Posted on 03/08/2007 12:23:40 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
Tired of parents pulling their kids out of school for a ski trip or a visit to Disneyland, the local school system is billing them for the missed class time at $36.13 per day.
That is how much the Scotts Valley district calculates it loses under a state formula that doles out school funding according to daily attendance.
In truth, the bills are merely a request; no one is actually required to pay.
But some parents in the well-to-do community 30 miles south of Silicon Valley are paying up to ease their guilty consciences. Others are refusing, saying the request is offensive in a state where nearly half the annual budget _ $66 billion _ already is devoted to education.
"I tossed it. It's a public school. I'm not going to be told to pay when I have my kids out," said Helene Handy, who received the explanatory letter three times, once for each of her children. "We've got to have a better way to pay for our schools."
School officials said the purpose is twofold _ to discourage parents from aiding and abetting hooky, and to recoup money lost to absences.
The 2,800-student district _ which is populated with a large number of high-tech specialists and managers and had a median household income in 2000 of more than $72,000 _ sent a letter of explanation in January to parents. It was titled "If You Play, Please Pay."
"Are the ski slopes calling? Is the beach beckoning? Are you taking the kids to Disneyland midweek to avoid the crowds?" the letter asked. "If so, we would encourage you to reconsider. When your child misses school, there are consequences for the student and the district."
In California, under a formula that dates to the 1930s, how much a school receives in tax dollars is based on how many students are in class on any given day.
"Elective absences," or days missed for reasons other than illness, cost the Scotts Valley district $223,000 during the 2005-06 school year, according to the school system. On average, it says, a Scotts Valley child misses 2.3 days because of elective absences.
Within two weeks after the letter went home, the district collected more than $2,000, said Brenda Spalding, assistant to Superintendent Susan Silver.
Stan Wilson took his two children to Hawaii for a week earlier this school year. Connor, 6, and Courtney, 8, missed five days of school. When the family returned, the Wilsons received a note from the school system asking for compensation. The letter did not specify how much, but it would have totaled more than $360.
Wilson happily gave even more, writing a check for $500. The tax-deductible "donation" was a bargain compared to the private school tuition he and his wife were prepared to pay before they decided to keep their children in public school, Wilson said.
"We saved so much money, we decided it was fair," he said.
The 10,000-student San Mateo-Foster City elementary school system started doing the same thing a few years ago, when Silver was an administrator there. Representatives of the associations representing state and national school boards said they had not heard of any other districts trying to recover costs when students miss class.
Charlotte Multer, a member of the PTA at two Scotts Valley schools, said the request for reimbursement is fair.
"Our schools are duct-taped together and they're in portables. It's a shame. We need every penny we can keep," she said. "If you can afford to go to Disneyland or go on a ski trip, maybe you can afford a donation."
They are already paying for those days in their taxes.
I don't know that this is a great idea, but why DO parents pull kids out of school for vacations? My parents would never have considered such a thing.
"We saved so much money, we decided it was fair," he said.
Wow!
This guy is so far gone! He pays property taxes, why in the heck would you want to give any more money to the government school? Does he give "donations" to the IRS, the Post Office, or any other government "service"? It amazes me how people feel so beholden to these government bean counters! He's probably already got a "Hillary '08" sticker on his Volvo... Cheers, CSG
Why does it cost the school district? The teacher gets paid if there are 5 students or twenty students in class.
And WHY would they let on that the kid was at Disney World?
Whatever happened to the time-honored art of lying and saying little Billy was sick?
To avoid the crowds.
I know we have done it in the past because my husband is not always home when they are on vacation. But our school here offers Saturday school, so if our kids ever went over the 10 days allowed by the state (it may even be federal, I would have to check), they would attend that to make up the absence.
I think it is ridiculous, and very, very tacky, for the school to ask for money for the classes.
In Texas also... School districts receive more money from the state based on attendance.
I'm sure it keeps the school districts in line with making sure attendance is where it needs to be.
My parents wouldn't have considered pulling me out of school in the fifties and sixties for a vacation etc. either, but years ago when I taught high school (seventies), kids were pulled out for hunting trips, vacations, etc. I was stunned when I realized this was an accepted practice. Then and today, school is something that is squeezed in between our more serious activities.
Mine neither, but I do confess to having youngest daughter miss a Friday so we could maximize the long weekend visiting her sister up in college.
Simple answer... because sometimes FAMILY is more important than the brainwashing of the state.
Ohhhh. Thanks for the explanation. I was raised with the expectation that you go have fun once you've met your commitments, not before. But gee, I guess that would mean longer lines! :)
(Not that I've ever been to Disneyland/World; it never appealed to me as a kid, and I asked my husband once about going as an adult, since he had been; he said that when the park opens in the morning it's like the running of the bulls at Pamplona, and that was all I needed to hear. None for me, thanks!)
He probably thinks that when he gets a "tax refund" he didn't pay any taxes!!!!!!
I wish my parents would have pulled me out of school for a vacation! I usually had to go to school even when I was sick.
Then again, my school district gave the first and last days of hunting season off, so I can't complain.
I'm paying most of my bills online, so now I have to write a check to the Post Office for the postage that they didn't get?
Geez, they whine because the classes are beyond capacity, they whine because the classes aren't at capacity, they whine because a kid says a prayer before a test, because more boys answer than girls, because some prissy feels oppressed, because the math books are 4 years old (hello, has 2+2 changed in those years?) and on and on and on...
Because their kids will learn more at Disneyland for a day than in their school.
Wait. The parents who took their kids out of school for the week received no services from the school during that time. Seems like we're all entitled to a rebate for that time.
It should be paid by the parents of the other kids in the class. They received a better education during that week (better student/teacher ratio), so they should expect to pay more for that.
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