WAG any families with a gymnast that works out during school hours?

[Mish]

Wonder if kids from these states have a big advantage. I know my state and region is not considered a "powerhouse". Have heard that since school is valued more highly than sports here that may be a contributing factor. I'm not saying all of you don't value school, I mean overall in these parts it's just not something considered. I don't even know any home schoolers.

 

[raenndrops]

One year I took my older son out of school 15 minutes early once or twice a week for practice. Actually the early pickup was needed in order for us to get to his brother's practice in time, but since they both needed to get to the gym I did split hairs about that.

It was no problem, I just came to the office and signed him out and for the reason I put "appointment" on the sign out sheet. I think I told his teacher the real reason and gave her a heads up as she was the one who had to deal with the disruption of being called to send my son to the office for early pickup. I did not love doing this, but no one at the school said I couldn't. The boys also occasionally missed school for meets or "recovery days" after a long travel meet weekend. On those days I just called them in sick.

In our state, the school district (or school itself if it is a charter school) loses funding for every day a child is absent. So you can see why "unnecessary" absences are discouraged. But leaving just a little early should not pose any serious problem.

At my local school, just the 15 minutes once a week would end up counting as 3 full absences each quarter. It is ridiculous.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

At my local school, just the 15 minutes once a week would end up counting as 3 full absences each quarter. It is ridiculous.

I wonder if the teachers, office staff and admin are held to the same standard.....

Imagine losing a full PTO day for that. Just sayin. I would be chatting with the superintendent and of board. With a bunch of other like minded parents.

 

[bookworm]

My kids were always in a small private school and we never had any issues...I met with the teachers every spring to plan for the fall and the teachers would put the "elective" type courses at the end of the day ( music, art, religion, PE). If it was doable, I'd investigate this option...

 

[triplethreat+1]

At my local school, just the 15 minutes once a week would end up counting as 3 full absences each quarter. It is ridiculous.

So what happens when you have several absences? Does it really matter?
I refused to send my DD to school every day when she was 5 so she racked up 45 absences, but that might be different cuz it was just kindergarten

 

[raenndrops]

So what happens when you have several absences? Does it really matter?
I refused to send my DD to school every day when she was 5 so she racked up 45 absences, but that might be different cuz it was just kindergarten

More than 12 absences in the schol year require a doctor's excuse for each absence after the 12th or the student fails. This includes kindergarten.

 

[GymDad9.9]

More than 12 absences in the schol year require a doctor's excuse for each absence after the 12th or the student fails. This includes kindergarten.

When does the Truant Officer get into the act?

 

[thefellowsmom]

This inflexibility with schools just blows my mind and makes me very thankful to be in the school district we are in.i know it differs from school district to school district around here and some teammates have a heck of a time.

I remember we were in Texas for a meet once and the security guy at the airport looked at my two kids and asked me all kinds of questions about how I had my kids out of school on a Tuesday. He was just being friendly but he was shocked we had been allowed to pull our kids from school to travel to a gymnastics meet. Is this why so many gymnasts in Texas home school?

My dd is in public school and we have modified schedule since third grade. She is now in seventh grade. We are very lucky to have a super cooperative school district. This year she is in middle school and we have gone down to just core classes at school and then we are homeschooling language and supplementing electives. It has been great so far. She is rested and not stressed and has energy for school and gym and time to pursue her interests. We couldn't be happier.

We will see how it goes once all the travel of season gets going. I am fully expecting all her teachers to hate me by the end of the year. Dd is very organized and efficient with her work and a great student so that helps a lot.

The one thing I will say is that I don't ask permission and I don't apologize. I present it to them as respectfully as I can and with absolute acknowledgement that i understand that the situation is less than ideal and a huge inconvenience. I also state how dedicated my child is to this sport and explain that this is something she is committed to following through to its highest level and that we as her parents have chosen to support her in that. I emphasize how important academics are to my daughter and how seriously she takes that as well and that we appreciate our district and want to keep her in public school as long as possible and that we so appreciate their cooperation and that I look forward to discussing a plan that works the best it can for everyone.

I have always received hesitant but very cooperative and very quick replies. Her teachers tend to be skeptical but once they see her work ethic and quality of school work, they always end up impressed and very supportive of her.

 

[GymDad9.9]

Wonder if kids from these states have a big advantage. I know my state and region is not considered a "powerhouse". Have heard that since school is valued more highly than sports here that may be a contributing factor. I'm not saying all of you don't value school, I mean overall in these parts it's just not something considered. I don't even know any home schoolers.

I have a very good friend who lives in the Rochester area in a very good school district whose daughter essentially did half days at school to travel to Buffalo to train tennis. Competed high major Division 1 tennis and now on pro circuit.

 

[raenndrops]

When does the Truant Officer get into the act?

Ok... Small town... I know the truant officer. Last year, I questioned him about a few different scenarios.
This year, a kid i used to tutor has had 4 REAL absences so far and the truant officer has paid a visit. This is still the first quarter, so the student is on pace for 16 absences.
The truant officer is not as strict as the schools - he sees a difference between someone who is five minutes late 3x per week (meaning it counts as an absence each week -this was week 7) and someone who has missed 4-5 days in the same timeframe.
He may make contact to understand WHY, but he won't file charges.

 

[MILgymFAM]

When does the Truant Officer get into the act?

We've been pulled into truancy court in two states. Both times we were triggered at over six absences for the year without dr notes. We've also found that coming late or leaving early add to absences quickly. The first time was ODDs kindergarten, and we had taken a family trip home for the holidays. Unfortunately my husband's leave didn't line up with the school calendar. The second time my girls were both in school (8th and 6th), and leaving 15 mins early once a week plus meets added up. They were both truant. They both also had straight As (my ODD was actually ranked #1 in the school). No budge at all. School athletes missed all the time and were praised for their accomplishments and my YDD won states and was hammered for the two days off. It fairly pissed me off. We realized we should homeschool for many reasons, but the frustration with the inflexibility was definitely a piece of it. I'm honestly a little jealous of how flexible some schools seem to be, but I'm happy not to have to consider it at all anymore- and happy to not have to consider schools when we move either.

 

[GymDad9.9]

We've been pulled into truancy court in two states. Both times we were triggered at over six absences for the year without dr notes. We've also found that coming late or leaving early add to absences quickly. The first time was ODDs kindergarten, and we had taken a family trip home for the holidays. Unfortunately my husband's leave didn't line up with the school calendar. The second time my girls were both in school (8th and 6th), and leaving 15 mins early once a week plus meets added up. They were both truant. They both also had straight As (my ODD was actually ranked #1 in the school). No budge at all. School athletes missed all the time and were praised for their accomplishments and my YDD won states and was hammered for the two days off. It fairly pissed me off. We realized we should homeschool for many reasons, but the frustration with the inflexibility was definitely a piece of it. I'm honestly a little jealous of how flexible some schools seem to be, but I'm happy not to have to consider it at all anymore- and happy to not have to consider schools when we move either.

Wow. I said it in jest thinking they were extinct. Sorry to hear about your travails.

 

[Gymmom0403]

My daughter goes when she can in the morning. Her school has a 6 day rotating schedule and she has one day where only class before 10:30 is guidance. So if that day falls on a mon wed or fri then we let her go from 7:30-10. I just contacted the school over the summer to determine what possibilities were. They said just to let them know ahead of time. She is a freshman this year and knows as long as grades are good she can continue doing this. We will revisit next semester when her schedule changes.

 

[triplethreat+1]

We've been pulled into truancy court in two states. Both times we were triggered at over six absences for the year without dr notes. We've also found that coming late or leaving early add to absences quickly. The first time was ODDs kindergarten, and we had taken a family trip home for the holidays. Unfortunately my husband's leave didn't line up with the school calendar. The second time my girls were both in school (8th and 6th), and leaving 15 mins early once a week plus meets added up. They were both truant. They both also had straight As (my ODD was actually ranked #1 in the school). No budge at all. School athletes missed all the time and were praised for their accomplishments and my YDD won states and was hammered for the two days off. It fairly pissed me off. We realized we should homeschool for many reasons, but the frustration with the inflexibility was definitely a piece of it. I'm honestly a little jealous of how flexible some schools seem to be, but I'm happy not to have to consider it at all anymore- and happy to not have to consider schools when we move either.

Wow that's insane to me. Maybe it's a Canadian thing, but kindergarten isn't required so you can't actually fail it. Or be truant from it either.

 

[skschlag]

Wow that's insane to me. Maybe it's a Canadian thing, but kindergarten isn't required so you can't actually fail it. Or be truant from it either.

Not required here either. so no truancy from it.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

baffling

 

[Aussie_coach]

Your school systems seem very over the top, and I understand why the US has such a high number of families who choose to homeschool.

Here in Australia,N they are far more forgiving for absences. I have never even heard of a truant officer. I have never heard of anyone being taken to court over attendance. Schools chase up absences of course, but along the lines of a phone call or a letter to chat to parents about it, in extreme cases I know they can issue a fine, but I have never heard of one being issued.

Kids can't fail the grade because of absences, they can't force them to repeat, although the school might encourage it if the kid missed 60-70% of school days, but ultimately the parent can choose for their child to move up.

92% attendance is considered excellent, and in many schools they might have a special reward like a pizza party or fun excursion for any kid who has 92% attendance or above. 85% attendance is in the green zone and working well.

Many kids have 50-60% attendance and there are always kids with as little at 20-30%. In our indigenous towns the schools will have incentives to try and encourage kids to go to school, like if they attend for the full 5 days they get free swims on Friday or get to take an iPad home for the weekend.

 

[txgymfan]

Here perfect attendance ( no sick days, no extra vacation) is often highly praised. They get a trophy at the end of the year, recognition etc. I think it's dumb. They encourage kids to come to school sick just to keep perfect attendance.

 

[GymDad9.9]

Your school systems seem very over the top, and I understand why the US has such a high number of families who choose to homeschool.

Here in Australia,N they are far more forgiving for absences. I have never even heard of a truant officer. I have never heard of anyone being taken to court over attendance. Schools chase up absences of course, but along the lines of a phone call or a letter to chat to parents about it, in extreme cases I know they can issue a fine, but I have never heard of one being issued.

Kids can't fail the grade because of absences, they can't force them to repeat, although the school might encourage it if the kid missed 60-70% of school days, but ultimately the parent can choose for their child to move up.

92% attendance is considered excellent, and in many schools they might have a special reward like a pizza party or fun excursion for any kid who has 92% attendance or above. 85% attendance is in the green zone and working well.

Many kids have 50-60% attendance and there are always kids with as little at 20-30%. In our indigenous towns the schools will have incentives to try and encourage kids to go to school, like if they attend for the full 5 days they get free swims on Friday or get to take an iPad home for the weekend.

I probably missed two days in seven years of elementary school. No Pizza Party for this guy.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Ours is somewhere in the middle, Pink is running at 96 % this year , mostly due to ongoing physio appointments. School sends a letter telling you that they like 95% or above, but there are no sanctions for being off, unless its regular and without cause. My niece was regularly kept home on a Friday at primary because 5 days was just too much for her.

You can normally negotiate days off for competitions as its good kudos for the school.

Holidays are a bit different, they recently passed a national law (we have a national curriculum) that stated parents would be fined for taking their children out of school during term time for family holidays, but several parents have fought the fines in court and won and I think they are now talking of repealing it.