Truancy and Illness

[Lady A]

I think the truancy policy at my school is bullshit. (I hope this is the right section to post this in.)

One of my friends is chronically ill, has thousands of doctor's notes from multiple doctors confirming this, both parents confirming, and is physically unable to go to school but the school decided to call them truant.

First of all: What the hell?
I read up on our student handbook- being declared truant can only happen for UNEXCUSED absences, and 9 unexcused days in the last 180 days. While my friend has been gone for weeks, they're all excused due to actually being in the fucking hospital. Or at the very least, SHOULD be excused.

Funfact: Another friend has their parents call in sick for 1 day, only being sick for 2 other days in the entire school year so far, and he has a fever. But the school says "Fever? Nah, fuck it, this is truancy." We have received no explaination why it's truant, despite phone calls or emails to the school.

And this situation falls under "illness" which should be excused for a day as stated in the student handbook. The parents even confirmed for both siutations. Yet it's still truancy.

Anyone else think truancy is really unfair here?

[Sadly_Not]

Yes, it is really unfair. The school needs to get its head on straight and realize that truancy does not equate to chronic illness.

[SoulRiser]

That's just completely insane. Those people have no sense whatsoever... is there some way to report this to the media? Get the school some serious negative attention or something...

[Lady A]

I'm not sure if negative attention will work or not. However, I will be gathering different cases from students I know, including evidence of these events, and eventually confront the school about it. (If they refuse to change then I might bring it to the media. The media usually covers our school events so hopefully they'd listen if it doesn't turn out well.)

[Geicosuave]

(02-09-2017 08:04 AM)Lady A Wrote:  I'm not sure if negative attention will work or not. However, I will be gathering different cases from students I know, including evidence of these events, and eventually confront the school about it. (If they refuse to change then I might bring it to the media. The media usually covers our school events so hopefully they'd listen if it doesn't turn out well.)

Oh, definitely report it to the media first. It solves the problem, probably better than the school would themselves (if you reported it after the school made a half-assed attempt then it may not get as good coverage because it wouldnt be as big an issue) because they would on the spot, and its really fun to watch your school get attacked in the media

[Superkamiguru]

(02-09-2017 12:33 PM)Geicosuave Wrote:  

(02-09-2017 08:04 AM)Lady A Wrote:  I'm not sure if negative attention will work or not. However, I will be gathering different cases from students I know, including evidence of these events, and eventually confront the school about it. (If they refuse to change then I might bring it to the media. The media usually covers our school events so hopefully they'd listen if it doesn't turn out well.)

its really fun to watch your school get attacked in the media

Pass me the popcorn.

[SoulRiser]

Quote:Oh, definitely report it to the media first. It solves the problem, probably better than the school would themselves (if you reported it after the school made a half-assed attempt then it may not get as good coverage because it wouldnt be as big an issue) because they would on the spot

Yeah, I think this is more likely to be effective as well. I tried to get my school to change some stuff internally back in the day, and they took their damn time to even bother to get back to me, and just made a bunch of excuses to not do anything about it. Although in my case, I doubt the media would have given a damn. In your case, it seems more likely.

[xcriteria]

If this is in the US or another country where homeschooling is legal, the best option may be to choose homeschooling.

If in the US, depending on the state, it's very easy -- or a bit of paperwork -- to inform the district that one is homeschooling. But it can be done, and it will stop the issues around truancy.

I can provide more information on this if you want to PM me or post here about the state/country where this is happening.

[DreamRebel]

(02-12-2017 01:12 PM)xcriteria Wrote:  If this is in the US or another country where homeschooling is legal, the best option may be to choose homeschooling.

If in the US, depending on the state, it's very easy -- or a bit of paperwork -- to inform the district that one is homeschooling. But it can be done, and it will stop the issues around truancy.

I can provide more information on this if you want to PM me or post here about the state/country where this is happening.

Yeah, I'd suggest online classes through the school if it'll be allowed, unless the parents will have them homeschooled or transferred. That way, even when they're not at school, the teachers have nothing to crab about.