School pushing attendance agenda

"sorry my kids health takes priority over your attendance agenda. Thanks anyway though. *click*"

Move on. who cares if they're annoyed.

I had kids that missed over 40 days a year (not sick-had to babysit or mom didn't like to be home alone). I had kids every single year that missed this amount of school. It wasn't uncommon. We live in a military town where kids were often pulled out for two weeks to spend time/vacation with a parent who had just returned from being deployed. And then there were the normal appointments and sickness that seem to overtake the school. School's funding is tied to attendance (in our area) and that is why there is the push for better attendance. Unfortunately that flows over to the parent who doesn't have a choice for a dentist appointment. I wouldn't take it too personally. You were probably just the 15th person to pull their kid out that morning. As a teacher, I didn't take my kid out of school for appointments. It was too much of a hassle to get a sub and then my class was disrupted for the day. Thank goodness we had an orthodontist that worked until five. One of my boys was in braces for six years.

How are you schools funded? In CA it is based on seats in class every day, so funding does fluctuate with unexcused absences. When we lived in WA funding was based the school enrollment number at the beginning of October. We moved in October and the school administration teased me that I couldn't move before the funding date so they still had credit for my kids.

Checking out a student for a medical/dental appointment would not count as an absence and neither would a certain number of excused illness days.

If the school has hired an attendance monitor, I'd assume there is an attendance problem (and it is not you ).

You hear about it at the elementary level because that's the targeted age level for turning around families who have poor attendance. And it does go by families rather than student. For every Johnny who is truant, he has a sister Sally who is truant as well. By the time they get to high school they are a lost cause so it's better to focus on the younger students.

As for funding, where I live, once a student shows up to school in the morning the school gets paid for that student. So leaving early for an appointment doesn't affect funding, only a student's ability to keep up in the class.

It is a state law regarding mandatory school attendance. The school has to treat all absences the same.

As with all things like this promoted heavily by the school, my first priority is my family. I do what's best for my family then I consider what's the next thing that should take precedent. Sometimes that falls in line with this kind of push by the school and sometimes it doesn't.

My son had multiple therapist and other doctor appointments often in a given month. I tried to minimize the interruption to his school day but the schedules of his providers dictated what I was able to do in that regard. Add to the fact that we live in a rura location, even if the appointment were made after school hours, the travel time would necessitate picking him up early.

So what happens when you miss more than the 'allowed' days? Because in all my years involved in the school system, I've never come across this. Our school funding is also done by some student numbers, but just on the number at the end of September. To do it daily is ridiculous!!! How do administrators make budgets and do their hiring? All the school support staff and teachers still need to be paid even if a couple kids are sick for a week?!

Our school district has a big multi-year focus on completion rates (ie finishing grade 12). They don't get funding dependant on those rates, just the satisfaction of knowing they are reaching an ever-improving number of kids. My daughter has had some struggles with anxiety the last couple years, and last year one of her coping mechanisms was to go to the library instead of class--I got a call most days, and automated notifications that she was absent for a class or two during the day. The only 'consequence ' of her horrible attendance record was that she was 'flagged' by admin as a kid who needed extra help/supports to be successful. This year, she has a counsellor and a teacher who both check in with her daily, and the one time she was late for a class, the teacher called me right then to see what was going on--just as she was walking into the room,lol! So in our experience, attendance has just been used as a tool.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to common sense. I'd be in trouble if my son went to school there. Most of our doctors are over 40 miles away.

That's strange to me that they get bent out of shape over dentist appts. Around here, those are a very common reason for kids to come to school late, leave early, or be gone for a chunk of the middle of the day. No one says a word or makes any faces, etc. We bring in an excuse and all is good.

I see the lists when I check my own kids out, and there are always more dental visits than kids who are actually sick or going to a doctor.

Sorry you feel like people are upset with you about it. That's a crappy feeling.

I know some may be shocked by this, but this "royal you" just doesn't care.
If I need to take my kid out for an hour for a dental appointment, I will (and did).   If that meant the school got $4 less that day, then sorry.

Can I assume therefore that if your child exceeds the allotted number of absences you will not squawk about any consequence?

My kids are grown so not an issue.  But never got in trouble once.  On the other hand, if kids needed to go to the dentist, no one complained either.