British Dad Fined For Taking Daughter To WDW

[DfromATX]

Have six more years before DS graduates high school and we won't have to plan around public school schedules anymore.

No, but then you have college schedules to think about. We have 3 kids in college right now (and one in MS). One of them takes summer school, which means now we are even limited during the summer months. We prefer to go in June, but last summer due to her schedule, we had to go in July. I had been in July before and I swore "never again," but it wasn't too bad actually. This past summer there were hardly any tour groups and we took afternoon breaks.

 

[Laketravis]

No, but then you have college schedules to think about.

But I didn't say anything about taking him with us once he reaches college.

 

[drwadadli]

For majority of the trip my family took to WDW, I was taken out of school for to help avoid the crowds during the summer and Spring Break. All of my teachers were ok with it and even gave me the class assignments and homeworks to do so that I wouldn't fall behind. My parents even made me do my homeworks and reading during our mid-day break and I had to have all done or there was no going back in the evenings.

 

[DfromATX]

But I didn't say anything about taking him with us once he reaches college.

Oh that's right, you didn't lol. That is my thinking with my kids. I was telling my husband how one day we'll have to plan for "significant others" and spouses to go and his response was that they could pay their own way and pay for us!

 

[Pixie VaVoom]

My daughter missed about 10 days a year while we went on vacations. I remember one teacher sent home this huge folder of work to do while on vacation. The next day it was sent back with a note saying that this is a family vacation, both me and my wife were not bringing our work with us, and neither would our daughter.

I get 2 weeks paid vacation, 6 paid holidays, and a week of sick pay. I don't bring my job with me, and there is no "make up work" when I get back. Vacation is VACATION! Kids should not be treated like slaves to the educational system.

My brother has a hard time pulling his kids out of school due to attend attendance laws. I told him just call the school and say they got lice, bring them to Key West for a week, then let the school nurse check them out when they get back. No doctor note needed....

Yeah I can just hear the school nurse now...

Nurse: "So little Johnny traveled to Key West...AND... he had a very short term infestation of LICE?? "
Dad: "Yes ma'am - very short term... we suspect it was MINUTE LICE!! "

 

[cdndisneygirl9]

I will be taking my daughter out for a week (as I usually do for WDW holiday ) in November 2017; she will be in grade 10, never misses a day and she is honour roll every semester...teachers are not concerned, nor am I. Before I know it, my children will be off to uni and I will be doing holidays solo, so these last few holidays mean the world to us...more so me

 

[DfromATX]

My daughter missed about 10 days a year while we went on vacations. I remember one teacher sent home this huge folder of work to do while on vacation. The next day it was sent back with a note saying that this is a family vacation, both me and my wife were not bringing our work with us, and neither would our daughter.

I get 2 weeks paid vacation, 6 paid holidays, and a week of sick pay. I don't bring my job with me, and there is no "make up work" when I get back. Vacation is VACATION! Kids should not be treated like slaves to the educational system.

My brother has a hard time pulling his kids out of school due to attend attendance laws. I told him just call the school and say they got lice, bring them to Key West for a week, then let the school nurse check them out when they get back. No doctor note needed....

Slaves? They get 3 months off during the summer, a week during spring break, a week at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas time, plus numerous other shorter holidays. I hardly call that a slave to the educational system.

 

[RobidaFlats]

Any chance that the powers that be can move this to the Politics and Social Issues section?

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

I have always wondered why excused/unexcused status even matters. It doesn't matter if a kid misses a week of school because of a family vacation or because they have the flu. The child is missing school regardless, so why does it matter if the school excuses it or not. I think that kids regardless of WHY they miss school should be able to make that work up at home. I don't think that the school should be responsible for taking extra time with my kid to make up the work that they missed while they were out. This way, child/parent (depending upon age) is held responsible for making their own decisions of if they want to make up the work or take the bad grade.

 

[flynnibus]

So, if someone wants to take their kid out of school, fine. But, any extra hours that a teacher has to spend helping your kid out because of it, is taking time away from a student that actually went to school. Your kid needs make up work or help - you pay for it. If your kid can’t follow the lesson on the Monday they get back because it builds on what was taught the week they took off to go to WDW, then tough - don't disrupt the rest of the class with questions - go pay for a tutor to get you up to speed.

So you can agree that the problem is not about hindering performance.. but conflict purely about what are 'approved' activities or not with regards to believing they fit the school's intentions (because many will simply pass the buck back to the school).

When my sister was traveling the world competing in swimming and training for the Olympics.. no one was going to say "No you can't miss school to goto the World Championships in Europe because that is not a school sponsored event". The burden was always on her to make sure she was in sync with class and her schoolwork. Decades later, she is an accomplished lawyer, part of the state house and has been recognized numerous times by both her county and state as a model of success. And not because she was locked into what hours she had to be in the classroom to protect herself.. from herself.

Next year one of my kids will be in Band and they make trips to Hawaii, NYC, and other remote locations for many days.. including school days. No one is screaming 'what about the hours missed???' in arguing if the trip should be taken... nor is anyone advocating the Football team stay home and not compete at states because they would miss more class.

 

[Laketravis]

So you can agree that the problem is not about hindering performance.. but conflict purely about what are 'approved' activities or not with regards to believing they fit the school's intentions (because many will simply pass the buck back to the school)....

When the principal was delivering the required lecture to me in regards to why my 4th grader couldn't/shouldn't miss a week of school, I asked if the Pop Warner team was also receiving the same lecture since they were going to be out for up to a week as well..........at WDW.

Crickets.

 

[21stamps]

Slaves? They get 3 months off during the summer, a week during spring break, a week at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas time, plus numerous other shorter holidays. I hardly call that a slave to the educational system.

Not all schools have long breaks.

 

[flynnibus]

Slaves? They get 3 months off during the summer, a week during spring break, a week at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas time, plus numerous other shorter holidays. I hardly call that a slave to the educational system.

Its kind of crappy to work in a profession where you need at least a masters degree to get hired to do a job most people don't respect much, you have long hours outside your actual 'office hours', are expected to work many after hours activities, and at the end of it all... still get paid a pathetic amount compared to the amount of education and time you commit. Most teachers in my schools can't even afford to live in the same county, or even STATE they teach in because salaries don't match the cost of living in the area.

 

[becca_]

I can't believe how strict some districts are... I went to school in upstate NY, took a trip to WDW every school year from 6th-12th grade. I always asked for my work ahead of time, never had any issues. Made up tests before I went/after I got back. My mom made sure I did my work on the plane or during downtime when I was younger, and in HS I was responsible enough to do the work on my own. I really don't understand the big deal of missing a few days during the year if you plan to make up the work you missed. Sometimes the school year is more convenient for families, and like others have said, not every school has long breaks during the year to go.

 

[MMFanCipher]

OK, this child was 6 at the time. In US terms that is either kindergarten or 1st grade. There isn't a whole lot of work to be made up.
Especially if it was kindergarten. In my opinion this is just another example of someone with a title trying to look important.

We took our kids out of school when they were in elementary. We told the school Principal at the beginning of the school year what we were
planning for the spring. We also reminded them of our plans throughout the school year. I'm happy to report that everyone survived and we had
a GREAT Walt Disney World vacation.

 

[21stamps]

OK, this child was 6 at the time. In US terms that is either kindergarten or 1st grade. There isn't a whole lot of work to be made up.
Especially if it was kindergarten. In my opinion this is just another example of someone with a title trying to look important.

We took our kids out of school when they were in elementary. We told the school Principal at the beginning of the school year what we were
planning for the spring. We also reminded them of our plans throughout the school year. I'm happy to report that everyone survived and we had
a GREAT Walt Disney World vacation.

Our make up work in Kindergarten. School is a lot more intense these days.
We also had to double up on all the online reading, journal, and sentence construction classes and tests.

It was a Heck Week.lol

 

[MMFanCipher]

Sorry, but it is kindergarten. A week off isn't going to destroy your child's academic career.

 

[DfromATX]

Its kind of crappy to work in a profession where you need at least a masters degree to get hired to do a job most people don't respect much, you have long hours outside your actual 'office hours', are expected to work many after hours activities, and at the end of it all... still get paid a pathetic amount compared to the amount of education and time you commit. Most teachers in my schools can't even afford to live in the same county, or even STATE they teach in because salaries don't match the cost of living in the area.

I understand that, but my comment was in reference to you saying children are slaves to the educational system. Am I missing something here?

 

[RobidaFlats]

Sorry, but it is kindergarten. A week off isn't going to destroy your child's academic career.

We can kiss Harvard good-bye. No job. No upwardly mobile lifestyle...

 

[DfromATX]

Its kind of crappy to work in a profession where you need at least a masters degree to get hired to do a job most people don't respect much, you have long hours outside your actual 'office hours', are expected to work many after hours activities, and at the end of it all... still get paid a pathetic amount compared to the amount of education and time you commit. Most teachers in my schools can't even afford to live in the same county, or even STATE they teach in because salaries don't match the cost of living in the area.

Not only that, but they have to deal with children and their parents who expect special treatment.