July 20, 2010 by Brian
Filed under Posts About The Franklin County Attendance Policy
A large part of the problem with the attendance policy is their definition of “excused absence”. My daughter threw up at school. The nurse called and told me I had to pick her up. She continued throwing up for the remainder of the day and into the next afternoon. I found out that 2 of her friends had a stomach bug the day before. Their Mother’s told me that theirs lasted for about a day and a half. I kept her in bed, tried to keep her hydrated, and let her sleep. Aside from the early dismissal, she missed 2 days of school. According to the attendance policy, these are 2 unexcused absences. My daughter is an A/B student. Should these absences REALLY be treated as unexcused??? Since when is a Mother NOT capable of determining when her child is sick and whether or not a visit to the Doctor is necessary, or even makes sense? Call you doctor and ask what to do if your child has a stomach bug. They will tell you to do exactly what I did. I REALLY hope that I didn’t just put targets on my children’s backs by giving my opinion. They are currently hard working students with good grades, and love school. I’d hate to see them penalized because I’m choosing to speak up. I suspect that same fear is keeping other parents quiet.
Comment by Kari H. — July 16, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
Kari H, you are exactly right on that “target” mention. I was a PTA leader for 10 years in the Bedford County school system and I had many parents bring concerns and questions to me because they were afraid of retaliation tactics against them or their child if they spoke out and in a taxpayer funded school system that WE ALL pay for, that is just wrong. I have confronted many a school board, board of supervisors, as well as teachers, vice principals and a Superintendent. If you do it well, the only target on your kids is the one that says, “Don’t even think about it!”. But when a fool did happen to test that theory…well let’s just say Sarah Palin is not the only one who knows about Mama Grizzlies! I have no doubt there are teachers who still use my name as an epithet but I would not change a thing. Someone has to stand up and tell the truth when it needs telling and most of all someone has to stand up and speak the truth to power when it hurts kids who do not deserve it. You all stay strong and be the backbone for those without one.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — July 16, 2010 @ 3:02 pm
Kari H – I wholeheartedly agree. We, as parents, are quite capable of making a decision about whether or not our child is too sick to attend school. Sending sick kids to school results in spreading sickness in the school as well as at home – resulting in parents missing days of work as well. Speaking of, if a FCHS staff member misses 5 days of school due to illness or vacation, are they penalized??? Is Dr. Lackey penalized? If they were scrutinized in the same manner I’d be willing to bet there would be a lot of job openings in the Franklin County School system!
Comment by Amanda B — July 19, 2010 @ 1:37 pm