Texas Schools Attendance & Taking kids out for vacation (Spring: home, middle school)

[sapphire]

Originally Posted by TXtrkgrl

I often wonder about the boys from McAllister park that were playing baseball that first week of school.

Someone in that thread asked how many days of school they had missed, and this was Bowie's response:

Technically none, from the schools standpoint, because they are considered "unenrolled no shows." When they return to school on Tuesday, they'll have to re-enroll.

[Camper1]

Originally Posted by TXtrkgrl

I often wonder about the boys from McAllister park that were playing baseball that first week of school.

I wondered about that too. I bet it was something like unexcused but acceptable due to sports related.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that they were allowed to go. It was a great experience for them but if it's OK for one then it should be OK for all. Time out is time out.. fair is fair.

Oops, I was to late in posting this. It was already explained. But I bet they still saved spots for them. Good thing their school wasn't capped.

[cr1039]

Originally Posted by vzwkelly

Have you ever tried to take a vacation during school breaks? Some of the most popular vacation spots where you would take your children are overcrowded and expensive beyond words. Airfares are doubled, car rental rates are doubled, hotel pricing is doubled.

During our 22 years in the military, money was tight. We always enjoyed our family time when we could go somewhere and not have crowds. Be it the national parks, Disney, cruises etc. We also had to plan according to my husband's schedule. Whether he was deployed or not. So one year we went to Hawaii before he got sent to Korea for a year. We took the kids out of school and went in May. Thank goodness the Hale Koa is there for military families to vacation at a reasonable price.

We worked with what we had available to us. And for some people 5 days out of school is worth it to save the money and have those experiences with their family.

Rick Steves had a guest on his show a few months ago, a woman who decided with her husband to take each of the kiddos on a memorable European vacation.

They decided that one parent would take each kiddo right before he/she turned 12. That way, the kiddo would get discounts at all of the museums, still be able to eat off of cheaper kids menus, get an airline discount and a major (free?) discount on the trains in Europe.

They did not want to take one big vacation with all three kids as the younger 2 surely would not get as much enjoyment or memories out of it, in their opinion.

I believe they also traveled during off season, which falls during the school year.

The story may be a bit off topic, but no, it is not unusual for kiddos to be taken out of school for travel.

Sometimes and hopefully, the travel experience is worlds more educational than sitting in a classroom with 30 other kids and a textbook could ever be.

[coffee4me]

Yes they are super strict about attendance. One of my daughters has severe allergies and was absent a lot because she was miserably sick. I had a very difficult time getting them to accept her abscences as excused even with a doctor's note. In addition to this, if you get more than about 7 abscences they will forward your name to the attendance office who will begin sending out letters to you and calling you.

On the flipside, they are totally hands off with homeschooling. Texas has basically zero requirements for homeschooling other than submitting an intent to homeschool letter. If you think you are going to be needing a more flexible schedule and don't want to be hounded you could go that route. Texas Virtual Academy is actually through the public school and therefore free (since it's the public school) Only it's on the computer and you log your attendance daily. A lot of people who travel prefer this because your child can be on vacation and still doing their schoolwork on the laptop and still in full attendance.

Also, Kindergarten is not required in Texas.

[TXtrkgrl]

It's all about the money. Your kid doesn't go to school, they don't get their funding from the state.

[pobre]

Originally Posted by TXtrkgrl

It's all about the money. Your kid doesn't go to school, they don't get their funding from the state.

Doesn't that make sense?

[cakmke]

Put him on a little league team...the school would say "no problem"
don't let him be a world champion horseback rider then he'll get
taken to court and .....

[sapphire]

If you're referring to the McAllister Park LL'ers....the school didn't say "no problem".....they weren't given an opportunity to say anything. The students were considered "unenrolled" and had to enroll upon returning. Maybe you should try that with your horseback rider. Or else, homeschool him/her.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by TXtrkgrl

It's all about the money. Your kid doesn't go to school, they don't get their funding from the state.

Originally Posted by pobre

Doesn't that make sense?

Not necessarily. Does the school get funding if they suspend a student? If they don't, does that encourage the school to be more lenient on discipline? THAT sure wouldn't make sense.

At my child's school (non-public), we are told that the parent is responsible for making the best decisions regarding their child's education. The school looks upon education as a partnership, so if the parent decides that a vacation in October could enhance the child's learning (see Europe comment above), then the school is ok with that decision.

[pobre]

Originally Posted by Montirob

At my child's school (non-public), we are told that the parent is responsible for making the best decisions regarding their child's education. The school looks upon education as a partnership, so if the parent decides that a vacation in October could enhance the child's learning (see Europe comment above), then the school is ok with that decision.

Education IS a partnership...but there need to be some guidelines as to how the state funds it...daily attendance makes sense.

However, the school still needs to keep those kids who miss school up to speed. Most children are fine. But some cannot afford even to miss a day.

Would your child's school be OK with keeping kids out of school if tuition was paid on a per-diem basis?