Attendance policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what’s the consequences? They actually will arrest you if the kids is absent for more than 5 days?

If absent for 10 consecutive days, your kid can be unenrolled from MCPS. Which means you'll have to go through all of the paperwork of reenrolling them again if that happens.

It also means if you don't reenroll them or enroll them either in homeschool or private school, you could get in trouble with the state and then yes, get arrested for child neglect.

It's 15 consecutive days.

That's because the policy change is new for this year. MCPS is cracking down. Principals are stating that 10 absences or more can result in a student being automatically withdrawn.

See this message from Clarksburg High School's principal this month as proof: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/clarksburghs/news-index/2023/september/principals-weekly-message-09.11.2023/#:~:text=It%20is%20important%20to%20note,students%20and%20families%20to%20understand.

It is important to note that any student who has 10 or more unexcused absences from school may be automatically withdrawn from an MCPS school. This is a significant change for MCPS and important for all students and families to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what’s the consequences? They actually will arrest you if the kids is absent for more than 5 days?

If absent for 10 consecutive days, your kid can be unenrolled from MCPS. Which means you'll have to go through all of the paperwork of reenrolling them again if that happens.

It also means if you don't reenroll them or enroll them either in homeschool or private school, you could get in trouble with the state and then yes, get arrested for child neglect.

Not always. We did this a few times for vacation in elementary and it was never an issue.

It's a new day. MCPS is cracking down this year because of the chronic absenteeism problems. Keep up with the news.

No one really cares.

Apparently you do, cause you're in this forum engaging on this topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what’s the consequences? They actually will arrest you if the kids is absent for more than 5 days?

If absent for 10 consecutive days, your kid can be unenrolled from MCPS. Which means you'll have to go through all of the paperwork of reenrolling them again if that happens.

It also means if you don't reenroll them or enroll them either in homeschool or private school, you could get in trouble with the state and then yes, get arrested for child neglect.

You aren’t going to get arrested for child neglect. B

Ok. Do what you want with your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What, you don't want to pay $100 to sit in a waiting room with a bunch of even sicker people for 4 hours? Where is your sense of adventure?

Urgent care is like $20-$25 with most insurance. And if you make an appointment, you won’t wait 4 hours.

DP. That it costs $25 and might be faster is there is still no reason to be there, except MCPS’s excessively fastidious administrative BS. That’s a fairly terrible basis for any additional use pressure on the health care system we have going in this country rn.

I thought the email said it was a STATE law in which case your argument is with MD not MCPS.

+1
Came here to say this. At the state level they have reduced the number of days absent to unenroll a student (10) and made that mandatory. They are also pressuring school systems to enforce existing laws around absences. Statewide, absences and truancy are up significantly and it’s a concern.

Some parents have their kids out of school for many days in a row when they should be in school, and then just say the child was sick. Vacations are a big issue. But also parents having their own issues and wanting the kid to stay home even when they are not sick. Not every family is as functional as yours, OP. You are complaining about a scenario that hasn’t even happened to you yet. When it does, either get your note with a telehealth visit or be prepared for the school to want to talk to you about it. Honestly, they aren’t going to care when it’s the one time all year you kid was out. But when you’ve racked up 20 absences before winter break, they are legally required to have a conversation with you about it.

The requirement to be in school is not too high in Maryland. We were told that a student is marked ¨present¨ if they are in class for at least 6 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion but I think it's incredibly valuable for immigrant children to get a chance to visit their home country and practice a different language than English. They will learn far more doing that than they will sitting in a classroom. It's an actively good thing when that happens imo.

If they’re here for asylum doesn’t mean it was too dangerous to be in their home countries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what’s the consequences? They actually will arrest you if the kids is absent for more than 5 days?

If absent for 10 consecutive days, your kid can be unenrolled from MCPS. Which means you'll have to go through all of the paperwork of reenrolling them again if that happens.

It also means if you don't reenroll them or enroll them either in homeschool or private school, you could get in trouble with the state and then yes, get arrested for child neglect.

It's 15 consecutive days.

they changed it to 10 this year.

[Anonymous]

Requiring a doctors note is done to avoid absences, because some schools receive none based on how many students are present. Our school requires one for more than 2 consecutive days.

I just wrote to the doctor for a note and he gave me one without even seeing my son. It just said the child was unable to attend school during some dates. I’m sure if you don’t send any note, there will be no consequence.

Not sure why this is such a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion but I think it's incredibly valuable for immigrant children to get a chance to visit their home country and practice a different language than English. They will learn far more doing that than they will sitting in a classroom. It's an actively good thing when that happens imo.

If they’re here for asylum doesn’t mean it was too dangerous to be in their home countries?

is your understanding that every immigrant kid in MCPS is seeking asylum? I don’t think that is accurate at all.

[Anonymous]

So you are unenrolled and come back 3 weeks later and re enroll...carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the crackdown is in response to families who travel abroad for long trips to visit family.

Curious how this will play out.

This isn’t new.

Sigh.

The travel and absences aren’t new, but mcps is taking a hardline on absences this year…which is new.

Literally every teacher at back to school night had talking points on it. Plus a video from the principal.

There’s a long thread in this forum foreshadowing this hardline. Remember the chronic absenteeism discussion?

Another new bit: if you have 10 unexcused absences, you will unenrolled.

Like a pp said: this hardline isn’t for the “good” people. But I think it’s bizarre to take a hardline with good students when the real issue is immigrant families or others who disappear for weeks/months on end to travel abroad and the very real issue of unaccompanied Latinos or other boys who aren’t interested in school.

I think/hope? It’s a tactic to unenroll troublemakers.

It’s just frustrating that if my kid tests positive for covid I’ll need to take them to the doctor and essentially pay for a note to excuse their absence.

I for one am glad that MCPS doesn't have one policy for the "good kids" and another for the immigrants.

Sigh.

Obviously.

The point is the good parents will worry about this and take steps to comply, but the others will continue to give Zero Fs.

And then what?

Will those kids be unenrolled?

Doubt it.

The schools will chase down the good families and bend over backwards to accommodate or turn a blind eye to the real truants.

We already see this in the more affluent schools where kids from good families get harsher penalties than those from bad family situations. An example from a middle school a few years ago: white kid and nonwhite kid get into a tussle during lunch. White kid who was the victim and had never been in trouble at school was suspended while nonwhite kid who was routinely in trouble got in-school detention…which meant nothing. The reason given: his parents aren’t involved and he’ll just goof off at home. No real ramifications. Was back in class almost immediately.

Sounds like different policies, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the crackdown is in response to families who travel abroad for long trips to visit family.

Curious how this will play out.

This isn’t new.

Sigh.

The travel and absences aren’t new, but mcps is taking a hardline on absences this year…which is new.

Literally every teacher at back to school night had talking points on it. Plus a video from the principal.

There’s a long thread in this forum foreshadowing this hardline. Remember the chronic absenteeism discussion?

Another new bit: if you have 10 unexcused absences, you will unenrolled.

Like a pp said: this hardline isn’t for the “good” people. But I think it’s bizarre to take a hardline with good students when the real issue is immigrant families or others who disappear for weeks/months on end to travel abroad and the very real issue of unaccompanied Latinos or other boys who aren’t interested in school.

I think/hope? It’s a tactic to unenroll troublemakers.

It’s just frustrating that if my kid tests positive for covid I’ll need to take them to the doctor and essentially pay for a note to excuse their absence.

I for one am glad that MCPS doesn't have one policy for the "good kids" and another for the immigrants.

Sigh.

Obviously.

The point is the good parents will worry about this and take steps to comply, but the others will continue to give Zero Fs.

And then what?

Will those kids be unenrolled?

Doubt it.

The schools will chase down the good families and bend over backwards to accommodate or turn a blind eye to the real truants.

We already see this in the more affluent schools where kids from good families get harsher penalties than those from bad family situations. An example from a middle school a few years ago: white kid and nonwhite kid get into a tussle during lunch. White kid who was the victim and had never been in trouble at school was suspended while nonwhite kid who was routinely in trouble got in-school detention…which meant nothing. The reason given: his parents aren’t involved and he’ll just goof off at home. No real ramifications. Was back in class almost immediately.

Sounds like different policies, no?

Nice job! "white kid" = "good families" and "nonwhite kid" = "bad family situations"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the crackdown is in response to families who travel abroad for long trips to visit family.

Curious how this will play out.

This isn’t new.

Sigh.

The travel and absences aren’t new, but mcps is taking a hardline on absences this year…which is new.

Literally every teacher at back to school night had talking points on it. Plus a video from the principal.

There’s a long thread in this forum foreshadowing this hardline. Remember the chronic absenteeism discussion?

Another new bit: if you have 10 unexcused absences, you will unenrolled.

Like a pp said: this hardline isn’t for the “good” people. But I think it’s bizarre to take a hardline with good students when the real issue is immigrant families or others who disappear for weeks/months on end to travel abroad and the very real issue of unaccompanied Latinos or other boys who aren’t interested in school.

I think/hope? It’s a tactic to unenroll troublemakers.

It’s just frustrating that if my kid tests positive for covid I’ll need to take them to the doctor and essentially pay for a note to excuse their absence.

Doctor's notes for extended absences has always been the case in my experience in MCPS. Why are people acting like this policy of expecting a doctor's note for extended absences is brand new and therefore unreasonable?

It’s doctors notes and cumulative absences…10.

If your kid gets covid plus a couple other illnesses during the year, you’ll need multiple notes and try to get as many absences excused.

Sometimes grandma dies. Sometimes your older brother is graduating from college out of state. Sometimes your family takes a vacation and leaves a day or two before the holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion but I think it's incredibly valuable for immigrant children to get a chance to visit their home country and practice a different language than English. They will learn far more doing that than they will sitting in a classroom. It's an actively good thing when that happens imo.

If they’re here for asylum doesn’t mean it was too dangerous to be in their home countries?

Yes, the vast majority of the immigrants are not legitimate asylum seekers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the crackdown is in response to families who travel abroad for long trips to visit family.

Curious how this will play out.

This isn’t new.

Sigh.

The travel and absences aren’t new, but mcps is taking a hardline on absences this year…which is new.

Literally every teacher at back to school night had talking points on it. Plus a video from the principal.

There’s a long thread in this forum foreshadowing this hardline. Remember the chronic absenteeism discussion?

Another new bit: if you have 10 unexcused absences, you will unenrolled.

Like a pp said: this hardline isn’t for the “good” people. But I think it’s bizarre to take a hardline with good students when the real issue is immigrant families or others who disappear for weeks/months on end to travel abroad and the very real issue of unaccompanied Latinos or other boys who aren’t interested in school.

I think/hope? It’s a tactic to unenroll troublemakers.

It’s just frustrating that if my kid tests positive for covid I’ll need to take them to the doctor and essentially pay for a note to excuse their absence.

Doctor's notes for extended absences has always been the case in my experience in MCPS. Why are people acting like this policy of expecting a doctor's note for extended absences is brand new and therefore unreasonable?

It’s doctors notes and cumulative absences…10.

If your kid gets covid plus a couple other illnesses during the year, you’ll need multiple notes and try to get as many absences excused.

Sometimes grandma dies. Sometimes your older brother is graduating from college out of state. Sometimes your family takes a vacation and leaves a day or two before the holiday.

Well, maybe if your kid gets sick a lot, you won't be able to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion but I think it's incredibly valuable for immigrant children to get a chance to visit their home country and practice a different language than English. They will learn far more doing that than they will sitting in a classroom. It's an actively good thing when that happens imo.

Your opinion is not supported by any kind of data. And they have 185 days per year for enriching travel. Kids who start way behind and expect to be functional in our society need to be in their chairs in school.