This is about Middle School and Absenteeism

allyphoe
Thu, 23 Jan 2014 10:10:17 +0000

“I cannot imagine a more obnoxious response than this.”

I have a good imagination.

In our district, 10 unexcused absences in a semester means your grade prior to taking the semester final is automatically reduced to a 59%, even if your actual grade in the class is higher than 100%. If the final is heavily weighted, you might be able to pull a high D or low C for the semester grade, and there is no appeals process. Sick days are technically only excused with a doctor’s note. A doctor’s note costs me $100, and wastes both my time and the doctor’s.

I can imagine a more obnoxious absentee policy, but I can imagine more obnoxious responses, too.

(My actual objection to the policy is that it’s guaranteed to be enforced in a discriminatory manner, because “principal’s discretion” is the only alternative way to get an absence excused. My kid is the “right” ethnicity and class, isn’t a troublemaker, and has loud-mouth parents, which means she’s historically had no trouble getting “principal’s discretion” excused absences for things like “didn’t feel like going to school.”)