS wants to take me to court, I am glad to fight that battle.