Anonymous wrote:They do?

Loudoun has arrested a mom recently for truancy laws. http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/article_dd93fc32-4870-11e1-b8a4-001871e3ce6c.html

As long as my child was on track I would not hesitate to pull them out of schoo, ESPECIALLY in elementary school.

My daughter is in FCPS kindergarten. I wouldn't have the slightest hesitation about taking her out for two weeks in November.

The school attendance policy says that they must withdraw any student who has 15 straight days of unexcused absences, so I would worry about that with a three week trip.

They do?

Don't they arrest parents in VA for this type of absence?

Anonymous wrote:OP, pursue whatever means you need to pursue to get this approved. A trip to SE Asia will trump Kindergarten! Good god, people take K so seriously now. It's not rocket science, or at least, it shouldn't be. K is for learning how to be in school. Do you really think there is a single thing on the curriculum for K that a trip like this won't trump?

School is critical, yes. But, family is more important than meeting the letter of every overarching, overreaching "regulation" put down by the school board. Sorry, but I'd be on an airplane.

lol. OP here. I feel the same way. I really want DC to go.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about VA, but in MD we withdraw kids from school who are out for 3 weeks and reenroll them when they return. That is a really long time to be out of school, but you can do it if you want.

Are you school admin in MD?

OP, pursue whatever means you need to pursue to get this approved. A trip to SE Asia will trump Kindergarten! Good god, people take K so seriously now. It's not rocket science, or at least, it shouldn't be. K is for learning how to be in school. Do you really think there is a single thing on the curriculum for K that a trip like this won't trump?

School is critical, yes. But, family is more important than meeting the letter of every overarching, overreaching "regulation" put down by the school board. Sorry, but I'd be on an airplane.

I don't know about VA, but in MD we withdraw kids from school who are out for 3 weeks and reenroll them when they return. That is a really long time to be out of school, but you can do it if you want.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Due to jet lag (12 hours time difference), it takes DC almost a week to adjust to the time change. A one week trip would be a waste really. By the time DC adjusts, it's time to fly back here and re-adjust for another week.

Oh, sorry. My son doesn't get jet lag (I do), so I didn't take that into consideration.

Thanks. Due to jet lag (12 hours time difference), it takes DC almost a week to adjust to the time change. A one week trip would be a waste really. By the time DC adjusts, it's time to fly back here and re-adjust for another week.

My husband's family lives in the middle east. We go together, but due to personal obligations here, my son and I often stay a much shorter amount of time and fly back alone. That might be an option. Obviously it's not ideal. But I'm just putting it out there in case it's something you want to consider.

Thanks for the link. The wedding is Nov 2.

You might have better luck in the Virginia school forum. This link says extended absences for family trips are typically not excused, but I'm sure things are handled on a case-by-case basis.

http://www.fcps.edu/dss/ips/ssaw/attendance/faqs.pdf

My child is in kindergarten right now, and one other child missed a week for a family trip to France (they are French). I don't know the reason for the trip. But the week-long absence didn't seem to hurt too much at the beginning of the year. Two or three weeks might be a different story. Is any of the planned trip near the Thanksgiving holiday?

My BIL is getting married next November (2013) and the wedding is in South East Asia. DC enrolls in VA public school next year (kindergarden). Can I pull her out of school for 2 weeks (or even 3 weeks) in November? I am not familar with the school policies. I'm guessing these types of absences are not the "approved" kind are they? Does anyone know what the scope is? Thanks.