Reply to Chronic Absenteeism in APS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I work at one of the schools mentioned and parents are not keeping their kids home due to illness. We have kids that should be home they are so sick with horrific coughs etc, but are sent anyway. [b]They are missing school due to long weekend trips and vacations. [/b]No one thinks twice about having their kid miss school for that reason. Not sure what the solution is because an unexcused absence doesn’t scare anyone into changing the behavior. [/quote]

At my N. Arlington elementary (which is lower on this list, but absenteeism is up), it's this.  People out for vacations like crazy, often leveraging the many partial days/holidays.  One parent I was talking to at pickup was floored that she'd gotten a letter from the school about their absenteeism - they're constantly on vacation!  [/quote]

I will be pulling my kids the Monday — Wednesday the week before Christmas. In any given year in ES, we pulled five days for a vacation in February. Now with one in MS, we haven’t but will for that week so we can visit both sides of the family. But if mine were still in ES I’d be much more likely to pull them. COVID showed us how little is done each week. [/quote]

[b]I also think the new calendar with a ton of holidays off doesn’t help.[/b] It sends the message that education isn’t always a priority. [/quote]
This makes sense. Parents like to take advantage of long weekends and it's easy to rationalize that missing one day is no big deal.
However, this seems a logical contributing factor to overall absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism would mean the same kid is taking an extended break on all those holidays.[/quote]

What message do you think it sends to kids, their classmates, and their teachers when parents pull them "out for vacations like crazy" as noted earlier? I think the message is clear: school isn't a priority. Along with the individual learning a child misses, I wonder if parents realize how a child's absence affects a classroom's ecosystem. Many times, a lot of learning takes place among students themselves -- during group work or projects for instance. Absences cause such a hassle for teachers. It takes time to manage make-up work and help the child get caught up on concepts and learning.... It's a major time suck. Multiply that by 5 or 6 kids and that's hours.

As a matter of respect for the teacher, classmates, and the institution of school itself, don't parents have a responsibility to ensure their kids are in class?

This article talks about the reasons for the absentee crisis and how to address it: [b]https://raisingamericans.substack.com/p/realcleareducation-why-american-students[/b]

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