CaliforniaWaiting

Hi All,
I've searched and searched but can't seem to find any information about how US schools and parents view taking kids out of school during term time. Here in Australia they are really easy going about it but in the UK the schools are generally very anti. It's not something I'm planning to do a lot, if ever, but just wanted to get a feel for things.
Just wondered if anyone had any experience with this?
Thanks

Bob

Going to depend on the school district.

Some will be very against it, others not so much, but it'll also depend on their ages. If it's primary school, they aren't going to be as bothered as much as if they were in high school. Too many unexplained absences can lead to trouble though, well down my way and that would be taken out of school for non-illness related things.

Guindalf

In a lot of states, a minimum number of days (180?)is required to complete the grade year, so if a child is not there, they may well have to make up the time before being allowed to proceed up a grade. They do have summer school to help make up the time (or for-fee private lessons.

All-in-all, it's NOT recommended to take kids out of school during the semester.

Pulaski

This.

After a certain number of days missed, for any reason, they might be held back a year. At my daughter's school it is 30 days missed that would get her held back, but you don't want to take children out of school for a couple of weeks holiday, then have a couple of boughts of illness and be approaching the limit and risk them being held back.

petitefrancaise

Attendance is one of those things that is closely looked at for a school as a whole. I think (not totally sure) that the amount of funding is linked to attendance rates.

In our school district, all absences over 3 days require a doctor's note. In the HS any absence of more than 3 days (for whatever reason) in the semester means that you can't exempt any exams no matter how well you've done in class.

kodokan

A week in elementary for a special trip wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think you could make a habit of it without them getting very sniffy.

In middle and high school, it would be very tough. Anything they miss, they have to make up - assignments done in class, homework, etc - so my son doesn't even like to schedule dentist appointments during the school day as it creates so much hassle for him.

And they told us at the high school parents' intro night that if they miss 10 periods of a particular class during a school year, without a VERY good medical reason, then they can't get the credit for that class for that year regardless of their grades.

kins

My oldest is 13 and in 8th grade and up till now it's been fine. They just give them some homework to do while they're away, or ask them to write a journal.

I imagine it will get more complicated at high school next year as described above.

MarylandNed

It's very simple. Ask the school or school board for the attendance policy. Most have web sites where you can find the attendance policy. Schools in my area have an attendance officer.

If you want to search first, search for attendance policies on excused and unexcused absences. Taking a child out of school for vacation will almost certainly always be an unexcused absence - so see what the consequence of hitting a certain number of unexcused absences is. Remember that there is no national standard - so much depends on the local school board.

When our kids were very young, we knew another child who was taken out of elementary school for week-long vacations twice a year throughout his entire time at the school. He is a bright kid and it didn't affect him too much. The parents did it a bit less often when he was in middle school and less often again in high school. Much depends on the individual child, but, in general, the younger the child the more easily you can get away with it without affecting academic performance.

Having said all that, it is frowned upon. We've never done it for vacations of a week or more but we've had our kids miss the odd day here and there when we've gone somewhere for a long weekend. For example, maybe the Monday is a holiday and we take off on the Thursday afternoon which means they miss school on Friday. We always make sure that they make up any work missed. Sometimes we've had them miss 2 days like this. Not very often though.

N1cky

It's definitely frowned upon where we are in the Bay Area. After the 3rd day of unexcused absence, you get a letter home telling you that you are breaking the law, or something along those lines. After 5 days, you can be asked to take your child out of the school, not officially leave, it's something to do with how the school is paid I believe, it's better for them to have the kid withdrawn that absent.

These are the extracts from our school handbook.

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES
Below are examples of unexcused absences. Students may be assigned an academic recovery class after school supervised by staff to make up lost work caused by the unexcused absence. After 3 unexcused absences a student is considered a truant by law.

Unexcused Absences: (examples)
Oversleeping Missed Bus
Transportation problems Work at home (babysitting, etc.)
Suspension from school Leaving school without permission
Concerts Shopping
Vacations Non-school social, professional or athletic activities

INDEPENDENT STUDY
Any student who will be absent for 5 or more days should contact the Attendance Office and discuss the possibility of an Independent Study Contract. A request for an independent study must be made by a parent and done at least a week prior to the absence, except in the case of illness. An independent study contract is approved at the discretion of the school administration. A student must be in good academic standing to qualify. You may request an Independent Study contract for the following reasons:
• Illness or injury
• Educational alternative
• Vacation or personal necessity

Sally Redux

Yes ours lost funding for each day of absence. Also not a good idea as they get older as they have to keep up the GPA.

There was a huge outbreak of sickness/absence to visit colleges when the Coachella Festival was on though

kins

Our school has a planned family absence policy:

A. Teachers will not be expected to reteach materials.

B. Tests and quizzes missed must be made up in accordance with the present make-up policy. (All homework must be made up within the same number of days as the days missed.)

C. Reports, term papers or projects that would become due during the period of absence must be submitted to the teacher prior to the absence or be subject to a grade reduction.

The manual discourages parents from taking their children on vacation during term time but does not ban it.

It's also an extremely high-achieving school btw...

MarylandNed

They can't ban parents from taking their kids out of school on vacation. How would a ban even work? All they can do is chalk it up to unexcused absences and then you suffer the consequences of hitting any limit.

In my area, kids can be absent for up to 4 days and it is excused if the parent gives an acceptable reason in writing within 3 school days of the child returning to school. An absence of 5 days or more requires a doctor's note otherwise it is flagged as unexcused.

Hotscot

Here the school gets funds on daily attendance per child. And will lose it it if you take the child out.

Also, my wife being a teacher, it disrupts the teaching schedule. And for some reason the parent thinks that my wife should put in extra time to make sure there's assignments prepared for taking away.

Then of course the parents get all in your face when their precious sprog's education suffers.

A lot depends on the priority..holiday or education, and it's a dog eat dog world out there.

Pulaski

What gets me, and I'm not even a teacher, is that a child missing a week or two of class is disruptive, but it would be complete chaos if every child took two weeks out of class at random during the year, maintaining an orderly teaching schedule would become virtually impossible. ..... So all the parents that do take their children out of class are relying not only on the good will of the teachers, but also on the common sense of the majority of parents who don't take their children out of class for holidays.

Bob

Though TBF, how many folks actually take a week, never mind a two week holiday? It's going to be a rare event in of itself