Letter from principal - excessive absences (FCPS)

[Anonymous]

Busy roads don't matter.

I think this is incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Fcps has a very large no bussing zone for elementary. I think it is 1.5 miles. Busy roads don't matter.

both of these are incorrect. Sounds like your child should be a walker. Or, you need to contact transportation and get him on a bus. NO excuse for your KR tardies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP, of course, I am concerned about her education. What do you mean, what am I doing? I am taking her to the dr and trying to get her well. I am going to schedule surgery for goodness sake. We spend weekends doing homework. What else can I do pray tell?

You can pick up and be sure she turns in absolutely all homework. You can ask each teacher how she is fairing and include that with your note. You can be sure she is reading at least 20 minutes a day in addition to homework. No homework - she could work on 3rd grade abcmouse.com for science and math.

[Anonymous]

OP,

What does your daughter do when she is sick? Does she lay on the sofa or stay in bed? Does she read or watch tv. How much screen time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

What does your daughter do when she is sick? Does she lay on the sofa or stay in bed? Does she read or watch tv. How much screen time?

I'm OP. Dd lays on the sofa all day when she is sick, and when she is sick, she is too ill to do homework. We have a meeting with the screening committee right after Spring break, and we will hash all of this stuff out with the school at that point. I have been in communication with the teacher, and we do our best to turn in all homework. Not all of it has been completed due to sickness. It is hard to catch up when you are out sick because new homework is assigned every single day as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP,

What does your daughter do when she is sick? Does she lay on the sofa or stay in bed? Does she read or watch tv. How much screen time?

I'm OP. Dd lays on the sofa all day when she is sick, and when she is sick, she is too ill to do homework. We have a meeting with the screening committee right after Spring break, and we will hash all of this stuff out with the school at that point. I have been in communication with the teacher, and we do our best to turn in all homework. Not all of it has been completed due to sickness. It is hard to catch up when you are out sick because new homework is assigned every single day as well.

That is exactly the point. OP, no one is saying your child shouldn't have gotten sick, or should have gone to school sick. But the reality is, she's missed a lot of school. It's good that you've got meetings set up and that they're working with you to address this.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Is your child staying home when she just doesn't feel well? Doesn't have a fever? If so, I'd make her stay in bed with books--no computer or tv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

Is your child staying home when she just doesn't feel well? Doesn't have a fever? If so, I'd make her stay in bed with books--no computer or tv.

This is OP, my dd is staying at home when she has strep symptoms and a positive strep test. She gets so sick from strep that she can barely walk and just wants to lie down and sleep. When we went in for her latest strep infection, she was so sick, that the nurse escorting us back asked what happened because she looked so ill. For the first day or two, she is laying on the couch sleeping most of the time. When the antibiotics start to work, she will be up a little more. She has missed about 2-3 days of school for each strep infection plus 2 weeks off for a very bad virus during the Fall.

[Anonymous]

That is alot of school missed for sure. However, this is NOT the first time the school has dealt with this i'm sure. There are tons of cases of mono each year where children are out for up to one month. The teachers, and counselors WILL work with parents and students to catch up on missed work and set up alternative assignments if need be.

Don't be afraid to ask for alternatives to completing the same amount of work the rest of the class completed IN school during the days missed. Also when surgery is scheudled maybe you can ask for assignments before she goes out for surgery so she can work ahead a bit ofr the stuff missed. She may have to work through some weekends and spring break comming up but it can be done. Best of luck with the surgery!

[Anonymous]

OP,

How far behind is she? Would you consider having her repeat the year? If she has missed over 22 days of school--that's a lot-if she is not able to do her work at home.

[Anonymous]

Omg! Chill! School screwed up when they didn't advise parent of an at home teacher as child was entitled to one. As for repeating the grade, do not do this. Kid will be fine. It's 3rd grade!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg! Chill! School screwed up when they didn't advise parent of an at home teacher as child was entitled to one. As for repeating the grade, do not do this. Kid will be fine. It's 3rd grade!!!

Seriously. I can't believe how over-reactive some people are being. And the condescension and disdain from some of the pp's is unbelievable. Ops child is not the only child to miss that many days in third grade! Is it common? Maybe not, but not the end of the world either! Relax people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dd (in 3rd grade) was sick in the Fall for 2 weeks with a virus (many others in her class were as well). Then starting around mid-January, she has had one case of strep after the other, and had four cases of strep total. Her absences have been 22. In each strep case, she experienced symptoms, fever, headache, etc., and her strep was diagnosed at the dr or urgent care.

We received a letter from the principal expressing concern over her excessive absences, and it said that he was concerned about the impact on her education.

The letter did not ask for a response, but it seems like I should respond? What would you do? I could send evidence of her strep tests to document why she has been absent?

We have an ENT appointment scheduled, and we are considering removing her tonsils. It seems like that might help, but that is not going to help with the past absences.

I once got a call on my son's fourth day out for a severe sinus infection which was causing him to vomit daily (yes, he was on antibiotics). I told them I'd be glad to send him but not to call me when he pukes on his desk.

Never got another letter like it again.

Short answer - legitimate illnesses result in absences. Doctor's note will shut them up. If it doesn't, ask them if they would like to discuss it with your lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not questioning your decisions, but two weeks out for any illness that didn't require hospitalization is a long time.

Actually, it's called good parenting.

The kid is in third grade. I don't think it will impact her life 20 years from now.

[Anonymous]

OP:

Call the school and ask about homebound services. Generally these services are provided for children who have to miss 20 or more consecutive days of school, but can be provided for intermitten absences due to relapses.

http://www.fcps.edu/dss/ips/nontraditional-schools/homebound-homebased/