Reply to Chronic Absenteeism in APS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think a lot of the chronic absenteeism is concentrated on the families that have more food and housing insecurity and generally less means. Our option elementary school is more diverse regarding these factors versus a neighborhood school and the principal continues to talk about attendance pretty much every time she talks about anything. At this point I've shared with others I wish she would move on and talk about something else because parents either get that attendance is important, or they don't and have heard other parents comment as much.  Since it's an immersion school, a lot of the meetings have Spanish English translation, and they go ON AND ON about it when they are doing the Spanish translation. At one meeting they said it in English - attending school is important - and then in Spanish they gave several examples "if your kid tells you they are tired, they still need to come to school" which was a bit surprising for me that it needs to be said, but I guess not everyone has the same background that education is important, and schools were closed for a year and a half....[/quote]

or the schools are clueless and just think that saying attendance is important will solve the problem when it clearly does not. [/quote]

What else can the school really do?[/quote]

Just telling families that attendance is important is clearly not working. Look at the FCPS Superintendent's statement. A lot of the absenteeism is due to actual illness. Schools could certainly do a lot more to promote healthy school environments that don't spread disease. [/quote]

[b]People say their kids are sick because it’s an excused absence.[/b] If you are pulling data the day is officially recorded as illness. Were they actually sick? Maybe yes, maybe no. [/quote]

Whenever my kids were absent they were "sick" regardless of whether they actually were or not. [/quote]

+1. The schools get on some sort of weird power trip about this. Once I picked my DD up early from HS, and said she had an appt. The office secretary rudely demanded my DD come back with a "note from the doctor" the following day or the absence would be marked "unexcused." Well, we didn't and the absence was still "excused." But ever since then, I just say they are sick even if they aren't. Its none of the school's business - I don't even think they should ask. [/quote]

If a parent is signing them out, I agree that it shouldn't matter for what. If, however, the parent is pulling them out excessively, resulting in too many inconveniences for the teacher or the class or too much disruption to the child's learning and progress, the school should be having some conversations with the parents.[/quote]

Of course it's the school's business why you are taking them out of school. There is literally a law for compulsory school attendance and there are reasons that count for school absences and reasons that don't. The entitlement of parents never ceases to amaze me. [/quote]

I just believe that if the parent is "excusing" their child's absence, the school should accept that. Except in the types of instances I noted above. There are things, worthwhile experiences, that I believe it's ok for students to miss a half day or a day for that the school does not accept as official excused absences. And if the student is keeping up with their work, not holding a group project up or otherwise interfering with instruction, parental permission should be sufficient for the absence to be "excused" v. "unexcused."

I'm not arguing that excessive absences are ok. Geez. Like I stated, if you read my comments thoroughly, if a parent is pulling a student out excessively, the school should be having a conversation with them.[/quote]

No sorry, the school is more than [b]entitled to ask for documentation to make sure there is a real reason for the absence. [/b][/quote]

I fall very much on the side of kids should be in school unless there is a really good reason to be absent, but I don't follow your logic in the bolded.  Has a vested interest in ensuring students are ok, are tasked with the responsibility to ensure students are ok, sure.  But entitled?  [/quote]

Sure it's the law, sorry you don't like it.[/quote]

I never said I didn't like it.  I said I didn't understand why you say schools are [b]entitled [/b] to ask for documentation.  Please share the citation.[/quote]

go look it up yourself, there is a compulsory attendance law and the schools have to enforce it [/quote]

But unless the behavior is really really egregious, they don’t. Missing a week for a family trip or taking a few “mental health days” a month isn’t going to get their attention. [/quote]

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