Anonymous wrote:Don't say u are on a trip. Just call in and say KID won't be in today. I never give the reason when my kid is out, even if my child is sick. I just say X won't be in Mrs Ys class today.

I have difficulty believing this. They always ask at our school. They need to put it down as excused or unexcused.
If you are going on vacation and let them assume it is an excused, you are engaging in dishonesty.

I don't think anyone is concerned about it going on their permanent record in elementary school. It's getting the call/visit from a truancy officer after 5 of them that most people don't want to hassle with. I wouldn't want to take time off work to deal with it if the reason was my own vacation planning. But then again, if I just build that into my vacation planning, I'm guess I'm good to go.

Anonymous wrote:Oh no! An unexcused absence in elementary school!

Is it...gasp...going to go on her permanent record!?!?

not sure, but you shouldn't lie to the school. Just acknowledge you are choosing to go on vacation instead of attending school.

Oh no! An unexcused absence in elementary school!

Is it...gasp...going to go on her permanent record!?!?

I know opinions on this subject vary, but going on vacation is not an excused absence.

16:06 again - I should say the form doesn't exist at our school. Maybe other schools haven't gotten in trouble over it yet.

Our school got in trouble for allowing people to fill out a form to get an excused absence during a vacation. They changed the rules this year due to pressure from the central office and you can no longer get an excused absence for vacation. The form doesn't even exist this year.

If you fill out the required forms in advance, a vacation can be an excused absence. Ask about the forms in the office at your child's school.

Anonymous wrote:From the link that was posted....

Excused Absences

An excused absence is one for which parents or guardians have prior knowledge, consent, and/or a legitimate reason.

c'mon. call the school and say we are taking a vacation while school is in session and see if they give you an excused absence.

From the link that was posted....

Excused Absences

An excused absence is one for which parents or guardians have prior knowledge, consent, and/or a legitimate reason.

13:05 - I think the link you provided is just for Fairfax County, but the regulation is based on a state legislative requirement that applies to all schools in Virginia.

Anonymous wrote:So if a poor person can't get their kid to school shame on them but if you are rich it's OK.

Along these lines, there are the parents who say, 'my kid is so smart so missing school is not a problem'.

Poor dumb and/or poor kids have to go every day.

all the people who advocate for doing this are saying is: we are above the rules; then they pass this ethos on to their children and wonder why so many people in people in our society turn out to be sociopaths.

Yes, Fairfax County Schools (or all schools in Virginia based on the document below) consider any vacation/family trip (even with notice to the school) an UNexcused absence. Doesn't mean you can't do it (and many do), but it won't be excused.

I know some people recommend just lying or not saying, but that's not something I want to teach my child and most elementary kids will not keep quiet about a vacation anyway. If you think the vacation is more important (and I'm not saying it isn't because most of us have been there, done that), then by all means go, but please don't misinform other parents that it won't be a problem for them if they get caught up in the school bureaucracy over unexcused absences. Just because you've gotten away with it in the past or your school didn't follow the notification rules, doesn't mean the won't start enforcing them now.

See http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/8KSQJE6808AC/$file/R2234.pdf

It's better trying not to miss too many school days. We travelled to Italy during a winter break and DC missed three school-days. It was not a big deal but later on, DC complained that the desk drawer at school was full of papers and school work when DC came back. Last summer we travelled to Asia for three weeks even though the ticket price is more than $1,800 a piece. Everyone was happy.