How Are You Getting Children Out of School

[MaddyandOwensMom]

I find this really interesting because I taught in Public school for 12 years and I don't think anyone ever asked permission to go anywhere. I don't think that I had any right or the principal has any right to tell you when you can take a trip. Really, all trips are educational to some point. I always told parents that it's just going to show up as an absence on the report card and it would be listed as an illegal absence in the permanent folder, but there wasn't any consequence. We had kids who would take a month off, to visit family in another country and it was all illegal, but they weren't retained or failed. There is a huge difference between a trip and just not coming to school. I'm sure he is trying to encourage parents to take trips during school breaks, but he has an odd way of going about it.

As a teacher, I really didn't like kids missing because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't give all the work we did to take on the trip and most parents didn't do it at all. One of our teachers just had the kids keep a journal instead of preparing all the work. I would just go, ignore the principal and have fun. What can he actually do to your kids if they aren't failing in their classes? You might want to speak to the teacher and see what he or she would like done during the trip.
Jessica

 

[GeorgiaPeach]

In my classroom if a student is going to miss for a vacation, I ask them to keep a journal of their trip (can be illustrated with drawings or photos if desired.) They then share their journal with the class when they return. This has always worked well for me. I don't know of a policy where kids "can't be taken out of school" in our district.

I was getting ready to say this My parents are both retired school teachers. When I was in 5th grade we took a 5 week family trip from Ohio to California....up the coast....to Minnesota and then home. Even though it was during the summer my parents made us write reports about places we were going to see (Mt. Rushmore, etc) BEFORE the trip:yuck: and then we had to keep a journal during the trip!! As a child I thought this was all terribly unfair but it really enhanced the trip and we still have the journals....30 yrs later.

I'd suggest to the principal that they do reports about the ports you stop at. The kids can bring back souvenirs to show and do a presentation to the class. Can't get more educational than that!

 

[vwpamperedchef]

Sounds like the principal is jealous he/she can't go!

Do you have a local news station that you can get to publicize? we have ABC Channel 7 and its called "7 on your side". I mean really, I could see if your child was below average but it appears she is a talented bright individual.

I mean really, have a heart Mr./Mrs. Principal!

 

[412683]

Wow. Don't even want to get started on this subject. We just pulled our children out of school for 7 days and flew from Mt to FL to visit grandparents. I would never have thought to ask the principal just asked the teachers for any homework that may need to be made up. Which leads to this- my daughter in 5th grade is also in the gifted program and misses 1 day/wk of school to attend the program. She is required to make up the work she misses that day but never brings anything home because it's usually just busy work that she can finish in the last hour of the day after returning. She has 2 school teachers - 1 reply was since she is an A student she would require no work done on vacation just go and have fun but the other teacher sent 2 large books and tons of assignments . I asked if she really expected us to take them along and she replied the work needed to be done. My daughter also had just competed at the county level of the spelling bee after winning the school bee and she even sent along a couple spelling lessons. I about blew. Whatever happened to the best thing a child can learn is from the family. Spending time with family can teach many more things that what is learned at school and will never be put into practice in the "real" world. I also have repeatedly asked for the teacher to find her some more challenging assignments but in the world of "no child left behind" all they seem to care about is the low child and trying to catch them up. So we went on vacation- had a wonderful time - and hers the kicker. We got back in time for 3 days of school before having 1 week off for spring vacation. During this week she is still attending piano lesson, working a few hours for a friend who is a caterer and taking 2 full days of babysitting classes. I do have an attitude that it's "just school " and there are other important things out there to experieance and yes, my sister has been an elementary teacher for 28 years. So just go and have a great vacation [/-sometimes it's real life lessons that make us who we need to be.

 

[iteachurkid]

As a 6th grade teacher I can tell you that missing a week of school is hard for most kids to make up. But, with that being said, you earned the trip, your daughter sounds as though she is one of the few who could handle the make up work, and who is the principal to tell you if you can/can not take her out. I know we have state assessments coming up and maybe that is what he is thinking of, but I know our principal can't say that you can't take your child somewhere. The thing is, our kids have unexcused absences, but as teachers we still give them their work. It looks poorly on us, if they don't do well, and it's our job for them to know the info. I'd get in touch with her teacher(s) and let them know what's going on. Have them get the work she'll miss together and she can do it on the plane on the way there and back. An hourly journal...I think I'd appeal it, if you've talked to the assistant superintendant, talk to the super, if he doesn't help you, go to the school board...I just really can't believe this is happening in a public school. A daily journal maybe, but hourly...I think he's jealous and wants to live vicariously through her journal when she gets back Good Luck with everything...I can't wait to tell this story next week when we go back...no one will believe it!

 

[iteachurkid]

I also have repeatedly asked for the teacher to find her some more challenging assignments but in the world of "no child left behind" all they seem to care about is the low child and trying to catch them up. ;

Unfortunately, this is the truth. I spend so much time documenting the work of certain students that your average child or higher child really do slip through the cracks...NCLB needs to be revised. I'm over politicians who sit in an office building telling me what and how to teach. I want them to come down for two weeks and I'll throw them into my room with kids whose parents are in jail, kids who didn't have electricity in their house last night, students who have learning as well as emotional disabilities, students with ADHD (no doubt that at least one has forgotten their meds), gifted kids and all of my other lovelies who are all in one room and I'll expect them to teach them all the same way and make it work...they wouldn't last a day. Ok, this thread isn't about NCLB, so I'm going to hop off the soap box now...sorry to hijack, I just feel pretty stong about what this has (or hasn't) done to education in general. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to leave anyone behind, but there has to be a better way...Thanks for letting me vent

 

[ted122781]

It seems like the principal is trying to set a precedent (sp). He's probably afraid that if he let's your child go, then he'd have to make exceptions for others. I know this is a different situation and it's not just a typical vacation, but I can see why he's giving you a hard time.

 

[JAE]

Wow, this is a tough issue. I'm one who would just send a note to the teachers that my kids will be missing school. BUT, if there is set policy about missing school, then we shouldn't be surprised with the consequences. I tend to not read that information, but that would be my fault. If there is no set policy then you get to bring that up to the principal. I understand that this trip was earned, but because the dates are known in advance, the kids didn't have to join the vacation, knowing they would miss school. I'm not saying I wouldn't take the kids, but, again, school policy is school policy (if there is a set policy).

It's a lot of extra work for teachers to have to get homework ready in advance, and I don't expect them to do it. It's nice if they will, though. Of course, it's better if the teachers can just let some of it go if it's not essential. I agree that it's the parents choice how their kids are educated, but if we choose to send them to school, we should understand that our kids have to fall under the school policies. If we don't want to deal with school policies, then we may keep our kids home and homeschool them. Please, remember that I would just take my kids out with a note of intent, not a note asking permission. I also don't think it's fair for the principal to pick and choose which kids get permission to go on vacation. If there isn't policy to follow, the principal should have to let it go. I'm not trying to play devil's advocate, and I'm not passing judgement. These are just some thoughts I had as I was reading through the posts of this thread.

 

[ChefLisa]

I would take my children and not worry too much about the consequences. At least, that is what I think I would do.

However, I really do understand the schools have a tough job. They are there to educate our children. If our children are not there for a period of time, the schools are still responsible for ensuring our children pass the tests necessary to fulfill the "No Child Left Behind Act". Even though most children do attend school on a regular basis, there are those exceptions. Therefore, the school systems have attendance policies in place. Georgia is very restrictive. If a child has five unexcused absences, for each one over, a parent can be fined, sent to jail, community service or a combination of the penalties.

My Director/friend went to China in February to adopt a precious little girl. She and her husband decided to take her biological children with them. This was not considered an excused absence. She could have taken her case to the superintendant, but decided against it. She took the schools advice and withdrew her children for the three weeks they were gone. Then when they got back, she just re-enrolled the children. It turned out to be a very easy process and they did not need to make up the work.

Even though the policies can be very restrictive, the schools have to have them because there are those few parents who would take advantage of anything less. Those same parents would complain quite loudly if their children were to fail any of the gateway tests to promote their children to the next grade. They would wonder why their children were not successful in school.

I must admit I personally do not like how restrictive the Georgia attendance policy is, but I totally understand why they have it.

 

[crissy11]

I would not have decided to take my children if it was not going to be excused but my elementary son's principle had no problem at all with it and the principle at the middle school had no problem with it. I first asked before Christmas to make sure it was approved before I spent the money to buy in for the kids to go. He said it was fine but too early to do the paperwork. Well by January he was made asst. super and we got this principle. Then when I asked today for the paperwork he starting saying it wasn't something to be approved since he didn't think it was educational.
I definitely would not have taken them out of school for a week if it was going to be a hardship on them but it was okayed beforehand. I think he may have wanted to check her records and make sure that she really was an A student before he just said yes to me. He has not ever met me before so I guess he didn't know if I was someone who was always getting their child out of school.
Just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was soo upset all day today. Then when I picked up my daughter I told her to be prepared that he may not approve it and she would get zeroes on her tests that week and she said he had called her into his office and told her he was approving it but it was also based on the journal she will have to write.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I would not have decided to take my children if it was not going to be excused but my elementary son's principle had no problem at all with it and the principle at the middle school had no problem with it. I first asked before Christmas to make sure it was approved before I spent the money to buy in for the kids to go. He said it was fine but too early to do the paperwork. Well by January he was made asst. super and we got this principle. Then when I asked today for the paperwork he starting saying it wasn't something to be approved since he didn't think it was educational.
I definitely would not have taken them out of school for a week if it was going to be a hardship on them but it was okayed beforehand. I think he may have wanted to check her records and make sure that she really was an A student before he just said yes to me. He has not ever met me before so I guess he didn't know if I was someone who was always getting their child out of school.
Just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was soo upset all day today. Then when I picked up my daughter I told her to be prepared that he may not approve it and she would get zeroes on her tests that week and she said he had called her into his office and told her he was approving it but it was also based on the journal she will have to write.

Hmmmm, just thinking here - but could this possibly be a case of a new person trying to assert his authority - maybe he's hearing alot of "That's not the way we've always done it" or "that's not what Mr. Smith would do"? So, because the previous principal okayed the trip, he is being tougher - just to show that he's the boss now....????

 

[Flamingo]

Did you go and ask the old principal to let the new principal know he had already approved this trip??? If he did this will it make a difference......?