Student asking for a snow day snowballs into something bigger

[skylark]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

If I as a parent feel that it is unsafe to take/send my child to school - he is not going, no matter what the school decides. The kid should have been talking to his parents about not going to school if the concern was his safety.

That's all fine and good until a truancy keeps the kid out of his next school-sponsored activity (like the next debate competition). And some schools won't allow you to make up a test if you were truant... should he have to take a failing grade on a test?

I don't think the kid was completely in the right... but I think that women like this are the reason kids learn how to bully so well. She should have ignored the message, called his parents, called her husband at work to have him deal with it, or else made sure that her phone number was unlisted if she was that touchy.

Some people don't understand as well as others the line between work and home. I've had teacher friends talk about how many parents feel free to call them at home quite frequently. A polite, please contact me (or my husband, in this woman's case) at the office would be sufficient to get the point across.

[SWTXBelle]

I think you mean "unexcused" vs. "excused".
I dealt with the whole "unexcused vs. excused" thing when I was in high school and had to be absent for some horse shows. My mother called the school to arrange my absence. She was told that no, I could not be absent (I was an "A" student, btw). My mother wanted to know if she reported that I was sick if I would be considered unexcused. She was told no. So she told them that if I was absent with her permission, I would always be "sick". I never had to miss a speech tournament.
In the case of the kid in VA - again, I'm talking about if the conditions were indeed dangerous (which I understand they were not). If I have to weigh possibly losing my child by sending him out in dangerous weather or risking an absence, it's an easy choice.
And I think the wife went over the edge - but I would like to hear the first call before I decide if she is totally nuts.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I think you mean "unexcused" vs. "excused".
I dealt with the whole "unexcused vs. excused" thing when I was in high school and had to be absent for some horse shows. My mother called the school to arrange my absence. She was told that no, I could not be absent (I was an "A" student, btw). My mother wanted to know if she reported that I was sick if I would be considered unexcused. She was told no. So she told them that if I was absent with her permission, I would always be "sick". I never had to miss a speech tournament.

It's nice when schools have protocols that allow for people to be honest and still be able to do what they need to do, and it's a shame when the policies basically compel people to lie.

Sometimes what complicates the whole excused/unexcused thing is that in Georgia the state actually gives a list of things that can be considered "excused" for official attendance reporting. What can be worked around in most cases, though, is that an absence can be recored as officially unexcused but kids can be allowed to make up work.

[knight_shadow]

Back when I was in high school, if my parents or I thought it was unsafe for me to go to school, I didn't go. My teachers knew that I didn't just cut school for fun (that often), so if I missed an assignment, I was able to make it up.

I think that kid was out of line calling the home of a school official. It's not his job to be an answering service for students. If the student REALLY didn't feel like going that day, he should have just stayed at home.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by skylark

That's all fine and good until a truancy keeps the kid out of his next school-sponsored activity (like the next debate competition). And some schools won't allow you to make up a test if you were truant... should he have to take a failing grade on a test?

I think if it's actually unsafe to go to school, then you accept the consequences for your decision as a parent. Not making up a test pales in comparison to dying in a wreck.

I'm also in a district where you just have to be present for a half day the day of an activity to participate. If it was unsafe to go to school, then it's unsafe to go to debate.