I can't believe this! I recieved a very nice congratulation letter stating that my son made the honor roll! The very next day, I recieve what I feel was a threatening letter, stating he has too many "unexcused absenses"
He is in the 6th grade, and has been getting "A"s on all his grades.
The letter said he had missed 4 days the first marking period, and 4 in the second marking period. (Total of 8 days in first semester)
The letter also stated that if he missed one more day, the truant officer will be sent to my home, and charges filed with the state. It also stated that the child may be retained in the present grade.
I was told in the letter that the following are considered as "unexcused" absences:

"Sick without a doctors note"
"Family vacations"

My son missed two days due to a family beureavement (which I called the school to make them aware), two days (were actually only half days) when he went on vacation with his mom, and the rest of the time he was at home with me and sick.

Anytime he is going to be absent, I always call the school and make them aware. I also write notes. Apparently this is not good enough for them!

I was able to correct the 2 beureavement days by writting them a letter and telling them I'll bring in the death certificate if they are that insensitive! I was also able to correct a few "sick" days by providing a doctor's note (for the ones where he saw a doctor).

I asked them "What about the days where he is too sick to attend school, but not sick enough to warrant a doctors visit? I was told that I should bring him to school and let the nurse make that call. Is this ridiculos or what? When did we lose the right as a parents to judge when our children are sick enough to stay home? Our phone calls and notes are not good enough?
How can they justify keeping a straight "A" honor roll student back a grade? Obviously he had not missed much in his absence, and he was sick and could not control that.
I don't agree with the vacation policy either. Why is a student who is doing great, punished by spending 2 days with his family?
Don't get me wrong. I realize the importance of a good education, but I think they are way out of line here. They also don't realize that a few days of vacation can broaden ones horizons, and give them a fresh outlook on things! There are things to be learned outside of school too!
I'm starting to think it has something to do with money. They recieve a certain amount from the state per student, provided they attend a certain amount of days. There must be some reason for their madness!
This has my blood boiling. I've gotten nowhere talking to the school administrators. They tell me they don't write the policies, only enforce them. My next stop will be "open to the public" portion of the Board of Education meetings!

 

That is pretty sad. Sounds like you need to make a strong bid for some position that helps direct school policies. Maybe you could inject some "common sense" into the system.

 

Geez, so now the schools are the arbiters of whether our kids are too sick to go to school or not?! I always figured every parent could tell when their child was sick and wouldn't need the help of a "trained" professional except for severe problems, in which case I'd rather hear what my doctor has to say. Our school doesn't do this, yet, but they do have a nurse on staff to dole out prescribed medications to the kids. Sometimes the school forces the issue of requiring a child to get a prescription for drugs to keep them "manageble". Once again the parents decision making and using the doctor of their choice, is going away it seems.

Oh well the schools need to have some justification for the increased staff and infrastructure. My local school has separate campuses on the same block for : Primary School(K-2nd); Intermediate(3rd-6th); Middle(7-9th) and Highschool. Two years ago we only "needed" 3 schools, When I was a kid, you had grammar school and Highschool, but then my desh had inkwells, so I guess I am way behind the times. Now we have 4 schools all with separate staffs, cafeterias, office staff, bus routes etc. Coincidentally my property tax doubled, hmmm, cause and effect?

To top it off, I have a 2nd grader(primary) and 4th grader(Intermediate). The schools are in the same parking lot and obviously both kids come home to the same address. Makes sense that both kids would ride on the same bus with the same schedule, doesn't it? Well, not in our district. My boys ride TWO SEPARATE busses with separate routes and schedules. Wouldn't that be inefficient? Because of this, mommy(bless her) has to take the boys down separately a half hour apart to the bus stop, ditto for the return trip. What a PITA.

Schools and the bureaucracy they "require" have gotten out of hand if you ask me.

Oh well enough griping.

Jim Henderson

 

This is exactly why home schooling is becoming so popular. Public schools are now a "business" and administrators tend to run them like one. I dont have any kids, but if I did, home schooling would deffinatly be an option I would concider.

Nathan

 

Kenny, you have the issue pegged correctly. Their biggest worry is money. When you are dealing with the school, don't talk to anyone beneath the superintendant. Talking to the rest of them is pointless. Before you talk to the Board, see if some of the other parents have had similar problems. Do you have any private school or homeschool options where you live ? If you and a few other parents approached the board with the threat of pulling your children out and sending them elsewhere, you will be amazed at the accomedations you can get from them. I'm thinking your son was probably absent on one of the days when your State was taking attendance to deciede how much money your son's school would get. Keep in mind these people work for you, it is their job to do what you need done, it is not our duty to make them happy. DF

 

 

Thanks for the responses! I found out the hard way that you won't get anywhere dealing with the "bottom rungs" on the ladder in these cases.
I figured It would look good if I went through the "proper channels" though.
I asked this clown if he goes to the doctor everytime he is sick? His reply....."I never get sick".
He also had the nerve to tell me that though I am a good parent, and obviously a concerned parent, there are more bad parents than good. Well, he aint heard the last of me!

 

Another thing. It is possible that the person responsible at the school may have some personal crusade or something going on. I'd keep moving up the chain of authority. I can't believe that everyone from the secretary clear up to the district superintendent would treat your son this badly. One of the schools I do tech work for has a principal that actually encourages spying by the students on each other, and states it like that. He actually encourages students to tell on each other. What kind of message does that give to the kids? I have no clue how he manages to get away with it.

 

Actually, the secretary was very nice to me. The principle was nice too, and also helpful to some extent, but he doesn't write the policies. We currently don't have a superintendant as he was recently let go. I have to find out who is filling in during his absence, (if anybody).

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 16-Dec-01 AT 00:34 AM (EST)]I feel for ya, really I do.

The options to public school are a private one, or homeschooling.

Homeschool to me has always seemed like a stupid option, because a lot of parents out there are crack heads and worse - so how to acredit the thing?

And even if it is done well, it is bound to be extremely labor intensive.

But the alternative is to see your offspring, the "hope of the Future" turned on to CRACK, and gangsta rap, RAPE, and worse....

Yet if we do not expose our young ones to what I personally believe to be the absolute worst influences they will ever experience in their lives (young OR old) we are accused of being delinquent parents....


It calls to mind an old saying: "Who WILL watch the watchers?"

There MUST be another way.

I don't believe the state or federal governments have the right to turn our children into TRASH.


And we should not have to wait for THEIR system to change

 

Boy, you really got that nail square on the head! The modern American public shool system is no longer based upon academics, but upon MONEY!
Example: Why are so many kids on Ritalin or other behavior modifying druga based upon a school authorities recommendation? A: A child recieving behavior modifying drugs is considered, in the eyes of the LAW, to be DISABLED. And schools recieve more MONEY for a disabled student. So: the more kids who are "disabled", the more MONEY a school system gets. It's a dirty little secret they don't want you to know. We have 2 young children and intend to home school both. We are not rich (my income is 9.50/hr., my wife is home with the kids) but we feel that we cannot throw them into a system that sees them as nothing but dollar signs. Consider it.

 

You are all very right in many ways. Everyone needs to understand that it is not necessarily the school districts that pass these rules, but our own government. The government has recently asked the schools to monitor the truant students because the truency rate has increased dramatically. You would not believe the amount of students that are constantly late, and or absent (without a valid excuse). Many times a student is absent because the family decides to go on a vacation in the middle of the school year, or late because mom or dad just couldn't get them there on time (some situations are valid, many are not!). Yes, illness is about the only excuse accepted by the school as a valid absence. (And yes, it is the only one paid for.)
I agree that bereavement should be excused, but it has changed over the years. My son had to attend his Grandfathers funeral in the beginning of June last year, he had perfect attendance. The Principal would not give my student his perfect attendance certificate because, "he missed a day of school", I came undone. I actually worked for this Principal, and could not believe the lack of empathy.
As for the medication rate, don't let the schools decide whether or not your child needs medication (to control his behavior). PLEASE SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE BEFORE DOING THIS! Too many children are placed on Ritalin on the advice of Teachers and or Administrators, they do not have the knowledge necessary to determine this. They do have the skills necessary to test your child to see if they are a "Special Need" child, and can cater to their needs.
As for the money, the schools in recent years have actually been cut back on their funding, and the schools have no choice but to cut back in certain areas. They rely alot on grants and bonds for the districts. Your right, sad but true, it is a business.
A word of advice, if you have a complaint of any kind, there is usually a website for each school district, with instructions on how to file a complaint. GO DIRECTLY TO THE DISTRICT HEADS, your local school does not have much authority when it come to dealing with these issues. There are usually monthly district meetings that you can attend, and voice your opinions, use these tools!
Hope I have not bored anyone, nor have I caused any debatable issues, just some facts from someone who has seen both sides of the coin. Just remember you have a voice, and you can be heard, just use the right channels.

Thanks

Deb

 

Hey, I'm currently a Junior in high school. When i was in the Florida school system (K-9th) we had to have doctors notes, etc. Parent excuses weren't deemed permissable. If we didn't have an "excused" absence we weren't allowed to make up the work. But usually my teachers let me anyway. Here in Connecticut a parent excuse is enough but the school system is crap........half the student body gets free or reduced lunches while I pay through the nose for a crappy breakfast, or lunch (whichever i choose that day because i dont have enough money for both) I'm sorry but when burger king is cheaper than this crap, i think i'll go there and get free refills.

In florida they integrated technology more, and they controlled the kids better. They had books with covers etc..... Other things that were different was an A was 93-100 while here it is 90-100. I guess here it is better from a student perspective, but more challenging in florida. The funny thing is though my grades were better there. They also had more scientific programs and things of the such. I was involved in a science research program in middle school. It was pretty cool.

I also think that the whole process of learning is wrong. Regurgitation teaches you nothing. People need to be tought how to apply what they learn. I think school could be a lot less painful if they involved what we learned in real world applications. People need to realize, learning doesn't have to be dull and boring, neither does work. But now we have a bunch of bored stiff students (me included) who don't apply themselves. If we would start in the beginning making learning a fun process i think we would have a much better society.

Also, don't get me started on the crap we learn about history most noteably the civil war. I know this has been going on for 150 years and it needs to stop. Just because this is America, and the Union obviously did win the war, doesn't mean we have to be tought all of this propoganda still today. That war was 50/50 as far as blame goes. Neither side would compromise anything therefore we went to war. And to tell us it was all about slavery and saving the slaves on the Union side is crap. We all know that unfortunately the north's treatment of people of color was no better than the south's. Now you can't tell me a bunch of racist northern and southerners were going to give up there lives, to either keep enslaved or free a group they didn't care for? I think the southern whites would have rather lived then died, therefore would have given up slavery unless there was some underlying reason we're not taught about (being screwed with over-taxation by the north etc...) and to state that the northerners went to war to free them is twice as laughable.......Besides only 1/4 of the southern population even had slaves, most of the rest lived in poverty, some worse then the slaves. But we're not taught any of this, so this year i finally requested my teacher teach about a southern point-of-view. I think he felt like he was walking on glass seeing as most of my class is minority (doesn't that make me a minority? where's my benefits? lol jk) But he did it. I thank him very much for that because perhaps he opened up other kids' eyes. I learned a lot. But if there's one thing i think we can all agree on is that the way colored, Indian, and many other minorities in this country were treated by both sides was terrible, and thankfully now we mostly live in harmony.

One last statement in this longgggggggggggg post, IM TIRED OF EVERYONE IN MY SCHOOL/state WAVING EVERY FLAG BUT THE AMERICAN FLAG. Granted we're all proud of our heritage, but we're American's, let's act like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the long post, but if you made it this far thanks for reading, i hope what i said makes sense to someone out there!!!!!!!

 

As an added statement to my above post, I'd like to say I'm very disappointed my cousin and I were the only one's in our classes aware that it was the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack on the 7th.........What's this country coming to? I'm sorry but I've been a disgruntled student for years, but when a kid talks, adults don't tend to listen. I've been saying things need to change for some time now. Especially all the parents lieing about their income so their kids can eat free and they can support their many habits..........

 

Why do we have the government-run school system at all. At most it should be administered like any other welfare program. There are hungry folks so the government gives them food stamps, they don't make government cafeterias and tell us all to eat their--rich and poor, but this is how the school system is run. Why should someone with a $200,000 per year income send their kids to a welfare program school?

"A people whose education is controlled by the state will inevitably drift toward tolatarian control." Earle Fox, Emmaus Ministries