I remember one of the most coveted awards at the “school out” party was the perfect attendance award. Some children regard not missing out as their main task one minute ‘s class. That means no sick days, no missing school for doctor’s appointments, which means no truancy at all. To me, that means no fun, but hey, to everyone.
My daughter has been in kindergarten for a month and has been home sick for three days, so her dreams are shattered. Plus, I will definitely take her out of school for some fun days and mental health days. After all, she is only five years old! She doesn’t need the pressure of attendance on her shoulders.
While this is how I plan to raise her, it doesn’t seem to be how the school wants me to do it. Most schools have an attendance policy. If you miss a certain number of days, the school or district will send an email noting how important being in the classroom is to the student learning experience. Yes, missing school is never a good thing for anyone, but where is the line?
One mother wants to know if her son’s school district is going too far when he suspends him for missing school.
On Threads, mom, teacher and author Jackie Sullivan asked her followers if she was wrong to think it was completely inappropriate.
“My son’s school district has an attendance policy where you are penalized if you are absent *minutes* of the day. If you leave an hour early for an appointment, you will be parked at that time. How should we teach our children that their personal Are these types of rules important for life and physical and mental health? she asked.
In the wake of her post, several other parents have weighed in, noting that this attendance policy doesn’t seem normal.
“That’s ridiculous. My kids’ school is doing a September attendance ‘challenge’. This is stupid. The children are sick. Doctors and dentists make appointments,” one user said.
Others noted that attendance pressure may be related to school funding.
“In my public school, funding is tied to attendance. I bet your child’s school doesn’t want to promote a toxic work culture, they’re just underfunded and trying to maximize the money they get from the state,” one user wrote .
“I’m a former teacher, yes. It definitely has something to do with funding. I guess my point is, it shouldn’t be,” the OP responded.
“This prepares them for the corporate world,” another wrote.
One user asked: “What’s their punishment for being pulled over? This is so ridiculous!
“I’m not entirely sure, but they count minutes, hours, and days, and there’s a potential court situation. 🤷♀️,” the OP said.
One user chimed in: “I’ve heard that some schools let all kids whose attendance exceeds a certain number (e.g. 90%) enter a lottery and pick one (or a few) names to win a small prize (e.g. gift certificate)) .I don’t mind that much because not all kids with high attendance get something, but I hate that it has a hard cutoff that makes it very obvious that the competition between us and the high attendees is there. It was so disgusting to get a huge prize/treat.
First, these parents are right. School funding is tied to attendance. ADA (Average Daily Attendance) is a critical factor in school funding because it directly links student attendance to financial resources and impacts educational programs and services. Some states and school districts use funding formulas that take their ADA into account. This means that every day a student is absent from school, the school loses a portion of its funding. So there’s a big push for high attendance.
So, is school really important? In most cases, yes!
A 2007 study of young children found that absences in kindergarten were associated with negative outcomes in first grade, such as higher absence rates in subsequent years and lower scores in reading, math, and general knowledge. For older children, high school dropouts were found to exhibit a history of negative behaviors, including high rates of absenteeism throughout childhood, at higher rates than high school graduates.
