My 9 yr old son is in public school and on the honor roll(and has been since kindergarten).He's also in accelerated classes.

This semester he has missed 10 days of school due to minor ilnesses(he had a stomach virus 3 times).I refused to let him go to school while he was running a fever.I called the doctor the first time who assured me,"It's just going around,and unless his fever gets very high I don't need to see him.Keep him on Tylenol and fluids,etc,etc."

I just received a letter in the mail from the school informing me that due to his excessive absences(10) for this semester,he has lost credit for the 2001-2002 school year!!! So now my honor roll,accelerated child is failing the 3rd grade!!!

What do I do? They say I have to pay for summer school so he can make up the lost days.His average is still all A's,even with his absences.There will be a meeting to decide whether they will 'let this slide'or he'll have to go to summer school.Problem is,while he was home sick,I have no doctor's notes to prove it.Even though I sent notes to school after every absence explainging that he'd been ill.

Any help,ideas,or advice will be greatly appreciated.I am very seriously considering homeschooling next year,but don't want to get mad and yank him out now,just because I'm mad.

HELP!!! I should mention that I am in Texas,don't know if the laws differ state to state.

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), May 09, 2002

Answers

I know there is something about missing over 10 days in our school, however I thought it was unexcused (Not turning in an excuse blank). I rarely take the kids to the doctor, my signature should be enough. As long as your son is making the grade, how can they say he isn't going to get the credits? As far as I'm concerned, you are responsible for your child and if you say he was sick, that should be enough. It would be another matter if he was absent and doing poorly. Around here we have kids going on two weeks of vacation, so what's the difference? Of course they get approval beforehand, but I don't think a trip to Disney is educational. Sorry I don't know your laws, but if I were you I would certainly fight this. Cindy

-- CNoll (CBirder@aol.com), May 09, 2002.

Well, you can homeschool, if he is agreeable. Good grades in school are nice (not to knock them at all), but it is what you do after for the rest of your life that's important *smile*.

Or, if you are on good terms with your doctor (or say if you called an 800 number through your insurance for health advice), maybe they could write notes after the fact for you.

I agree with CNoll--lots of kids take vacations and such (not to mention missing class because of SCHOOL activities)--and as long as he makes up the work it should not be an issue.

As a last resort, you could sue--for example, most places of employment have sick leave policies. After so many "self-authorized" absences (in your case, you're vouching for your son here), the employer requires a doctor's note (so that if you want to go to the beach, you at least have to sit through a doctor's visit first). If a policy like that is not in writing at your school, it should be, and you may have a good case. You also, just for your own interest and edification, find out how many days TEACHERS can miss during the school....fair's fair. Good luck.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), May 09, 2002.

My son missed too many days one year from having mono and strep. The school system in Illinois is required to send a tutor out to catch them up but only after missing 14 days. He missed 12 so I kept him home 2 more and got the tutor, with a note from my doctor.

Will they accept a note from your doctor? Do you have a tutor program available? Most states do. I'll ask my sister. She teaches in Dallas. Chances are if you start asking and demanding answers, you'll find a solution. Good luck. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in these people's heads!

-- Cindy in IL (Ilovecajun@aol.com), May 09, 2002.

Your Drs. office should have a record of your calls and your childs symptoms in his medical chart. That would be my first line of defense. I don't know how a school system can fail a child that is a honor student, using the attendance as the reasoning.

-- Gwendolyn (kayesioux@aol.com), May 09, 2002.

THAT IS ONE OF THE REASONS WE BEGAN HOMESCHOOLING MANY MANY YEARS AGO!!!

The reason public schools stress attendance so much is because most public schools get their funding from their states based on AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE!

My fourth son had a stomach virus and was in the third grade. We had already begun homeschooling his sister, who was then in the 11th grade and were planning to begin homeschooling him that christmas. I went to the school to get his work so he could make it up for the one day he missed and they said he couldn't make it up because he didn't have a doctor's excuse. I told the principal that this was my FOURTH child and I knew that when a child was throwing up they DIDN'T need to be at school but they didn't necessarily need to go to a doctor!

He never returned to public school. He finished homeschooling in 1999, is now married and has a little homestead of his....he bought the homestead and house at the age of 19 as the youngest person to ever get a home loan from the bank here without a co-signer....so homeschooling does indeed work.

Now I have a grandchild in public school who has a letter saying he will fail because he's missed more than the required 10 days....he is a straight-A student and is a whiz but has a lot of health problems.....daughter can't homeschool him because she is divorced and the ex is adamently against homeschooling....

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), May 09, 2002.

Before you get worried about it, wait to see what happens at the meeting. This is just standard operating procedure thing. I'm sure they'll make an exception in your case. Missing 10 days of school for legitimate reasons is usually no problem.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), May 09, 2002.

Dave, this doesn't even merit a mention, much less a meeting. (Another use of your school levy dollars, folks!)

We're not talking about a bad student here, we're talking about one doing quite well. That's the problem, sad to say. The school is more concerned with "derriere in chair time" than they are with his education. Go figure--but if this child were a star athlete in college, he could be gone from class every day and no one would bat an eyelash.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), May 09, 2002.

I am a Texas teacher, and I have been on the attendance committee many times. Yes, there is a meeting. If YOU attend and vouch for your kid, they will most likely waive the summer school and grant him credit.

We are required by law to send those letters. We are required to have the meetings. Most parents don't show, and we have the kids make up some of the time in the evenings and on Saturdays. (They have to pay a teacher extra for this.)

GO TO THE MEETING... and speak calmly and things will be fine. It's just the legislated dog and pony show. Be sympathetic to the administrators and teachers caught in the government mumbo jumbo. We are just trying to teach and pay bills like everybody else.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), May 09, 2002.

I suspect all public school laws will continue to get crazier! Remember, our President was recently governor of Texas!

I have been a public school teacher for many years. Ifsomething is not right, go in and try to get it changed. Call your representatives. Those phone calls really do wonders.

Good luck!

-- Debbie in S IL (dc1253@hcis.net), May 09, 2002.

Did not mean (even inadvertently) to bash teachers at all.

I just think that this is one of those obvious situations where instead of wasting everyone's time with a meeting, the principal could look over the child's records (and ask the teachers if necessary, but the grades should be proof enough that he's doing well) and determine from that whether there is or is not a problem that truly merits a meeting in the first place. Or even just call the parent, and find out what's going on. Surely the teachers can put in a good word as well.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), May 09, 2002.

I understand your position. Presently my daughter has mono, and has missed so many days I can't count. I just called the dr. and he wrote a note. In MN she can only miss 7 days or loss credit. I also talked to her counselor at school to let her know what was going on, this seemed to help alot.

-- Sherry (veggiemamma@msn.com), May 09, 2002.

Do the days missed by any chance correlate with the funding the school district receives from the state???

In other words, if your child misses a day of school, does the district lose $$$ ????

Just a thought.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), May 09, 2002.

When in their arena, you abide by their rules.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), May 09, 2002.

The mess in Texas pre-dates the current President of the United States. George W looked at some of the proposed Texas Education Agency ideas and called it like he saw it... he said it was a mess.

ALL schools in the United States lose funding if kids aren't in seats. It is the way the national system is set up. Please don't bash your local school for following policies over which they have no control.

It's easy for people to rant at the local schools because they are the visible arm of a HUGE and unwieldy system. Go to board meetings, visit with your child's teachers, volunteer at school as much as possible. FIND OUT what is going on and who is responsible.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), May 09, 2002.

Was it possible to go get your sons work from the school so he could do-it at home?.I know when my daughter gets sick and she misses more than 2 days we go get her work from school so she doesnt get behind. We give her tylenol and 45 mins later she might as well go back to school she's so peppy, but they usually don't want them to come back for a couple of days if they know something is going around,but she definately feels good enough(on the tylenol) to do her work that she missed. Dave (central WI)

-- Dave (duckthis1@maqs.net), May 09, 2002.

see my answer on the previous "teacher" thread. My answer here is "Over -Papered Teachers" from bureaucrats, Principals afraid of parents. definitely "funding" (see above) and HOMESCHOOL!

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), May 09, 2002.

I'm in Texas and having the same problem. My 15 year old has a problem with insomnia and is sometimes so asleep in the morning that I can't wake him up. Believe Me I have tried everything. He refuses to take drugs to put him to sleep. He already has 15 absenses. He is also in a class for kids with behavioral problems and has an IQ of almost 180. He may be in 9th grade again next year because he refuses to go to summer school. I guess when he is 17 and still in the 9th grade they will have to let him out.

-- buffy (buffyannjones@hotmsil.com), May 10, 2002.

In Texas the age is 18 now.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), May 10, 2002.

I agree that you have to follow the rules, but it gets frustrating when the good kids get punished for these things and the problem kids still get to disrupt everything. Note the "zero tolerance" policy on the news last night, where a senior honor student cannot graduate and will lose a scholarship in Georgia, because they found two steak knives in the back of his truck. They were left there from a camping trip. Now i realize why they do this, but they are not going to catch the criminal kids with this policy. I remember when kids drove to school with hunting knives and rifles to go hunting afterschool! There was no one shooting people, because of this. The drug policy is also off the wall. Kids cannot take tylenol, advil or even cough drops with them to school, but I understand the real drugs are still there. My son begged to take advil with him when he had tendonitis during soccer, but he could have been expelled for drug use if caught. I had to run to school everytime before the game and try to get it to him, not even allowing him to leave my side til he swallowed it, for fear of problems. Now 30 years ago I would have been lost without my Midol each month. When the advil is clearly labeled, I don't understand this policy!! Still the drug users are there. IT is just a shame that the schools cannot use commonsense, but society is out of control. Makes me want to crawl in a hole and never come out. Just my thoughts.

-- CNoll (CBirder@aol.com), May 10, 2002.

Buffy, As a teacher of gifted children I would say your child is gifted and bored. Have you had him tested for the gifted program? If he were in the gifted program he would be a happier child as at this point he is bored and although he has a sleep problem if he really wanted to be in school he would find a way to get up and be there. How about homeschool?? Please don't let the great mind go to waste. Sally

-- (mallardhen67@hotmail.com), May 10, 2002.

Homeschool!!! Homeschool!!! Homeschool!!! You have a wonderful son. He deserves to have the many benefits that Homeschooling offers!

-- Jodie in TX (stanchnmotion@yahoo.com), May 11, 2002.

If your school is anything like the one that I pulled my son out of the mere mention of homeschooling will silence them.

-- Cassie (cassie@mo.usa), May 11, 2002.

As some have mentioned, this is government bureaucrasy in action. Most teachers are handcuffed by this system, and many will tell you (as they have told me) that they wish they could homeschool as well. The art and craft of teaching is being usurped by the government's need for control and justification for monetary dispersal. Until the voting public becomes united against such tactics, they will continue to pervade the public school system. The shift in educational approach to homeschooling is gaining momentum, and will reach a point where the government will take the dissatisfaction seriously. If it is solely a matter of time before you homeschool, and you get no satisfaction after the meeting with school, I would certainly begin home education immediately following. However, I must emphasize that many public school educators agree that the amount of government red tape is excessive. I am thankful that I am not in their position, I have homeschooled all three children, and will continue to do so as long as I am able.

Stand your ground.

-- Sandie in ME; now in MA (thompson@greatpoint.net), May 11, 2002.