Anonymous wrote:I don't think an absence should be excused just because your child is an elite athelete. It's an absence whether your kid play rec or is gunning for the Olympics. My kid plays a sport on a national level and many of his peers homeschool. We chose to keep him in public school, which means he takes the absences or choses not to compete in some events. That's the way it should work. If you don't like it, there are other options for young elite atheletes.

What do you mean "takes the absences"? You mean that your high schooler is okay taking the major grade hit when they're not allowed to make up a test that they missed and are given a zero?

I coach a sport with one major competition per year. The kids need to miss 3-4 days of school once a year for the competition. I figure if they school board is happy to feature the team when they do well at competition, it's sufficiently important that it should get an excused absence. The kids need to do the leg work to give teachers notice and make up any work. We do our best to schedule travel to minimize missed school.

If the lack of having an honor society checkbox is concerning you, colleges will care much more about being a nationally ranked figure skater with a high GPA (that would have gotten them into the honor society) than another dime a dozen honor society listing in the application form.

Where it can hurt is that the teachers are not obligated to give you a makeup test or work if the absence is unexcused. I’ve never seen that really happen though.

I don't think an absence should be excused just because your child is an elite athelete. It's an absence whether your kid play rec or is gunning for the Olympics. My kid plays a sport on a national level and many of his peers homeschool. We chose to keep him in public school, which means he takes the absences or choses not to compete in some events. That's the way it should work. If you don't like it, there are other options for young elite atheletes.

It's super weird if you're successful at the competition and have to come back and claim that you weren't there winning or placing at Nationals just so you can make up a missed test.

Thanks for the replies. I’m not sure how much it matters.. but it’s my understanding that for some of the honors societies, you cannot have more than (one or two?) unexcused absences & stay in the honor society.

It also could matter if there’s a test that that day…. If the absence is unexcused, a teacher isn’t required to let the kid make up the test, right?

It’s unexcused. But you can lie.

Why does it matter so much if it’s excused or unexcused?

The figure skaters I know send some letter from USA Figure Skating about the competition to the school. Of course with all that written info the school would t want to say it is excused. Be vague. Appointment. Whatever. And don’t deal with having to get into it with them.

APS did not count this as an excused absence for my friend's daughter, even with the USFS letter. Better to be vague - so what if it is a bad example. If the school is going to be inflexible, that is what they get.

There is some line too about discretion of principal so you get different answers at different schools.

The figure skaters I know send some letter from USA Figure Skating about the competition to the school. Of course with all that written info the school would t want to say it is excused. Be vague. Appointment. Whatever. And don’t deal with having to get into it with them.

“Chronic absenteeism” is for the poors the way that some parents talk about getting away from school excused with their privileged snowflake kids for frivolous reasons.

Here’s an idea: take the unexcused absence like the champ your kid is.

19:09 again and before people tell me I’m setting a bad example by telling a lie, here is the official definition of an appointment. “an arrangement to meet someone at a particular time and place.” A tournament could be classified as this.

I put down “appointment” as the reason for all tournaments. I never list the type of appointment and they never ask if it’s medical or something else. They have been excused. Not APS but another district.

My friend's daughter is in APS high school and competes in figure skating. Her school would not give her an excused absence to compete in nationals.

Not APS, but a friend with a skater in FCPS always combined competition trips with a "college visit," which was excused.

No one cares about absences, excused or unexcused, in 2024. Not the HS, not colleges, and definitely not students or parents

Of course it’s unexcused

I assume if a kid misses school for, say, a swim (non-school) meet, it is unexcused?

I think that’s what the rules say, but what is your experience with this in APS high schools (if you gave the real reason for the absence)?

They gave my kid an excused absence for this in MS, but not sure if that was the norm.