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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. ---------------- 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. 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." |
#2
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absence policies
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 |
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