Schools these days ...
The school just called to ask why James is not at school today. I said he is sick. And they said, "And you're his mother?" For the sake of expediency, I said, "Yes." And that was that. It's a little strange to have them calling the house, though.
In the Parent's Handbook that they sent home, they said a note OR a call to the school would be sufficient to excuse a child's absence. Then, after I called to tell them last week to tell them that Rachel was out because she was sick, they still sent her home with a form for me to fill out, explaining why she was absent from school. I don't know if this is because they think that I might not know that my child wasn't at school, or what. Because it does show the dates that she was absent, which would serve to notify me if I didn't. Kind of scary to think that's a possibility with a first grader, hm? The form gives the following choices as reasons for absence: "Doctor's Appointment ___, Dentist's Appointment ___, Illness ___" and then on the next line: "Nature of Illness: ________________________________________________________" So not only do you have to tell them that the kid was sick, you have to tell them what the kid had.
It also says in the Parent's Handbook that if children's absences are considered by the school to be excessive, they will have the parents in for an attendence meeting. And they reserve the right to report you. To CPS, I presume. This is not something they tell the parents who have begun to fuck up, this is right there in the Handbook, the one they hand out to everyone at the beginning of the year. Wow, huh?
It's kind of sad that the schools have to be enforcing this kind of thing on the parents. I mean, back in the day, the school was considered an authority secondary to the parents. The parents were presumed to be far more interested in the child's success than the school. But these days, the school administers fluoride, sends home notes about parental involvement, provides consequences to the students *and* the parents if children don't attend regularly ... It's quite a statement about what's happening out there. And it makes me feel damn uneasy.
In the Parent's Handbook that they sent home, they said a note OR a call to the school would be sufficient to excuse a child's absence. Then, after I called to tell them last week to tell them that Rachel was out because she was sick, they still sent her home with a form for me to fill out, explaining why she was absent from school. I don't know if this is because they think that I might not know that my child wasn't at school, or what. Because it does show the dates that she was absent, which would serve to notify me if I didn't. Kind of scary to think that's a possibility with a first grader, hm? The form gives the following choices as reasons for absence: "Doctor's Appointment ___, Dentist's Appointment ___, Illness ___" and then on the next line: "Nature of Illness: ________________________________________________________" So not only do you have to tell them that the kid was sick, you have to tell them what the kid had.
It also says in the Parent's Handbook that if children's absences are considered by the school to be excessive, they will have the parents in for an attendence meeting. And they reserve the right to report you. To CPS, I presume. This is not something they tell the parents who have begun to fuck up, this is right there in the Handbook, the one they hand out to everyone at the beginning of the year. Wow, huh?
It's kind of sad that the schools have to be enforcing this kind of thing on the parents. I mean, back in the day, the school was considered an authority secondary to the parents. The parents were presumed to be far more interested in the child's success than the school. But these days, the school administers fluoride, sends home notes about parental involvement, provides consequences to the students *and* the parents if children don't attend regularly ... It's quite a statement about what's happening out there. And it makes me feel damn uneasy.