Thinking of skipping the next two days of school

[Anonymous]

I teach ES and tons of kids didn't come to school today. I teach at a Title 1 school and parents see school as a free babysitting service so when they don't come to school, it's usually b/c they are sick. One of my students threw up in my room right after breakfast. The boy who walked him up to the nurse threw up this afternoon. Probably a coincidence but I begged our custodian to really clean the floors and desks/flat surfaces after school today. Nobody wants to get sick during their Winter Break (especially me since we are driving up to Maine to visit family).

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County is off all week. I guess since we close for the Jewish holidays (and FFCO does not) we are stuck going this week. Would be interesting case study to see how many jewish students are absent this week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County is off all week. I guess since we close for the Jewish holidays (and FFCO does not) we are stuck going this week. Would be interesting case study to see how many jewish students are absent this week.

Huh? Why would it be interesting to see how many Jewish students are absent this week?

[Anonymous]

We had close to 20% of kids absent today at my MCPS ES (normal day is less than 5%). Some classes had half the kids missing. Last week was nearly as bad and several kids per day were going home sick. Flu has been going around. Will be very interesting to see what tomorrow's absence rate is. Last year on Take Your Child to Work Day we hit 40%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County is off all week. I guess since we close for the Jewish holidays (and FFCO does not) we are stuck going this week. Would be interesting case study to see how many jewish students are absent this week.

Huh? Why would it be interesting to see how many Jewish students are absent this week?

Maybe the pp thinks Jewish kids get the flu more easily? Weird comment.

[Anonymous]

Having a kid with a 102 temp and puking their guts out Christmas morning F'ing sucks. Been there, done that. She is off, her preschooler is off. Keeping her kid home since the flu is going around AND she wants to spend some time doing Christmas things is completely fine. She is in ES people. It is nice to do those mental break things IF it can be done.

OP, don't let these scrooges bully you. You already have off so enjoy the time. I am off and my kids are home with me too. We did Christmas cookies for 4 hours today and watched holiday movies and was SO happy to not be out in that weather.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a kid with a 102 temp and puking their guts out Christmas morning F'ing sucks. Been there, done that. She is off, her preschooler is off. Keeping her kid home since the flu is going around AND she wants to spend some time doing Christmas things is completely fine. She is in ES people. It is nice to do those mental break things IF it can be done.

OP, don't let these scrooges bully you. You already have off so enjoy the time. I am off and my kids are home with me too. We did Christmas cookies for 4 hours today and watched holiday movies and was SO happy to not be out in that weather.

Op here. Thanks for the support! I have a feeling that there's one person in particular who keeps posting who is so worried that I'm teaching my kid to be a huge germaphobe by pulling him out. We never Purell, my kids play in the mud constantly, we often go to others' houses who are sick (with colds, not fever/vomit), and I usually forget to remind them to wash up before dinner on normal days. So I'm laughing here because I know I am far from a germaphobe under normal circumstances, it's just this week in particular that made me wary since we are seeing that family member who is immuno-compromised and huge chunks of schools are absent due to the flu and other strong viruses, I am not afraid of a cold.

[Anonymous]

Newsflash:

They aren't learning new material this week...too many kids away on vacation AND too many teachers away on vacation (and subs babysit, they don't teach NEW material).

Everyone should have stayed home this week.

[Anonymous]

My child has a geometry quiz today but high school is very different than Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newsflash:

They aren't learning new material this week...too many kids away on vacation AND too many teachers away on vacation (and subs babysit, they don't teach NEW material).

Everyone should have stayed home this week.

+1 I considered keeping my kids home this week because our elementary school had a norovirus outbreak last week -- 90 out of 500ish kids out sick, with 28 throwing up at school just on Friday. But, the principal told us the whole school had been cleaned over the weekend with some anti-norovirus cleaners so I sent them. Last night DD came down with it. So both kids are home today anyway. Ah, happy holidays! Fortunately, we aren't traveling but if I'd had OPs concerns I absolutely would have kept them home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, the school calendar doesn't apply to your special snowflake. Keep him home whenever you want!

Mock me if you want. But, my kid's health is way more important than 2 silly days of Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a kid with a 102 temp and puking their guts out Christmas morning F'ing sucks. Been there, done that. She is off, her preschooler is off. Keeping her kid home since the flu is going around AND she wants to spend some time doing Christmas things is completely fine. She is in ES people. It is nice to do those mental break things IF it can be done.

OP, don't let these scrooges bully you. You already have off so enjoy the time. I am off and my kids are home with me too. We did Christmas cookies for 4 hours today and watched holiday movies and was SO happy to not be out in that weather.

Op here. Thanks for the support! I have a feeling that there's one person in particular who keeps posting who is so worried that I'm teaching my kid to be a huge germaphobe by pulling him out. We never Purell, my kids play in the mud constantly, we often go to others' houses who are sick (with colds, not fever/vomit), and I usually forget to remind them to wash up before dinner on normal days. So I'm laughing here because I know I am far from a germaphobe under normal circumstances, it's just this week in particular that made me wary since we are seeing that family member who is immuno-compromised and huge chunks of schools are absent due to the flu and other strong viruses, I am not afraid of a cold.

If you have a family member who is immunocompromised, you should be careful with your preschooler. Preschoolers are notoriously germy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a kid with a 102 temp and puking their guts out Christmas morning F'ing sucks. Been there, done that. She is off, her preschooler is off. Keeping her kid home since the flu is going around AND she wants to spend some time doing Christmas things is completely fine. She is in ES people. It is nice to do those mental break things IF it can be done.

OP, don't let these scrooges bully you. You already have off so enjoy the time. I am off and my kids are home with me too. We did Christmas cookies for 4 hours today and watched holiday movies and was SO happy to not be out in that weather.

I'm a PP who thinks it's silly to keep your kids out just because you're afraid they *might* get sick.

Just because I disagree with the OP's decision, doesn't make it bullying. That's a bit over the top. OP is obviously very confident and happy with her decision to keep her kids home. Good for her. I still think it's silly. That doesn't make me a 'bully'.

[Anonymous]

+1. Plus, she asked for opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send him to school. He won't learn anything but he will do some crafts and you can shop or get a pedicure and enjoy the time to yourself.

Op here. Oh a pedicure, that would be nice! But I have a preschool-aged kid who will be with me, so no alone time.

My child is academically fine, I'm not worried about getting behind. I always felt the day before the holiday was a freebie anyway with not much work getting done, right? Any teachers want to weigh in on that.

I'm trying to get some individual assessments done on Monday and Tuesday. We've had a lot of kids absent lately due to illness so I have a lot of make-ups to do. I'm not planning on introducing any new content.

I honestly wish winter break had started on Friday. There are so many illnesses going around in our building (students and staff) that it just needs to be scrubbed down and left empty so that the germs stop spreading. If your kids are sick, please keep them home and please have current contact information in the office so that if your kid is sick we can reach you.

OP I don't blame you for wanting to keep your kid home. I wish I didn't have to go into the germ factory this week. Just know that it will be unexcused absences but as long as it's not a pattern it'll be fine.

-elementary teacher

a waste of two days, to be honest

few kids
little content

I'm reviewing, but that's it.

- HS teacher

Another HS teacher here. Jealous of friends who work in FCPS. So many kids are absent, total waste of time, and finals start pretty much immediately when we get back. Ridiculous.