My point of view is coming from some experience vs a certain mind set. I received a letter from our principal a few years back that my youngest had spent a lot of time out of school. True. Of course, what isn’t known is that each child/each year is different with respect to health. This year... she’s been healthy as a horse. The only absences were half days and they were for dental and doctor appointments. The year she was sick a lot was due to pink eye, stomach bug, bronchitus, and the flu. It was a bad, bad year for it.
My pet peeve is this: many working parents don’t want to take off of work when their kid is sick. They give Tylenol in the morning and a shot of Advil just before getting them to school. The Tylenol drops the fever quickly; the Advil keeps the fever at bay for “hopefully” the rest of the day. Of course, neither do anything for infecting the other kids or the then infection of the parents/siblings. The school nurse has told me privately that she is appalled at how many parents will say, “oh, they threw up in class? Well, there is only four hours left” or “I can’t get out of work. Can they stay in the nurse’s office the rest of the day?”
This all has to do with funding IMHO. A good parent will write a sick note, and request any and all material that the child needs to complete. A good parent also knows that a child with a fever, vomiting, etc.. can’t do WELL at school because they are sick. If I have the flu, Bronchitus, or an infection... I don’t do much either. I give my body time to heal.
I forgot to add: quantity over quality. Little girl got straight A’s in everything even with the sick days. This boy has A’s and B’s. Now.. the same school will have kids who don’t do their homework and have C/D level grades at best. However, they have completed the number of required school days. Those students won’t be addressed.
Please read my post #43.