School Attendance

[Armitage]

The latest battle in my divorce case
STBX want's to take the kids out on vacations for 2 (or more) weeks at a time.
I say 1 week max, and even that shouldn't happen very often.

Seems like the colorado legislature agrees with me:

Colorado Revised Statutes 22-33-107. Enforcement of compulsory school
attendance.

(3) (a) As used in this subsection (3), a child who is "habitually
truant" means a child who has attained the age of seven years and is
under the age of sixteen years having four unexcused absences from
public school in any one month or ten unexcused absences from public
school during any school year. Absences due to suspension or expulsion
of a child shall be considered excused absences for purposes of this
subsection (3).

In another section of this code they it basically says if you disobey this, they can get a court order to enforce it. If you disobety that, it's jail time and/or a fine.

But I don't think a trivial thing like the law, or the opinions of 3 career educators I know will have any bearing on her opinion :roll:

What do you guys think? Am I being unreasonable?

 

[pulse8]

I don't think you're being unreasonable.

It sounds like she's not really thinking in the best interest of your children.

 

[Pokey007]

I think it all depends on where the 2 weeks are spent. If it's touring a different continant that could be a very very useful educational experience. If it's just putting around Grandma's, then yeah, a week max.

 

[GasX]

What vital piece of information is taught to an 8 year old child in class that their life will be devastated without it?

 

[HomerSapien]

How old are the kids? Taking them out in kindergarten wont get them to fall behind too much or even 1st through 3rd. After that the homework really starts to pile up and they start missing critical things. Also consideration is how fast do your kids learn. Some people can read and learn, some need the instruction.

I never missed more than 3 days of school in a row during k-12. College, well thats another thing..lol. Iagree with you that 1 week should be the max.

 

[Savij]

Why not stipulate that the vacations can't cause the children to miss more than 1 school day a month or something like that?

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
What vital piece of information is taught to an 8 year old child in class that their life will be devastated without it?

Education is cumulative. It's not so much any single fact that they miss during that time off, but that they continue to miss stuff even when they get back due to not understanding the material because of what they missed before.

Even in pre-school, when my daughter was out for 4 weeks this past winter, you could tell she was behind wrt the rest of the kids.

 

[Kilrsat]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
What vital piece of information is taught to an 8 year old child in class that their life will be devastated without it?

Long division, fractions, the initial development of problem solving skills.

Missing the introduction of these topics can put the child at a great disadvantage as they dive more in depth.

The children have off in the summer, normally some time for thanksgiving, again during the Christmas/New Years period, and again some time in the spring.

There are more than enough opportunities to go on vacation without forcing them to missing more than 1-2 days of school. Its about realizing that you need to make the sacrifice of changing your schedule to fit better with your child's. Rather than trying to make your child nicely fit into your world.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
What vital piece of information is taught to an 8 year old child in class that their life will be devastated without it?

I dunno, but in some school districts, you miss too many days of classes, you will not be promoted to the next grade level regardless of your performance. They are pretty stingy with appeals, too, at least around here.

Most public schools give you summer off, plus 10-day winter break and 10-day spring break.
I don't see why taking a vacation has to involve missing school.
My parents always managed to plan vacations when I was not in school...

 

[PoPPeR]

with the intelligence of most of the kids today, I'd say 0-1 days a year max

Then again I missed around 10 days a semester my junior/senior year, but hey look at me!

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: HomerSapien
How old are the kids? Taking them out in kindergarten wont get them to fall behind too much or even 1st through 3rd. After that the homework really starts to pile up and they start missing critical things. Also consideration is how fast do your kids learn. Some people can read and learn, some need the instruction.

I never missed more than 3 days of school in a row during k-12. College, well thats another thing..lol. Iagree with you that 1 week should be the max.

The thing is, this is the final orders part of the divorce. It's forever, unless we go back to court, etc. to change it. I don't want to get this all bogged down with specifying things by age. And as you say, it depends how well the kids do in school. If they are both really sharp, fast learners, etc., it may not be such a big deal. If they are struggling, even a week may be to much. I'm willing to accomodate that and be flexible down the line, but I want the final orders to fall back on if she gets unreasonable about it.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Savij
Why not stipulate that the vacations can't cause the children to miss more than 1 school day a month or something like that?

Heh ... she won't agree to a max of 1 week straight out of school, and you think she'll go for that!?!

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Mwilding
What vital piece of information is taught to an 8 year old child in class that their life will be devastated without it?

I dunno, but in some school districts, you miss too many days of classes, you will not be promoted to the next grade level regardless of your performance. They are pretty stingy with appeals, too, at least around here.

Yea, that's how the school district that my nieces attend is. Aside from the state law I quoted before, the school district I'm putting them in doesn't seem to have a formal policy.

Most public schools give you summer off, plus 10-day winter break and 10-day spring break.
I don't see why taking a vacation has to involve missing school.
My parents always managed to plan vacations when I was not in school...

Agree

 

[bunker]

I would say no more than 5 consecutive days/7 days total a school year.

 

[Yossarian]

they have these cool "summer vacations" from school, that's when you're supposed to do stuff.

 

[xboxist]

I'm sure that time spent on a worthy vacation will shape your children more positively than that same amount of time in school. They are in school for years. How often do they get to go on a vacation?

Think back when you were a kid... vacations were the coolest things ever. Instant positive memories (I hope) that will last a lifetime. They will not remember a thing about that same, two-week stretch in school even a year from now.

 

[shopbruin]

does she not have the best interest of the children in mind, or she trying to buy them off by taking them on vacations during school?

vacations should be taken during the summer and holidays...

the school district may not be happy with that either, as many are given funding according to attendance figures.

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
they have these cool "summer vacations" from school, that's when you're supposed to do stuff.

I agree - but many people aren't able to vacation in the summer. Depends on your workplace type, but seniorty is often a factor. Alas, I don't know the dynamics of the poster's situation.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: xboxist
I'm sure that time spent on a worthy vacation will shape your children more positively than that same amount of time in school. They are in school for years. How often do they get to go on a vacation?

Think back when you were a kid... vacations were the coolest things ever. Instant positive memories (I hope) that will last a lifetime. They will not remember a thing about that same, two-week stretch in school even a year from now.

Yup, I remember lots of great vacations. Certainly learned alot, and shaped my life in countless ways. Yet they were all accomplished without missing more the a week of school during my entire K-12 experience.

That's what summer, fall, winter & spring breaks are for.

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: ergeorge

Originally posted by: xboxist
I'm sure that time spent on a worthy vacation will shape your children more positively than that same amount of time in school. They are in school for years. How often do they get to go on a vacation?

Think back when you were a kid... vacations were the coolest things ever. Instant positive memories (I hope) that will last a lifetime. They will not remember a thing about that same, two-week stretch in school even a year from now.

Yup, I remember lots of great vacations. Certainly learned alot, and shaped my life in countless ways. Yet they were all accomplished without missing more the a week of school during my entire K-12 experience.

That's what summer, fall, winter & spring breaks are for.

Good point. I always forget about spring break.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: freesia39
does she not have the best interest of the children in mind, or she trying to buy them off by taking them on vacations during school?

Yea, that's another concern, although secondary. She know I only get 3 weeks a year total, but she manages to convince her work to let her take off for 4-6 weeks at a time! Without pay of course. I'm guessing that when my money runs out she'll have to change her lifestyle a bit, but that could be a few years.

vacations should be taken during the summer and holidays...

the school district may not be happy with that either, as many are given funding according to attendance figures.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: ergeorge
Seems like the colorado legislature agrees with me:

Colorado Revised Statutes 22-33-107. Enforcement of compulsory school
attendance.

(3) (a) As used in this subsection (3), a child who is "habitually
truant" means a child who has attained the age of seven years and is
under the age of sixteen years having four unexcused absences from
public school in any one month or ten unexcused absences from public
school during any school year. Absences due to suspension or expulsion
of a child shall be considered excused absences for purposes of this
subsection (3).

Unexcused absences are when the kid misses school without the parent's permission.

The statute you quoted has absolutely nothing to do with taking a vacation and being absent with a parent's permission.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: ergeorge
Seems like the colorado legislature agrees with me:

Colorado Revised Statutes 22-33-107. Enforcement of compulsory school
attendance.

(3) (a) As used in this subsection (3), a child who is "habitually
truant" means a child who has attained the age of seven years and is
under the age of sixteen years having four unexcused absences from
public school in any one month or ten unexcused absences from public
school during any school year. Absences due to suspension or expulsion
of a child shall be considered excused absences for purposes of this
subsection (3).

Unexcused absences are when the kid misses school without the parent's permission.

The statute you quoted has absolutely nothing to do with taking a vacation and being absent with a parent's permission.

At my school excused absences only included:
Illness with doctor's note
Drivers license test, with proof that you took the test
School-organized events (i.e. senior class trip, band trip, atheletic tournaments, etc)

That's pretty much it. Parents can ok missing 25 days of school, but when the child gets held back a grade and the parents try to fight it, they will not get much sympathy for facilitating their own child's truancy.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: ergeorge
Seems like the colorado legislature agrees with me:

Colorado Revised Statutes 22-33-107. Enforcement of compulsory school
attendance.

(3) (a) As used in this subsection (3), a child who is "habitually
truant" means a child who has attained the age of seven years and is
under the age of sixteen years having four unexcused absences from
public school in any one month or ten unexcused absences from public
school during any school year. Absences due to suspension or expulsion
of a child shall be considered excused absences for purposes of this
subsection (3).

Unexcused absences are when the kid misses school without the parent's permission.

The statute you quoted has absolutely nothing to do with taking a vacation and being absent with a parent's permission.

At my school excused absences only included:
Illness with doctor's note
Drivers license test, with proof that you took the test
School-organized events (i.e. senior class trip, band trip, atheletic tournaments, etc)

That's pretty much it. Parents can ok missing 25 days of school, but when the child gets held back a grade and the parents try to fight it, they will not get much sympathy for facilitating their own child's truancy.

Maybe it depends on where you are. I thought unexcused just meant without permission (including parents). Doesn't seem right to call it truancy when a parent decides to take the kid on vacation.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

How old are your kids? For an older child 2 wks at a clip could be a lot of missed work, unless she is planning on getting future assignments before taking off and trying ot keep up with the schedule when they are out of class.

Does the school have a policy on excused absences?