Just like it says, my DD attends a prestigious Catholic school in the Bay Area, was sick a lot this year, has a doctors note for all days absent, yet they deemed her to be “too absent” according to their policies and did not allow her to make up all of her work. Even though they have an accommodation for ALL students to take their make-up tests before and after school, she was barred from this opportunity. Because of this, she has 3 C’s in classes that should have been A’s.
Even though this goes against section 48205 of California law and ADA evidently they can do whatever they want since they are a religious school.
Obviously this will affect all of her college decisions. How should she write about this in her “extra information” section? Should she reach out to schools she has already applied to so that they know what happened when they get her end of semester grades? Is she just out of luck? We feel so helpless and discriminated against. Not sure how much weight AO’s will give to an explanation about this.
UNLOCKING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DISABLED
STUDENTS IN PRIVATE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS
Campbell Sode
ABSTRACT—Many disabled students exercise their First Amendment right
to choose to attend a private religious school only to learn that the school
will not provide reasonable accommodations crucial to their academic
success. Because private religious schools are exempt from Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act and its reasonable accommodation mandate,
disabled students that choose such schools may be forced to find a more
welcoming learning environment elsewhere. As a result, disabled students
are currently unable to enjoy their Free Exercise Clause right to choose to
enroll in their ideal private religious schools to the same extent as their
nonhandicapped peers.
This inequality can be reduced by an expansive application of the
Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is known as the Rehab Act and
covers entities that receive federal financial assistance. The Rehab Act is a
key statute for disabled students in private religious schools since there is no
religious exemption from its requirement that reasonable accommodations
be made for the disabled. However, the Rehab Act will achieve maximum
potency only if private religious schools that hold tax-exempt status, or
indirectly benefit from federal programs via a parent entity, are classified as
recipients of federal financial assistance for Rehab Act purposes. Also, a
Rehab Act regulation that allows private religious schools to charge disabled
students for reasonable accommodations should be limited so cost-shifting
is only possible if the school genuinely cannot afford the accommodations at
issue. And this approach to the problems disabled students face at private
religious schools would not infringe upon these schools’ First Amendment
right to the free exercise of religion.
These are just two examples of what you can find online. This one is better. I would have hired an education lawyer (I had to do that, even for a public school). I gather she is applying to schools now. If the school receives any of the federal benefits listed in this second article, they violated the law. You can certainly explain to the schools. Assuming the guidance counselor, if there is one, won’t help with this. You can still address this legally if you so choose, if the situation fits the criteria. Does your daughter have a chronic illness? You can PM me.
About 10% of all students in the United States attend private elementary or secondary schools. Nearly 80% of these students attend religious private schools. Some people think that religious schools are exempt from antidiscrimination laws and so there is nothing that parents can do. This is false. First, many religious schools must comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act if they receive federal funding. Second, there are many strategies you can use to pressure schools to live up to their moral commitments to all students. Read on for more information about how you can make sure your child gets the diabetes care he or she needs in order to make the most of his or her experience.
@compmom are these only for students with chronic illnesses? What if you just happened to get strep throat twice, the flu and then covid on different occasions throughout the semester?
In our district, you can only miss a certain number of days before you automatically fail. Doesn’t matter if it’s excused by a doctor’s note. In a neighboring district, if you miss 9 days in a semester - even excused - you get hauled in front of a judge for child neglect. A co-worker ran into this this semester when their kid got several randomly bugs this semester - despite being the top student in their class.
It never occurred to me that it might violate a federal law? Attendance rates are one of the metrics used for accreditation, so that’s why the schools really care.
My D’s HS policy was that a student needed to repeat the classes if they missed more than 9 days in any given quarter, regardless of illness, excused, or not. They felt that was too many days to make up the work to be prepared to move up to the next level.
Not sure if they were ever challenged legally.
And yes to getting reported to CPS. That happened to a friend when her kids were young and were chronically sick.
Having “a doctor’s note” does not seem adequate to be excused from consequences of her absences. Others may chime in here. As a “prestigious Catholic school” the school administrators are likely familiar with the ADA and related laws.
I would like to hear the school’s version of this situation. Audi alteram partem.
Why do you feel discriminated against? Is your daughter being treated differently than others who have had similar circumstances? If the policy has been applied differently to others then you might have a case.
Sorry none of this is helpful for a kid who is not classified as disabled. My posts amount to a tangent and I apologize! The mention of the ADA by the OP made me think the info on ADA was relevant. So…
The policies for accommodation under Section 504 require documentation of a “disability.” School absence policies need to change! Punishments as well as “attendance awards” encourage sick kids to come to school- well, actually- require them to come to school- sick. In the age of COVID and the increased awareness of viruses spreading, it is just outrageous. It can take more than 14 days to test negative for COVID!
Our public school was very lenient about absences. One of my kids was a professional dancer in high school and missed a lot of days. My other kid has diabetes and other issues and was out for surgery. I saw a lawyer who told the school how to accommodate her. She had a 504 plan under the ADA but even then it was difficult.
For the OP’s situation I assume a doctor documented the absences. Is there any chronic diagnosis? Did the school have a policy for homebound instruction (see below) for absences? It seems there is no recourse but I would still look into a lawyer. These policies need to change. Imagine a religious environment with so little compassion or understanding.
Here is one religious school. There is no mention of accommodations. @kalanamc what does your school website say?
Any student missing more than twelve (12) days of school per semester (High School) and ten (10) days of school per semester (Middle School) will receive an “F” for the semester’s course work. For purposes of this provision of the attendance policy, any student placed on homebound instruction for more than five (5) consecutive days will have all remaining days of that extended absence waived. For example, if a student misses school six (6) successive weeks due to back surgery, only five (5) days will be counted as absences. Please remember — exceeding the twelve (12) day (High School) or (10) day (Middle School absence limit per semester will affect the accumulation of academic credits. High school students exceeding the twelve (12) day absence limit will receive an “F” for each and every class where the limit has been exceeded.
I was curious about the “homebound instruction” referred to above. It is unclear if this means homeschooling, a school-provided tutor, or what" Homebound Instruction – Certain situations may occur (e.g., surgery) that require a student to miss school for an extended length of time. The administration requires appropriate written verification of such absenteeism. Please carefully note the “Excessive Absences” section for pertinent information.
One more thing: our public school provided packages each day with homework assignments, work done in class, quizzes and tests, and even notes, so that my kid with a 504 plan could keep up. The school was willing so the lawyer just showed them how to do it. When she returned to school my kid did better than the kids who had been in class.
How hard would it be for the schools being discussed, including the OP’s school, to provide instruction at home. Public schools are actually required to provide tutoring for longer absences Parent’s guide for homebound services (childrens.com)
I’m re-reading…is your D a senior this year? If so, I’d be less concerned about the grades. Does she have any early admissions already? If so, I don’t think a few Cs, with an easily explainable medical excuse, is going to cause any school to rescind an acceptance.
IMO, it would be better for the guidance counselor to send something to the colleges about the make up tests not being offered.
If that isn’t an option, I’d recommend that your D be very brief in what she writes in the additional information section, keep just to the facts about not being able to make up work due to the school’s policy, and not outright blaming the school.
Hoping that your D is feeling well and healthy again, because that in the end, is most important!
In addition to what @momofboiler1 wrote…some depends on the colleges to which your child applied.
At some of the more highly competitive colleges, the chances of acceptance are lower anyway, and two C grades very well might not be the reason for not getting accepted.
I also think that 3 Cs (assuming they are in core courses) can impact admissions decisions going forward…OTOH I think it’s unlikely to impact any acceptances in hand.
Is the HS counselor willing to write about this in their LoR (obviously would require them to update it)? If not, the student can cover this in addt’l info…but that divulges there was some type of unknown health problem…I would make sure your D wants to do that.
If I were reading this app, with no coverage of the sitch in an LoR by the counselor, I would pick up the phone and call the counselor…so make sure that person is ready and able to explain the situation.
Make sure this student has some affordable highly likely/safety schools if they don’t already have acceptances to schools she would like to attend.
This is just so outrageous, especially in the age of COVID. It’s water under the bridge for the OP. I don’t know if the student could contact admissions. I have activist tendencies on health issues and schools but can see that is not helpful here.
As described, the absences, and doctor’s notes, do not qualify as a disability. This is also the second year in which the student has had an excessive number of absences.
I missed a LOT of school during my 12 years of lower education. Some legitimate, some due to anxiety, I think. I was such a perfectionist (all on me, my parents didn’t pressure me) that I got horrible stomach aches. I made it all up and was the top student in my class. I’m glad the school didn’t have such a stringent absence policy!
In my opinion this is ridiculous. Would they prefer sick children come to school? My D has had covid twice this year. Would they want her to attend class? Because if you told my D her choice was to go to school or get 3 C’s, she’d go to school. My D’s senior year in high school she had a medical emergency and needed surgery. What would your school do in this case? I would escalate this to the school administrators, superintendents, school board, etc.
I totally get that schools have policies and I get why they exist, but we also know the administrators have some flexibility for certain circumstances. My D was a figure skater and missed “too many” days each year. As did everyone else on her team and the many other teams around the county. US Figure Skating would send them to international competitions to compete on behalf of Team USA and saying no was not really an option. She communicated closely with her teachers so she could work ahead, work while gone, or whatever they preferred. Our goal was to lessen the disruption as much as possible. As parents we always attended parent-teacher conferences to explain what was going on and to thank them for working with her. She was a good student and we never had issues. Most years she got the autogenerated “truancy” letter from the district. Her freshmen year it stressed me out but once nothing came from it I learned to just ignore it. I talked to one of her coaches who was an attorney for the state and she said they had much bigger issues than dealing with good students who missed a couple days too much of school. Have to talked to any of the individual teachers or is this coming from the school administration?