GCSSD's Attendance Policy Should be Changed.

As parents in the GCSSD, we recognize the importance of attendance at school. However, the GCSSD attendance policy places undue hardships on families. Allowing only 5 parent notes per school year places families in the position of either sending sick children to school or forcing families to pay medical bills that they may not be able to afford. This policy should be modified to allow 5 parent days per semester. At a minimum, the policy should be amended to reflect partial days. Additionally, this policy limits our ability to parent our children. As frequently happens in our society, we have gone from one extreme to the other. 

The previous policy considered children as present if they were at school at least half of the day. The current policy considers the child absent if they miss any portion of the day. If your child is in attendance for at least half of the day, this should be considered as a half day. Two half days could be considered as an absence. But, arriving to school 30 minutes late should not be considered as an absence. Although I realize my children are not the only children in the District and the policies should not be created specifically for my children, I will use my children as examples. These are situations that I am fully aware of. I know there are many other families in the district who are in similar situations. My oldest child has had the following: Absent 1 day in August, Left school 20 minutes early in October, Arrived at school at 9:17 AM in February, Left school 1 hour early in February, Left school 2 hours early in March to attend a funeral. This list does not include any time that is covered by a doctor's statement. If you add up all of the time that she has been out of school, not counting the days excused by a doctor, she has missed roughly 1 full day and approximately 4 hours and 35 minutes. However, she has exhausted all of the allowed "parent notes." Although she is not in danger of being reported for truancy, this places us in the position that we must visit the doctor if she does not feel well. Or, she must attend school and hope the nurse sends her home. As you are probably aware and will read further down, the nurses rarely send children home when they are ill-- generally, they must have a fever in order to be sent home. 

When the principals can determine whose funeral we should attend, this policy undermines the parents roles in shaping the values of our children. Recently, I picked up my children early to attend a funeral. This funeral was not the funeral of someone who is related by blood. However, this person was closer to my family than ANY of our blood relatives. Last year, I did not take my children out of school to attend the funeral of their uncle, as we were not close. But, this dear friend who passed away was family in every sense of the word, except blood. The policy of the school board specifically states "The following notes will be used to excuse student absences: (1) maximum of five (5) parent notes per year; 2) doctor; and 3) funeral home. A parent note is considered used when a student misses a partial or full day and returns with a written note from parent/guardian excusing them from the absence." If I, as a parent, or my children want to attend the funeral of a loved one, the principal should not have the authority to determine that this one does not count. 

If a child leaves school 20 minutes early, this should not be considered as the use of a parent note.  In the past, a child who was not feeling well and did not sleep well might be allowed to sleep in a little and then bring them into school a little later. However, this policy makes no difference for a child who comes in at 9 AM and one who does not attend school at all. There is no incentive to bring your child to school if they are feeling better. Instead, we must rely on school nurses to send them home when they are sick. Rather, the nurses have been trained to "keep the child at school." This is great in most instances. However, there are many times that this policy fails. For example, my child came home from school this year (February 2015). She was not sent home by a nurse. But, I picked her up from school at the end of the day. I took her to the doctor's office where she was diagnosed with strep throat. But, a trip to the nurse earlier in the day had resulted in her being sent back to class. In the previous school year, no one bothered to call me when my child fell outside. She cut her arm. This was cut badly enough that they gave her clothes from the clothes closet since hers were covered in blood. This is a time that a parent should be called and at least given the information to make a decision. 

We realize that the policy was changed to prevent the abuse of former policies. But, the current policy punishes those families who are diligently trying to abide by the school policies while adhering to our own values. 

School policies should encourage success. But, this school policy serves as a barrier to the success of the families in the district.