Question for Teachers... About This Page:

[Teresa]

I know most frown on taking kids out of school for vacations but...
DD-18 has VERY bad lungs and cannot stand Fl. summers
I made ressies for 17 at the GF 18 months ago. Today I found out that ou Parent/Teacher confrences are the week we will be gone (made ressies for Thanksgiving week so kids will only miss 2.5 days)
The school has a no pre-arranged absense policy during that time. Usually, kids absences would be unexcused but they can make up home-work, this way, there are no make-ups. there is no way we can not go (17 people).
Is there any way you can think of that I can get DD-8's teacher to let her make -up work or at least do ok. She is ordinarily a straight-A student and is very bright. [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[LilMarcieMouse]

You know I'm not a teahcer But here is some pixie dust to help with your problem. you would think they would have a heart.

[GoofyKids123]

Here's another sprinkling of Pixie Dust for you, Teresa. I think I'm going to need a little myself. I spent a considerable amount of time on my computer last night chosing the cutest Disney clipart to add to the reminders that I sent to school this morning. During orientation, I informed my DS's teachers (2nd grade & 3rd grade) that our family would be taking a trip during the first week of September. My 2nd grader's teacher was fine with it, she just asked that I send her a reminder. My 3rd grader's teacher, on the other hand, was not so cool with it. She sent me a note back today in which she told me that she couldn't assemble his work ahead of time because she wouldn't know a week in advance what the class would be doing. Huh? Whatever happened to lesson plans? Is that done on a daily basis? What if she were gone for a week, wouldn't she have to prepare that in advance for her sub? I'd hoped that we'd be able to either complete the assignments ahead of time, or have them with us on the way down. I just hope he doesn't have a ton of work to do when we return. I'm sorry this is so long..just a little bit frustrated because she threw a monkey-wrench in my plans.

[Fortissimo]

Teresa, I am a teacher and if I understand correctly what you are saying, I'm hopping mad!

You mean to tell me, that if you go to WDW your daughter's absence will be unexcused and she will not be allowed to make up the work?

In Colorado a child must be given the chance to make-up work, even if the child has been suspended. I believe the Supreme Court has also said this. Unfortunately, my education law book is in storage so I can't look up the exact ruling.

On the other hand, principals do not have to excuse any absence that not an illness or a family emergency. (To me, going to WDW is an emergency!)

Is your state one which has gone to state-wide testing? If so, this may be the reason they have a no-excuse policy for vacations. However, they must allow her to make up the work.

If the school does not work with you, you have another option. Check with the district about home-schooling laws. Then, a day before you leave, withdraw your daughter from school saying you are going to home-school her. After you return, re-enroll your daughter in school saying you have changed your mind. They must allow her back in, but she will not be responsible for the work she missed as she wasn't a student at that time. I know several people (teachers) who have done this here in Colorado because of their school's absence policy.

GoofyKids123, I have been teaching 12 years and there are times that I don't have lesson plans for the following week. Yes, I do have a rough idea of what I'm doing, but sometmes the kids do not grasp a concept as fast as I had expected so instead of moiving to something new, I spend the time reinforcing. This is especially true in math. Lesson plans change from day-to-day, depending on the students. At times it is very difficult to predict where you will be in the curriculum even only one day in advance.

My suggestion, all schools must have make-up polcies. For example, we allow 2 days for every day the child was absent. Do not worry about your child doing teacher-assigned work during your vacation. You're not doing any work on your vacation, are you? So why should your child? Instead, have your child keep a journal. Then, when you return from your vacation, inquire as to what your child needs to make-up.

Oh, if a child misses my class due to a WDW vacation, they must eat a Mickey Bar for me. I even supply the money.

If you have any other questions about make-up work, please don't hesitate to ask!

[whoSEZ]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Oh, if a child misses my class due to a WDW vacation, they must eat a Mickey Bar for me. I even supply the money. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thumbs up to you, Forti!! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Your students must think you're the best teacher ever. And they're probably right!

[Ursunique2001]

When we went to Disney this year my sons (8) teacher did not mind because the trip was in the last month of school and they only had 3 weeks of class left anyway.

This year is going to be different: my son is going to a new school and there last day is a little later than his old school. The good thing is that the trip is around the same time, just a little longer. I figure the end of may they should not really be learning to many new things and he should do okay. Hopefully his teacher will be a disney lover also and understand.

[Fortissimo]

When a child misses school, often times they cannot make-up the activities in which they missed.

I teach band and orchestra. If a child misses a concert, how do they make this up? How does one make up a concert? You can't. Yet the concert is an assesment which is required by the district, not me. I require students to attend and perform at the concert because I am required to do so. However, I believe that just because a child missed a concert they should not fail my class. I will give the child an alternative assignment.

We are now reaching an age where we, as teachers, are becoming the fall guys. Districts are cracking down on absences and the teachers are taking the brunt of the blame.

In Colorado, schools are now graded on how the students perform on the state-mandated test, CSAP. In the near future, school funding will be determined on how a school did on the CSAP test. Schools who don't perform will lose funding and may be taken over by the state. (Which is humorous because the 2 schools now run by the state are also the lowest performing schools on the test)

Because the CSAP test is a high-stake test, many districts are enforcing strict absence policies for third graders and older. This is to discourage parents from taking students out of school for anything other than illness or family emergencies. We, as teachers, have absolutely no control over these absence policies. Presently we do have control over how we issue make-up work, but this may not be the case in the future.

The best advice I can give is to talk to your child's teachers, either in person or on the phone. Please do not send a note as many times the note is never given to the teacher, or when it is, it looks as if it has been eaten by a backpack.

Express your concerns with the teacher. Let them know that you are aware there will be assignments your child misses that cannot be made up. Discuss alternative assignment in cases like this. If your child misses P.E have your child determine how far he or she walked while touring WDW. Is walking not exercise? Along with the Mickey Bars they must eat, my students also need to pay attention to the music they hear in the parks. They have a very short worksheet that they complete about the park music.

Okay, so now taht I am way off topic here, i will get off my soapbox.

Please remember you child's teacher may only be enforcing expectations set forth by the school district. We have no control over these expectations, but are required to enforce them.

[ 08-16-2001: Message edited by: Fortissimo ]

[Teresa]

Forti- you are a gem! I do need to clarify one thing. The SCHOOL Principal is the real pain, and I really hope the teacher will not give us a big prob. He is awesome! We prayed for Kathryn to get him. He is the BIG power behind all the plays and musicals in our town. Maybe if we do one of the behind-the-scenes things that have to do with production.
And yes, our state, Indiana, has gone to testing- the ISTEP. What a joke! THe kids spend all year preparing to take a test! This past summer, they even had "packets" to complete at home. There was a worksheet for every day!

[GoofyKids123]

Fortissimo,

Thanks so much for your insight. I received a call today from my 6th grader's guidance counselor. He informed me that a family trip is considered unexcused and that teachers do not have to allow a child to make-up work for unexcused absences. I called the school board to hear the official policy and I was told something entirely different. So far, none of the teachers have refused to allow her to do make-up work. I read the absentee policy in the student handbook and it is a bit ambiguous when it defines excused vs unexcused absences. I should have clarified this before I made plans. The policy also states that parents may be summoned to Family Court for 3 consecutive unexcused absences. Now, I'm considering cancelling our trip...we leave in 2 weeks! I'm still awaiting a call back from her principal. Although I would love to take the children to WDW, I don't want to jeopardize their education for it. My daughter is in 6th grade this year and has always been on the honor roll. In the 7 years that she's attended school, she's missed a total of 3 days. My boys (2nd and 3rd grade) are also exceptional students and have missed no days of school. Education is very important to us and I would much rather lose the money that we've invested in the trip than be sent to Family Court over absences. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

My DH is an active duty Army Drill Sergeant. He leaves the house at 5:00 AM and does not get home until 10:30 PM, sometimes later. This is the first cycle break he's had since October of last year that will allow him to take a vacation with the family. So this trip is much needed, not just for me and the kids, but for DH as well. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[ 08-16-2001: Message edited by: GoofyKids123 ]

[Fortissimo]

GoofyKids123, I say if the principal doesn't work with you on this, withdraw your daughter from school and re-enroll her when you return. In fact, if your state has open enrollment like CO does, I'd consider another school.

Another thing, what would the press say if they knew about a school taking you to Family Court over absences due to a family vacation.

I'll help your 6th grade daughter catch up via e-mail if I have to!

Your family needs a vacation together. If the school doesn't understand this, then maybe they need to re-exam their value system.

My SIL's husband was in the Air Force. He passed away almost 3 years ago while in active duty at the age of 37. My nieces, ages 15, 10, and 8, will never have a family vacation with their father again. School can be made up, family vacations may not be.

Every family needs to have a vacation together. Last time I checked, preparing for a state mandated test was not more important than family.

Now do you guys understand why I teach and why I'm not an administrator? I'd get fired in about 2 seconds!

[DVC_Don]

A year ago our kids school district instituted a policy on vacations. They are now called "illegal absence". No homework may be assigned prior. Make up work is to be done after they get back.

My son's forth grade teacher said she could not give him homework prior, but then proceded to suggest what he might like to read while gone so he would not be behind.

My daughter's third grade teacher would not give any homework nor tell her/us what to study. Upon return she sent home five pages of make up work. Included in the make up work were gym and an assembly. The assembly was for the class to go watch the second grade perform a play. She just kept sending home "unfinished work sheets" for these two things until I wrote her a note asking just how she was to make these up. A top notch government worker that teacher was. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[GoofyKids123]

Fortissimo,

Thanks again for your input! We would love to have you as our daughter's teacher! I'd pack up and move to CO right now if I could. It is a known fact that SC is the poorest of the poor when it comes to education. We hated the fact that we were being stationed here because of that very reason. It didn't help that just before we got orders to come here, we read in the newspapers that this state ranked 51 out of the 50 states (+ Wash. DC) on the SAT. Even though our children are not in high school, we are still very much concerned because the education does not begin at the high school level. It seems that these children are failing from the ground up.

Unfortunately, this is another state that bases its curriculum on standardized tests. Gone are the days when an educator is allowed to actually teach a child. Everything these days is geared towards prepping for an exam. Needless to say, we didn't have much to choose from in terms of quality education. So after carefully researching the local districts, we decided that our children would need to be in this district to even get close to a decent education. Since we don't have open enrollment here, we chose our schools first, then chose our house.

I stayed up late last night to discuss this with my husband. He, of course, has advised me to calm down and wait to see what the principal has to say. He also assured me that we are not going to cancel our plans regardless. Who knows when we'll be able to take another family trip? So, we're still on for Disney! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

If this takes a turn for the worse (and I hope it doesn't) you'll all get to see GoofyKids123 on CNN. I can just see the headlines: "Goofy vs Richland County School Board" or "Parents go to court over Goofy attendance policy."

Hope everyone has a Disney Day!

[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[GoofyKids123]

**UPDATE**

This just in!

I received a call from my daughter's principal. She assured me that my daughter would be allowed to make up all of her work. She even offered additional assistance after school if she needs it when she returns. I am so pleased!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Ok, I guess you all won't get to see me on CNN after all. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[whoSEZ]

Great news GoofyKids, though I would have liked seeing you on CNN! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Here's hoping your family has the same good news, Teresa.

Sandy

[ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: whoSEZ ]

[mcneal]

I haven't been on for a couple of days, so I just read this. Oooh, this standardized testing stuff burns me up. [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] I can understand the need to evaluate the education system but wouldn't it be better if the school that do poorly got the help they needed instead of the way it is being done. Teachers should be allowed to teach a subject or subjects not how to take a test. I am not a teacher but I have a lot of respect for them. I spent 10-15 hrs a week volunteering at my son's class the last 3 years. Fortunately, our school district has not gone completely crazy yet but most of the schools in this area base their entire curriculum on the TAAS test. A kindergarten teacher in a nearby city was told that she will only be focusing on reading. Her students are to be reading at 3rd grade level at the end of the year. They will have no recess, no centers (play & learn areas), no FUN! She was devasted. I really hope the powers that be recognize soon that our education system is not improving.
OK, off the soapbox. I say as parents we should be able to decide when to take our kids out of school for family business. I am taking my 3rd grade DS out for the first week in Dec. I hope we don't have any trouble. I hope everyone else gets their problems with this solved. mary