absence policies

I'm generally comlimentary of my district, but this is astoundingly
stupid. And, it's not a district decision, but a school one -- one that I
would never teach at or send my child to, for lots of reasons.

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Student-absence policy is criticized
Parents call Eastern High rules too limited on acceptable reasons for
missing classes
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By CHRIS KENNING
The Courier-Journal/October 27

As one of 25 young Americans chosen to perform at a piano concert in Japan
next month, Eastern High student Alex Harris, 16, is anticipating a trip
filled with music, culture, history and a chance to try out his fledgling
Japanese-language skills.

But if Alex goes, he'll be counted for two weeks of unexcused absences under
school policy - which will saddle him with a semester of automatic poor
grades and could weaken his college prospects.

It's the result of a strict school policy that rarely excuses absences
except for reasons such as illness, a death in the family or a religious
holiday.

Alex's parents say it's draconian and fails to recognize the trip as a valid
educational opportunity. And they argue their family's situation - their
13-year-old daughter, who also was invited and is being excused by her
middle school - highlights inconsistencies in how such cases are treated in
the Jefferson County Public Schools.

"It's not like we're taking him to a NASCAR race," said Gail Harris, Alex's
mother. "It's a key educational experience, one that's relevant to his
future."

But while Eastern's principal, James Sexton, acknowledged that Alex's trip
to Japan is an honor and would be educational, he said he's following rules
meant to keep students in school and learning.

Principals across the district, who field hundreds of requests a year from
parents to excuse their children from school for reasons ranging from music
recitals to family vacations and college visits, say the question of what
constitutes a legitimate absence is one they wrestle with regularly.

Whether absences are excused can be critical. In many cases it determines
whether students can make up all the work and credit. And only unexcused
absences count toward truancy. After nine unexcused absences, a parent can
be prosecuted for his or her child's habitual truancy and can be sentenced
to up to a year in jail.

Absences, excused or not, also matter a great deal to schools because state
funding is based on average daily attendance. The school district said last
year that it would get more than $500,000 in extra money when attendance
rates rose to 94.1 percent.

Also, attendance is one factor in how schools are judged on state
accountability rankings.

District policy says valid excuses include student illness, doctor visits,
death in the family, religious holidays or extenuating reasons approved by a
school administrator. But interpretations of extenuating circumstances vary
by school, said Steve Harrison, district director of pupil personnel.

Last year schools excused the Valley Station-area students who played in the
Little League world championship for related activities, for example.

Ballard High principal Sandy Allen said she allows absences for two college
visits a year, school sports competitions and trips with educational value,
such as a singing performance in Carnegie Hall. Ballard has a 95 percent
attendance rate.

"How can I say that's not as important as representing us on the athletic
field?" she said.

DuPont Manual High principal Beverly Keepers said students "can't
continually miss class and do well," but she still excuses them for a number
of activities, including family vacations, if work is made up.

But Valley High principal Greg Sheeley said that beyond school-related
activities, "almost the only excuses are doctor's notes and funerals."

At Eastern High, students are not excused for college visits, performances,
family vacations or activities unrelated to school. The school has a strict
policy that automatically lowers a student's grade in a class for absences.
After 15 days of unexcused absences, the best a student can do in a class is
a D.

Sexton, the Eastern principal, said his interpretation of state policy is
that sports teams playing in tournaments during school hours also are
unexcused. He said he hopes the state will change that, because in such
cases students are in a school sanctioned and supervised activity, as they
are on a field trip.

Rules on absences are "a controversial area" with parents, he said. The
school has a 96 percent attendance rate.

To Gail Harris, however, Eastern's policy is wrongheaded.

Alex has been studying piano for 10 years under the Suzuki method, which is
based on the idea that any child can be trained to develop musical talent.
He and his sister, Victoria, were among 25 students from the United States,
along with about 250 Japanese students, to be invited to perform in 10-piano
concert in Matsumoto, Japan.

Alex also has studied Japanese at Eastern for three years.

"How could they not see that as educational?," she asked.

The Harrises plan to ask the school's site-based decision-making council to
make the rules more flexible.

School board member Pat O'Leary, whose district includes Eastern and who has
a child there, said the school "doesn't want to open the floodgates" by
allowing too many absences. But he said he thinks an appeal process through
the school council should be built into Eastern's rules.

Gail Harris said her son is still planning to go to Japan.

And his father, Jeff Harris, said, "We feel like we're doing the best thing
for our child, (even though) he's being penalized for it."

P. Tierney wrote:
I'm generally comlimentary of my district, but this is astoundingly
stupid. And, it's not a district decision, but a school one -- one that I
would never teach at or send my child to, for lots of reasons.

----------------

Student-absence policy is criticized
Parents call Eastern High rules too limited on acceptable reasons for
missing classes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
By CHRIS KENNING
The Courier-Journal/October 27

As one of 25 young Americans chosen to perform at a piano concert in Japan
next month, Eastern High student Alex Harris, 16, is anticipating a trip
filled with music, culture, history and a chance to try out his fledgling
Japanese-language skills.

But if Alex goes, he'll be counted for two weeks of unexcused absences under
school policy - which will saddle him with a semester of automatic poor
grades and could weaken his college prospects.

It's the result of a strict school policy that rarely excuses absences
except for reasons such as illness, a death in the family or a religious
holiday.

The school district that I was in did this too. You could take a week out
of school for vacation with your parents or something if you had missed
less than 3 days the previous year (all excused - so only illness) and you
got written permission from each one of your teachers. You weren't allowed
to take more than a week though (no matter where you were going - such as
the 2 week trip to Japan this kid is taking).

The thing that really sucked was all the doctor's kids would go on a two
week ski trip around Christmas time and their fathers would just write
them a doctor's note saying they were sick the whole time. The rest of us
were just screwed.

Manda