All-Star Missing School For Competitions

[Nikaa]

Wow they don't let you miss school for competition?? People skip school in my country because they go to dentist or sometihng like that. I missed school for at least 20 days this year. And teacher are okay. parents just have to write and excuse and that's it. Some people missed school for over 150 hours.

 

[munchkinmom]

Wow they don't let you miss school for competition?? People skip school in my country because they go to dentist or sometihng like that. I missed school for at least 20 days this year. And teacher are okay. parents just have to write and excuse and that's it. Some people missed school for over 150 hours.

A few years back, there was a national law passed "No Child Left Behind (NCLB)" that has made this an interesting dynamic over here. Basically the US government tied the hundreds of millions of dollars they give to the states for education to requirements that the state adminster grade level tests that each school is expected to get better at each year, as well as improve their graduation rates each year. Regulating absences causes a major problem. On one side, the schools need the kids in class to get them to do better on the tests, on the other side, if they penalize absences too much, they lower their graduation rate. Each local area handles it differently based on what they think will work best for their schools and students.

(In reality it is much more complicated than this, but it gives you an overview)

 

[alexamarysouza]

sick note, works everytime.
buuuut, if you're a sophomore, junior or senior in my county, you can take 'college days' (1 for sophs, 2 for juniors, 3 for seniors)...so if you've ran out of absences, you can use your college days lol

 

[livelovecheerx3o]

at my school, if you miss more than 4 days unexcused, you get put on no credit status for the entire semester

 

[coachbd]

This thread has really opened my eyes! Here in Australia I know we do have truancy laws but as far as I know schools are not that strict. I went to a private school, so I can't speak for all public schools, but at least at my private school my parents could just write a note saying "Please excuse Beth from missing school yesterday, she had an appointment", and it'd be no trouble at all. Including if I had to leave early or miss half a day etc. I could pretty much miss as many days I wanted per year, as long as I had a note from my parents (although of course if it was a really extreme number that I had missed I'm sure something would be done about it - but something like 10 or 20 missed days would not be looked at oddly at all!)

 

[Deleted member 1556]

We get 2 unexcused absences, 8 excuses, and 8 tardies per term. Go over any of them and you get an N for the term- get 2 N's, or an N fourth term, and you get no credit for taking the class. I love my school .

 

[cheerKT]

sick note, works everytime.
buuuut, if you're a sophomore, junior or senior in my county, you can take 'college days' (1 for sophs, 2 for juniors, 3 for seniors)...so if you've ran out of absences, you can use your college days lol

We had college days as well, 1 for juniors and either 2 or 3 for seniors. But you couldn't just use them freely. You had to provide documentation you were actually at the school.

 

[cheerKT]

This thread is a real eye opener for me too, but in a different way. I remember stressing SO much over absences (I had mono twice in high school, plus an appendectomy) and forcing myself to school after those terrible late night car rides and never getting to skip a Friday no matter what. The fact that most schools accept simple handwritten parents notes as excuses blows my mind! Our district stopped allowing those once we got past elementary school. My school didn't even allow doctors notes because you were still physically not present and missed the material.

Needless to say I'm pretty jealous of those of you who never even have to worry about attendance.

 

[5-6-7-8]

In our area, public schools receive their funding based in attendance. So absent kid = no money for that child for that day. I believe that was started because some schools had terrible truancy issues.

I am of the mind that kid stays home when sick, and I don't rush them back to school either. And I have no issues with the kids missing for cheer or family vacations either. In the grand scheme of things, missing a day or two of second grade to get to a cheer competition isn't a big deal. We usually miss 3-4 days for cheer, and that is by my choice (meaning I don't have to have the kids miss, but it sure make my life easier.)

 

[alexamarysouza]

We had college days as well, 1 for juniors and either 2 or 3 for seniors. But you couldn't just use them freely. You had to provide documentation you were actually at the school.

yeahh, we don't have to really give 'authentic' documentation you were there. you just have to have a parent note

 

[mkatherine13]

Wow, some of these schools have insanely strict rules. I go to a public school, and all you need is for a parent to call you in for it to be excused. Some reasons aren't considered excused, but most are. If you have unexcused absences, you cannot make up the work for those days. And you have until 7 am the next morning to call in an absence.

 

[newcheerdad]

We get 10 absences here. After that you start losing class credit.

Quite honestly, if my daughter missed more than 3-4 days of school per year as a result of cheer, I would have to reevaluate whether she should be participating in the sport. Academics will always take priority.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[mariahnicole1216]

This made me really curious as to what my school attendance policy really is, so I looked it up and there it doesnt give any limit on excused/unexcused absence. To be honest, i'm not sure what counts as an unexcused. It says for out of town/vacations the only thing that happens is you can only get your work afterwards. and you have x amount of days to do it. Which is completely false. If you talk to your teacher they'll give you your homework way ahead of time and they dont care when you turn it in as long as its before the end of the term...

I feel very lucky after reading this thread. I make up any excuse I can to not have to go to school. I'd be in a lot of trouble if I went somewhere else!

 

[Hi! It's me!]

when my oldest was still competing she had a lotof "sick" days. In Cali schools do not get paid for unexcused absences. They get paid per child per day and unexcused meant no money. the school actually told me to lie so they wouldn't lose money!!! With my youngest we homeschool so she will do school work in the car on the way to comps, in hotel rooms, on planes. As long as she keeps up with her assignments nobody cares when they get done. And honestly I am glad I don't have to lie anymore. It really made me uncomfortable.

 

[12stepCheermom]

In our area, public schools receive their funding based in attendance. So absent kid = no money for that child for that day. I believe that was started because some schools had terrible truancy issues.

I am of the mind that kid stays home when sick, and I don't rush them back to school either. And I have no issues with the kids missing for cheer or family vacations either. In the grand scheme of things, missing a day or two of second grade to get to a cheer competition isn't a big deal. We usually miss 3-4 days for cheer, and that is by my choice (meaning I don't have to have the kids miss, but it sure make my life easier.)

I would be surprised if your financing is tied to individual day attendance. That would be a nightmare in paperwork and most funding is on deadlines and not something that comes to a school on a daily basis. In NC were funded based on ADM....(average daily membership) but our funding per school and district is figured from the state based on the 20th school day. That's when they cut the check. If you enroll 299 more kids that's your problem, if you lose 299 kids that's your gain. Then we have financial deadlines through the year when different budget codes must be spent or you lose it.

As a high school principal (with two kids in Allstar cheer) this thread has opened my eyes as well....and probably not in a good way.