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#11
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
... .. She is almost certainly required by law to send it. I would strongly suggest getting documentation from your doctor, if possible, on past absenses, and certainly getting documentation for ANY further medical absense. Your state education code should be online, and will give truancy statutes. I second that motion. School Districts vary considerably in both rules and how they are applied. For example, this school district I live in allows only ten excused absences a year or you are retained. It is extreemly difficult to obtain an exception, even for participation in national level amateur sports teams [issue last school year], serious illnesses lasting longer than 10 days, etc. A lot of parents in this area are hopping mad about it. Same State, next school District away, not an issue at all, they are much more understanding of why a child may be out for an excused reason. So, look into your State and school district's rules and applications thereof very closely and know that while we can give you anecdotal evidence, it all comes down to your school district and how you interact with it. Good luck! -A, in Florida -- see my creative works on ebay under aulame 123 |
#12
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
Vicki wrote:
Today we received a warning letter for truancy for our 2nd grader. The principal said she was concerned about dd's absences. I am not concerned about dd's absences--she is bright, she knows the material [she's missed five days this month, but received 100 on her test for materials covered.] I don't think the teacher is concerned. But the principal said dd is only allowed 5 excused absences per semester. This is similar to the situation in our school district. You can thank the "No Child Left Behind" law for this. A lot of flexibility has been removed from the local level. I'm not happy about the possibility of legal sanctions for keeping dd home (she was sick this month, but I wouldn't hesitate to take her out of school for other things we feel are important.) Can they prosecute us for truancy when dd is top of her class? I don't see the harm to anyone in dd not going. And she *will* miss more school at Thanksgiving (important family time.) Yes, they can make your life very difficult over the truancy issue. In general, the principal usually has some degree of latitude and can approve absences in excess of the number of allowed absences; however, in some areas the principal has little latitude. You could risk your daughter not being promoted to the next grade (or ultimately not graduating) for these sorts of issues. We had planned to talk at school conferences about keeping dd home one day per week, or bi-weekly, to enhance her education. But from what I've read about truancy laws tonight, this doesn't seem to be allowable. Has anyone done this or know if it is doable? I suspect this would not go over well. I would think it would be *highly* disruptive to the teacher and the rest of the class. I would either homeschool full time, leave things as they are, or look for enrichment through the school (GT programs, etc.). You'd be asking a *lot* of the teacher. He or she would have to figure out how to make sure your child suffered no ill effects from missing up to 20 percent of the class! That would mean no quizzes/tests or other assessments on that day, no special activities, etc. I would think that would be pretty unreasonable to request. Have others faced this truancy problem? How do you approach it? If this is a law (5 days/semester,) does the principal have much leeway in enforcing it? If not, then who do we talk with? The DA? Is it possible to homeschool part-time (the days dd misses) and avoid a truancy enforcement? Could we test out of second grade and attendance be optional? I hear what you're trying to accomplish, but I would be very surprised if you could get where you're trying to go. I think you're going to find that homeschooling is an all or nothing thing. If you think that's really the way you need to go, then I think you could solve the problem by homeschooling full time and taking care to get well involved in your local homeschooling community so that she builds new networks of friends. If not, I'd try to make a commitment to finding the challenge she needs with this (or another) school. Good luck, Ericka |
#13
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
ColoradoSkiBum wrote:
If your child is missing school because she's sick, then she is *not* truant. The school cannot punish/penalized you or her for missing due to illness. They may require that you provide a doctor's note (which is a real PITA since it means you have to take her to the doctor if she's sick), but that's as far as they can go. On the contrary, thanks to the reforms associated with "No Child Left Behind" that's not true. They *can* create problems with too many absences *even* if they're excused, and even if there are doctor's notes. Best wishes, Ericka |
#14
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
"Vicki" wrote in message news I'm not happy about the possibility of legal sanctions for keeping dd home (she was sick this month, but I wouldn't hesitate to take her out of school for other things we feel are important.) Can they prosecute us for truancy when dd is top of her class? I don't see the harm to anyone in dd not going. And she *will* miss more school at Thanksgiving (important family time.) I doubt they'd get her for truancy if the only reason she's been out is for being sick, as long as you can prove it with a doctor's note. Sounds like the other reasons you feel are more important are getting in the way of her education. Personally, I think you ought to either homeschool or follow school rules. My parents would never have let me miss school to visit family except for once when my grandma was dying, and we even got permission for that (we had to go halfway around the world for two weeks during finals). School is important. It is setting a precedent for how she will be in her adult life. When she gets a job, she can't just take off because of family unless it's an emergency. She will have to see what the workplace rules are and work around that. If she doesn't like the workplace rules, she can find another job, like you can homeschool. But you shouldn't have her go to school and ignore the rules. |
#15
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
Vicki wrote in :
[snip] I think you're right about the problem with truancy and part-time home-schooling. I'm not sure how we avoid that. As an aside, I'm not worried about dd missing what is taught--she knows it. Nor do I expect her teacher to spend additional time to get dd caught up--dd is ahead. 2nd grade curriculum seems pretty limited if you're already a good reader and good with numbers. Our idea was to give dd a day of more challenging materials. It is hard to fit them into the weekends and evenings (piano, scouts, time with dad and siblings, etc.) dd reads constantly, but I'd hoped to use the day for more hands on learning--science projects, trips to museum, etc. She's expressed interest in this (as opposed to full-time homeschooling, which she's rejected,) but maybe this won't be allowed. Can you work with the teacher to ensure she gets more challanging work at school. My 7yo is in the top groups in her class, in spite of being the youngest girl in th eclass, and the teacher sets her group more challanging work while she goes over the basics with the rest of the class. This is exactly how my teacher handled it when I was her age as well. -- Penny Gaines |
#16
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
Well imo, you are essentially telling your daughter that rules don't matter,
school doesn't matter and that she can stay home at any whim. What is she going to do in the real adult world when she has a job? Stay home because she feels like it. What about college? She will need to be there all the time in order to have all the information she needs to pass the class. If she is sick that's one thing, but to stay home at any given time because you think it is important doesn't fly well with school. You are also setting your daughter up for negative attention from the other kids at school. They will see her staying home, getting extra attention from the teacher because lessons will have to be repeated to her and possibly getting out of essential tests and assignments. If she is missing so much, it ruins the dynamics of the class. I don't mean the classroom persay, but things will be discussed in class and your daughter will have no clue as to what went on the previous day. If you want to homeschool, then you need to do it full time and not worry what your daughter wants because obviously you think what education she is getting is inadequate. Just because you think she is smart doesn't mean in reality that she is. She may be a little ahead in some areas and perhaps feel bored with some assignments, but she also may be feeling left out when she misses so many days. If you want to supplement her school work, then perhaps you need to do it on the weekends and take away some of her extracurricular activies that she has going. -- Sue (mom to three girls) I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World... Vicki wrote in message news Today we received a warning letter for truancy for our 2nd grader. The principal said she was concerned about dd's absences. I am not concerned about dd's absences--she is bright, she knows the material [she's missed five days this month, but received 100 on her test for materials covered.] I don't think the teacher is concerned. But the principal said dd is only allowed 5 excused absences per semester. I'm not happy about the possibility of legal sanctions for keeping dd home (she was sick this month, but I wouldn't hesitate to take her out of school for other things we feel are important.) Can they prosecute us for truancy when dd is top of her class? I don't see the harm to anyone in dd not going. And she *will* miss more school at Thanksgiving (important family time.) We had planned to talk at school conferences about keeping dd home one day per week, or bi-weekly, to enhance her education. But from what I've read about truancy laws tonight, this doesn't seem to be allowable. Has anyone done this or know if it is doable? dd does not want to homeschool full-time--she likes seeing her friends at school and we think this is good for her. We have discussed getting appropriate challenge in her classroom--the teacher has been helpful, but there is only so much she can do. We chose not to skip dd to the next grade as she is already the youngest in her class. Have others faced this truancy problem? How do you approach it? If this is a law (5 days/semester,) does the principal have much leeway in enforcing it? If not, then who do we talk with? The DA? Is it possible to homeschool part-time (the days dd misses) and avoid a truancy enforcement? Could we test out of second grade and attendance be optional? dh is calling the principal next week, and we will meet with dd's teacher in three weeks. I'd like to have a sense of our options before we go so we do what's right by dd and cause the least distress to her teacher and principal (who are quite nice.) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Vicki |
#17
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
"cara" wrote in message ... I have no experience with this at all, but the implication of 'truancy' to me means 'absences without parental knowledge or consent.' I think in some school districts it doesn't matter the reasoning. I was fairly high ranking in my high school class, all honors classes, all good grades, but I spent the majority of my high school career on "academic probation" for illnesses and absences that my parents had complete knowledge of. I got suspended in the 9th grade for one day for having 5 excused absences, if they were unexcused, it would have been after 3 that I was suspended. Doesn't make sense to suspend me from school for not going, but that's what they did. Bizarre rules. -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =----- |
#18
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
: Bottom line on truancy -- what the schools are most concerned about is
that : every student who doesn't show up is ultimately money lost in their school : budget. Right. And if your child is absent so often that the school is not getting any money for her, then they should not be required to educate your child *at all.* -- ColoradoSkiBum |
#19
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
: I read a child is limited to 10 absences excused by the parent per
: year--guess this is where the 5/semester comes from. I can't get a doctor's : excuse for the flu dd had 2 weeks ago--we didn't go to the doctor. I did : call and talk with a nurse at the hospital, but I couldn't say her name. In : any case, dd will miss again around Thanksgiving due to something important : to us. That will put me over the five, even if dd stays healthy until then. : If they're not REALLY going to fine me (b/c we do care about her education,) : then who do I talk with beforehand so I don't have to have fines hanging : over my head? If that's district policy, then you will probably have to talk to someone at the district level. That's a pretty strict policy, but definitely open to interpretation by the individual schools, also. The previous district that I taught in had such a policy, but it was never enforced at the school I taught at. But it does sound like your daughter's school is pretty serious about enforcing the policy. Perhaps you could start by talking to an administrator at her school--as someone else suggested, that letter may have been generated automatically. -- ColoradoSkiBum |
#20
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Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?
: If your child is missing school because she's sick, then she is *not*
: truant. The school cannot punish/penalized you or her for missing due to : illness. They may require that you provide a doctor's note (which is a real : PITA since it means you have to take her to the doctor if she's sick), but : that's as far as they can go. : : : On the contrary, thanks to the reforms associated with : "No Child Left Behind" that's not true. They *can* create : problems with too many absences *even* if they're excused, and : even if there are doctor's notes. I obviously spoke too soon; it really depends on the district. One of the districts I used to teach in was very good about working with students who had long-term illnesses, and would set up in-home tutoring for kids so they could keep on top of their work and not get too far behind. OTOH, we had students who ditched 20 days in a single school *quarter* (9 weeks) and we could not get rid of them. When the school finally got them and their parents before the judge, basically the judge would make it out to be all the school's fault for not getting the kid into school. Did we call their parent every time the kid was absent? Did an administrator go to the home to look for the kid? Things like that made me leave that district. -- ColoradoSkiBum |
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