School districts punishing parents for taking kids out for Disney!

[leighe]

I think the key is to be a responsible parent.

And of course this is the crux of the entire issue. Schools are required to educate all children, regardless of how responsible/irresponsible their parents are. Hence strict attendence rules.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

And of course this is the crux of the entire issue. Schools are required to educate all children, regardless of how responsible/irresponsible their parents are. Hence strict attendence rules.

I agree. I have 2 teachers in my family, so there are many debates about all things school related all the time. I'm not an advocate of habitual absenteeism by any stretch. I do think there can be a happy medium. However, if our school system had a set policy against kids who vacation during the year, I'm not sure what we would do.

 

[hannah03]

I haven't read any of the other posts but feelings on it are that if the child hasn't missed any days of school or very few during the entire year and he/she is a good student and/or doesn't need extra help or special needs, then I see no harm in it. If the parent needs to take the work with them to get done, then that's what should be done. I don't think it's a good idea to do it at the beginning of the school year though, only at/towards the end.

 

[momto2girls]

I SO agree with this-my child is my responsibility, and as a responsible parent, these were all reasons we decided to homeschool. I did not like the amount of "laws" governing over what my child eats, how many days are excused and why my child is penalized if I take her out early due to the fact she is in the gym watching a Disney movie! We can do this at home, cuddled up on the sofa if we wanted to. Although this did not happen in our 2 years at a public school but one time, it bugged me that they told me about it. I also do not see the point of sending a kindergartener to school if there is a substitute and all she did was play all day. My child should not be penalized, if her teacher were not present, for not being there. I was and would always be willing to take my child out of school for a family vacation, Disney or not-so long as they were making good grades and not struggling.
Homeschooling IS hard, but the benefits outweigh the hard parts! I would put my children back into the public school system (at that school-it was a good school with LOTS of parental involvement), should that day come, but for now, the stress levels of not having to deal with all that mess is better for our family.

I so agree with all of these comments, plus the ones that this poster quoted. These issues are a big reason why I homeschool as well. I am responsible for the decisions I make for my child.

However, if my children ever attend school (we love homeschooling, but we make the decision to continue on a year-by-year basis), it will definitely be to a private school, not public.

 

[Houseof Mouse 10]

In my school district if my son has more than 6 absences and does not have a dr.'s note to excuse some of them they can fail him for that quarter.

I don't think its fair at all. As long as the make up work is done whats the harm really?

 

[leighe]

I don't think its fair at all. As long as the make up work is done whats the harm really?

Make up work cannot and should not = quality classroom instruction. If your school and/or teacher are doing thier job a student shouldn't be able to miss a lot of school and get the same quality education by just doing make-up work.

 

[Hawk]

I informed the assistant principal that excused absences were handed down in the following order: God, *ME*, judge, doctor. If I excuse it, it's excused. Period. After a glance at the Supreme Court's decision granting parents the right to the "care, custody, and control" of their children, her credit was reinstated and we never had to have the discussion again.

My parents and my attendance philosophy has always been, if the kid can make the grade without their bum warming the seat, so be it. Let's just say that my stress level has dropped significantly with homeschooling.

I could not have said it better myself. We take our children out around the times of a school vacation; usually 3-4 days before actual school vacation and 2-3 days after return for a total of 5-7 days of missed school. In the 2007/2008 school year it will be twice (November and April). My two oldest are in college, but my youngest are 6th grade and Kindergarten. I can recall my two oldest not wanting to miss exams one year while in High School so I stayed behind until they were done while my wife left with the two youngest. Never a problem with grade school years.

Tim/Hawk

 

[lori1043]

I couldn't agree more! BTW I was homeschooled for the last 4 years of jr high and high school and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm of the opinion that my child is JUST THAT.....MY CHILD!!!

What a great testimony for HS'ers!-

on another note...
plus, I just won't go to Disney during the summer. I did that at 16 with my family(parents did not want us to miss, but then my little brother was struggling) and it was HOT and the lines were horrifying. We have had too many spring and fall WDW trips with gorgeous weather and smaller lines that you don't mind waiting in since you're not sticky! I think most elementary schools would be fine with a weeks absence. If you have a rippor(sp?) with the teacher and your child is doing fine (OR he/she is in kindergarten or first grade, for goodness sake). I also will not go camping in the heat or cold of winter(fall and spring are best down here). The only place that is "good" in the summer is the beach!-and even that is better in the fall!
Good luck with these decisions. Every family is different in thier thoughts and I find this intriguing. I don't think it is WRONG to have a policy of not taking kids out-I find that a VERY responsible rule. I just do not think it necessary in certain cases and believe that vacation time with family is JUST as IMPORTANT if not MORE important than missing a week of school. After all-the child has MORE than enough time to make it up if they need to. They are in school more than they are home. In the whole scheme of "life"-do what is true to yourself and of utmost importance.

Lori

We take HS'ing on a year to year also! And once my kids are past the 3rd grade, I would not put them in public school, they would go to the local Christian school. We re-evaluate every year after Stanford testing(we see where we need to improve and work on it). PLUS we HS most of the year right now since Christmas break and summer seem to take out more time than the norm.

 

[graygables]

For those who are "go on school vacation" folks, the MK was closed for a bit on 4/3 and BB closed both yesterday and today, due to capacity crowds. NO THANKS! Give me early December (or late February or mid September...) any day! Yet another reason to homeschool...

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I'm a firm believer in not taking the kids out of school for a vacation. My kids are plenty smart enough to make up the coursework, but that's beside the point. The school system gives us roughly 16 weeks a year during which we can plan vacations. I have no problem staying within those dates. School is one of the first commitments and responsibilities a kid has. A fine example of wants v. needs. Beyond that, it's a matter of respecting the institution. I see parents demanding teachers and staff give 110% but seem unwilling or uncaring if their student gives the same. I realize I'm in the minority. Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last lol

YMMV

 

[disneyjunkie]

I'd pick crowds and closings over missing days from school any day of the week.

We've been there during the week leading up to Easter. Sure the parks were packed, but we go expecting crowds. It didn't stop us from having a great time. We were able to ride our favorites many times and avoid huge lines.

We always travel during school break. I've never paid rack rates. We've never fell victim to the heat and humidity. Orlando in August is no different from NYC in August. We've never had the crowds impact out trips.

By vacationing when school is out, I don't have to deal with unexcused days or having my son's grades drop because of the zeros he would receive for missing classes.

I'm sure I could go in and complained to anyone who would listen about the zeros, but why bother? If I make the decision to pull him out, I have to be willing to deal with the consequences of that decision.

I'm sure if I couldn't vacation during school breaks I'd feel differently. Since that isn't the case, I think it would be foolish for me to pick a trip to WDW over my son's grades.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to this. We all have to do what we think is best for our families. For some of us that may mean pulling your kids out for vacation. For others it may mean adhering to the school vacation schedule.

 

[leighe]

For those who are "go on school vacation" folks, the MK was closed for a bit on 4/3 and BB closed both yesterday and today, due to capacity crowds. NO THANKS! Give me early December (or late February or mid September...) any day! Yet another reason to homeschool...

I'm pretty sure I'm never going to make decisions about my children's educations based on the crowd levels at Disney World.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

I have not all of the responses here, but I do have a distinct opinion.

I send my kids to private school. I pay the same taxes as everyone whom sends their kids to public school. If the public school system suddenly had all of us private kids attending, they would be in dire straits!!! I think it's incredible that they would charge anyone to take their children out of school. After all, I don't get any credit for not sending my kids to the public school. Where do MY tax dollars go in the public school system??? So in my opinion, take your kids out to go to Disney or anywhere else, and figure that there are lots of private school kids whose parents are giving the public schools money that their kids never use. I if that school may not get a "bonus" for having kids attend a set number of days, they do still have multiple extra dollars from the kids whom go to Private schools.

 

[momto2girls]

I'm pretty sure I'm never going to make decisions about my children's educations based on the crowd levels at Disney World.

I'm sure that graygables didn't mean that quite the way it sounded. We homeschoolers take our children's education very seriously. We wouldn't do it if we weren't extremely committed to providing our children with the best education possible. Homeschooling is definitely not the easy route. Taking vacation whenever we want is just a lovely bonus for homeschooling, not a reason to do it.

 

[meandtheguys2]

I'm sure that graygables didn't mean that quite the way it sounded.

Yep...humor is our friend...

I'll take the benefits where i find them! My gf's family went to France for 2 months last year, and are going to Australia for 2 months next fall. They HS primarily to be able to travel with their family.

We are going to Williamsburg for 2 weeks, sailing the great lakes for 3 weeks, going to Honduras for 3 weeks to help build a medical facility, work 2 weeks at Native American Reservation, and Disney...another 2 weeks... during the next school year. All are good things that will teach my children about the greater world out there. We don't homeschool to vacation, but it is one heck of a bonus!

 

[eliza61]

I've never taken my kids out of school for vacation because we've always taught them that education is first period and I've never brought into the arguement that it's quality family time. It always made me want to say " what happens the other 50 weeks of the year, do we not spend quality time with our kids". Anyway, I think if the school district feels excessive absenteeism (sp) is causing a financial strain, they have the right to make moves to counter them. Hopefully if it is offensive to the parents of the school district, they will come together and try to find another solution to the problem. As a member of a school board, one problem we have is that we don't get parental/community involvement. Usually only happens after there is a controvesory.

 

[Pineymom2]

I'm not sure how I feel about the money issue, but as a teacher I am againest taking kids out of school for vacation. Don't get me wrong-once for a dream vacation is fine. But we have families going to WDW ever year for a week and never on a school vacation! ANd then the families that go skiing, to the shore etc. every season it's something new. Now I'm not an antivacation person, but I wish parents would realize how much extra work it is for us to get all that school work ready! And then 9 out of 10 times it is not even done or it's done on the plane coming home! We cannot make up for the missed lessons. yOur child will only get so much out of papers that they missed the instruction for. I wish that I could take a vacation during off=peak seasons too! But alas, I cannot miss school and must pay highest prices-maybe that's why my family has NEVER been to Disney! Sorry if I offended anyone-this is a touchy issue in our school!

 

[seashoreCM]

How many kids, particularly of junior or senior high age (or their parents) would telephone classmates during their vacation to keep up with school assignments?

This would be an alternative to having the teacher prepare anything in advance.

 

[Pineymom2]

I do believe that parents should have the ultimate decision of what's best for their child. But please don't treat the teachers like idiots! i'm tired of giving up my lunches and a lot of afterschool time to get fun vacation related things together and even those aren't done! I send journals (write in every other day), send us a postcard (happened once!), share photos, brochures etc. take Flat stanley with you (class mascot based on a book teaches geography, cultures, etc.) And please don't think that I am going to re-teach your child the lessons that they have missed or make up any tests that they missed while on vacation. I do all that I can for my students but I'm only one person. I cannot become a private tutor every time a child goes away on vacation. And please remember everything your child's teacher does for them regarding vacations- multiply that by at least 10!

 

[tigger813]

I'm currently a teacher who has had many children taken out for vacations during the school year. Unfortunately it's usually the ones who really can't afford to be out. For some they go only when the parents can get off. One student's dad runs a landscaping company so he can't go until November and before it starts snowing and he does plowing. I had a parent last week send in a note that they had a last minute unexpected chance to go to Disney. THe problem I had was that it was during mandatory state testing which I had told the mother of at conferences 2 weeks before and her response was she never knew it was MCAS time and there was nothing she could do as she'd laready bought the tickets.
I recently resigned from my teaching position effective at the end of the school year. We bought DVC so we can go when we want. I've talked to fellow teachers who said they didn't work when their kids were little and took them out up until 5th grade. We have an almost 7 year old in first grade and a 2 1/2 year old. I jokingly say that I'm going to be one of those bad parents and take my child out of school for a week. I've only gone to Disney during summer or once during April vacation and really want to be able to go when the rest of the world isn't there. We won't do this every year. We have other reasons for doing it this year. We're taking my parents who really love Disney.
My dad has had cancer this year and is 70 and we want to take them when it's not too hot for them and they can both still enjoy it. We also all love Christmas and want to experience it Disney style.
Our school system has a policy in our handbook that teachers are not required to send work that will be missed while the child is on vacation. We put it in the child's desk and it has to be made up on return. When parents ask for work we copy the handbook and send them that quote. Rarely do they question this. If we're in the middle of a unit, I tell the students to continue where we are.

Sorry this is so long but I wanted to give another angle on this situation.