WWYD? Unexcused absences before I pulled them out of public school

[septmommy]

I have been very excited to pull my kids out of public school and had all the paperwork ready to be turned in yesterday.  Of course, both my kids woke up yesterday with high fevers and sore throats so we just stayed in and cuddled all day.  I dropped the paperwork to the superintendant today instead and when we returned home there was a letter of excessive unexcused absence in the mail for my son. 

Part of me wants to call and explain some of the absences and the other part thinks I should say nothing and hope they never bring it up again since I'm homeschooling now.  What would you do?  I guess I'm just worried about a truant officer bugging me or that they will deny my request to withdraw because of the absences.

Just to provide all the info....the majority of the unexcused absences are because of starting school a week late.  We lived in a district that started September 8th and had a last minute emergency that caused us to move here on the 7th when this district had already started school on the 30th.  They marked my son as absent for that week, but not my daughter?

The other reason is that my son HATES school and there were a couple days I just couldn't get him out the door.  This is big reason we are homeschooling now.

[CCJWGM]

If I were you I would take a copy to the school and simply ask them if you still need to worry about it since you are homeschooling.  Since your paper work and the letter crossed path they may well indeed say it doesn't matter.  I'm a big fan of dotting my i's and crossing my t's though.  I like everything to be in order, especially when dealing with institutions such as schools. 

Have fun homeschooling!!!  I wish you luck and hope it does your son well.  Oh how I wish I hadn't been forced to go to school when I hated it. 

[phathui5]

Can they really deny your plan to homeschool? We've lived in Maryland and New York, and in both places, you're not asking for permission to homeschool when you file paperwork, you're letting them know.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by septmommy Just to provide all the info....the majority of the unexcused absences are because of starting school a week late.  We lived in a district that started September 8th and had a last minute emergency that caused us to move here on the 7th when this district had already started school on the 30th.  They marked my son as absent for that week, but not my daughter?

My goodness you're lucky to be getting away from that place. Any system irrational enough to mark a kid absent for days when they didn't even live in the district?? There are no kind words to describe.

[journeymom]

Not irrational, just non-rational.  The people in charge of tracking absences for the school/district didn't have complete information. That seems especially clear, since they have different information for your two children.  It's a mistake, simple as that.  What's the term? Garbage in, garbage out?  Erroneous information put in on the front end results in erroneous consequences on the back end.

I don't know what the atmosphere is like at your son's school, but I would simply go to the front office and explain what you explained here.   They might be able to clear it up there and then (change it from unexcused to excused absences),  or tell you who to talk to about it. 

I could be wrong but I don't think it'll be as ...emotional? as you seem to think it's going to be.  Good luck and happy homeschooling.  :)

Edited to add: It always galls me when we get mail from the district about my kids' unexcused absences. The wording is just slightly scolding and my response is, "Hey now!  My kids aren't truant trouble-makers and I don't like the tone you're taking there!"  But the district deals with more than 47,000 students, of which mine are just 2, many parents simply don't give a damn about getting their kids to school consistently, don't care about their kids' education like you and I do, and as my daughter's high school is fond of pointing out, that one school loses $78,000 a day due to absent students.  They don't know that you aren't one of those parents that they have to cajole and harass into getting them to cooperate.

Edited by journeymom - 12/2/10 at 9:18am

[2xy]

First of all.....unless you live in Philadelphia, the compulsory age of attendance in PA is 8yo. I see in another post that both of your children are under the age of 8. By law, they don't even have to be in school.

Secondly, you are not requesting to take them out of school. You are notifying the school that you're taking them out of school. This is your right under the Constitution. As long as you follow the laws of the state, you are good. Remember (and tell yourself this a million times)....school policy does not trump state law.

If you have not already hooked up with support groups, I suggest you do. School administrators are notoriously misinformed about homeschooling laws and procedures, and also tend to foist their own opinions of what should be required into the mix.

Pennsylvania Home Education Network

Pennsylvania Home Educators Association

[septmommy]

Thanks.  I'm awful at confrontation so I'm letting their dad handle this part.  So far I think all is well.  And because my son was already in 1st grade he is required to adhere to the attendance policy.  It's only 8 years old if they've never been in 1st grade.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by journeymom 

Not irrational, just non-rational.  The people in charge of tracking absences for the school/district didn't have complete information. That seems especially clear, since they have different information for your two children.  It's a mistake, simple as that.  What's the term? Garbage in, garbage out?  Erroneous information put in on the front end results in erroneous consequences on the back end.

Actually, my response was based on the assumption that someone had decided to report her son as absent, someone else went ahead and entered the information without going "a kid was absent for 8 days in a row? really??", and someone else also failed to find out whether there was some error before printing a truancy warning.

Starting with the OP's ds's teacher.

If they were planning to stay in the school, it'd be fixable and worth the effort, but as it is, one can just comment "yeesh." and move on.

[Lisa1970]

If it is not a legal truancy letter asking that you appear in court, I would ignore it and go on with your own life. Once you withdraw your child, it is best to cut off all contact. Many schools try to rope you back in with claims that you have to sign forms and such that you do not have to sign. You do not want them to use absences in the past to try to hold over you. Chances are, they simply closed your childrens files and life went on. They do not notice or care that there were absences when you left. But if you call them and bring it to their attention, they might suddenly care. See what I am saying?

[mattemma04]

I got a truancy letter for my ds while I had him out of school.Some days he was sick,and the last week he was out because he was hit in school(kids),and I refused to let him back to school. Our truancy officer also handles the homeschool letters.It was just a notification of missed days exceeding what is permitted, not a court letter so I ignored it. I did let the school know I was going to be withdrawing the kids to homeschool them.

I would just let the school know you are withdrawing the kids.I think most have papers you need to sign.I don't think the truancy in any way affects whether or not your homeschooling papers are accepted.If your papers are in line with what the PA law wants then you will be good to go. Best wishes for you and the kids!

[septmommy]

The school called and asked me to come sign a withdrawal form.  I went in and signed and they were very pleasant and wished us the best of luck.  I didn't mention the absences and neither did they.  I'm so happy to be done with that part and just start enjoying my kiddos.  Now if I could just find the ovaries to tell my parents :)

[Lisa1970]

Originally Posted by septmommy 

The school called and asked me to come sign a withdrawal form.  I went in and signed and they were very pleasant and wished us the best of luck.  I didn't mention the absences and neither did they.  I'm so happy to be done with that part and just start enjoying my kiddos.  Now if I could just find the ovaries to tell my parents :)

I love the part about finding the ovaries.

Good luck with the parents!

[septmommy]

Thanks :)