Totally agree with PP. Once in a DCPS there are rules for absences, if they are excused or unexcused. Once they hit the magic number, then it is mandated to report it. If it is not reported someone at the school gets in trouble, loses pay, or even gets fired. Agree with the policy or not, you need to respect the letter of the law.

She shouldn't have taken him out of school for so long. This wasn't an extra day off to go skiing. This was 20 days, and she should have made other arrangements.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did the Brent principal file the papers? This is ridiculous.

It is notable that Brent's principal, Young, is not commenting in his article: his job is at stake if he throws his masters under the bus. Salmanowitz is a hack -- and she's not commenting how the referral was made, who processed it, what lawyer reviewed the case before filing the complaint, on down the line. Complete a-hol-ery going on here. I don't see enough to blame the principal, without any statement from him, at all.

You don't? You really cannot fathom that the person in charge is ultimately responsible? Seriously, this is not obvious to you?

OSSE should go after the legions of parents in high at-risk population schools in wards 7 and 8 who bring their kids 2-3 hours late to school, if at all, and rack up 30-40 absences, or more, each year. A few miles but worlds away from Brent on the Hill. Those kids are struggling mightily just to read at basic levels and the govt turns a blind eye so when a white single mom collects the classwork and emails the principal in advance of her second international adoption, THIS is a tragedy worthy of our court system? and the guns go firing. So backwards, DC and OSSE. The net that failed Relisha Rudd isn't doing any better to protect kids when these sorts of stories come out - and the true stories of homeless, neglected, poor children missing large percentages of school years remain untold.

Anonymous wrote:Bring it! In the last couple of years, I have taken my youngest out of school for his siblings college graduations and when his brothers (both of them) got home from Afghanistan. He is in AAP and makes excellent grades. I would LOVE to see them charge me with neglect.

A couple of years ago a vision screening found a problem with my daughter's eye sight. I was very glad they caught it and of course immediately took her to the optometrist where she was examined and given prescription glasses. The school (this was in North Carolina) demanded a note from the optometrist to prove she had been seen. I refused. They threatened to call CPS. I told them I would wait while they called.

School systems need to back the fuck out of parenting issues.

Ha! I would plan a school dance or potluck with you anytime!

I don't know if this strategy would have worked for the woman in the article, but I would like to remind everyone that in DC parents have the right to homeschool (and travelschool).

If you plan to pull your child out of school for an extended trip, and you attend your DCPS by right, just notify OSSE of you intent to homeschool at least 15 days prior to withdrawing your child using the following form:

http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/District%20of%20Columbia%20%20Homeschool%20Notification%20Form_0.pdf

Do your best to keep your child caught up with whatever his classmates will be learning while you are away, and when you get back, re-enroll your child in DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is insane. He should be fired.

No. He's been a great principal and provided needed continuity.

Not a fan. I've met him twice and found him completely rude.

He lacks discernment.

Anonymous wrote:This is insane. He should be fired.

No. He's been a great principal and provided needed continuity.

The columnist put it well While no one should claim that an upper middle class family should get a free pass to pull their kids out of school just because the skiing is great in Vail, why is DC wasting its time on cases like this where the reason is compelling and a diligent parents tries to work with the school to ensure that the child keeps up with work? Indeed, by pursuing silly cases just because "they system" requires it with hardly any discretion, scarce DC resources are allocated away from the most serious cases.

On a yearly basis I take my kids out of school to travel internationally. Go ahead and tell me they learn more in school than when we give them total immersion to practice the two foreign languages they know (that we've taught them at home), that they learn more than when we teach them to use different subway systems, than when we explore the history of a foreign country in person rather than just through a book. Bullshit.

Anonymous wrote:Why did the Brent principal file the papers? This is ridiculous.

In the column, the principal comes across as a passive-aggressive bureaucratic weasley-wuss.

This is insane. He should be fired.

I wasn't sympathetic with the last case, butthis is crazy. And if this is how much trouble an upper-middle-class family with know how has, can you imagine a poor, black single mom who had to pull her kid out so she could travel to another state for 3 weeks to care for a dying family member?

I don't think it's notable that he is not commenting. He is probably trying not to dig his hole any deeper. He went back on his word to the parent.