Is it legal to take a child out of school in America for a holiday?

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NoDay4343@reddit

A kindergartner is not going to be harmed at all by missing a few weeks of school. There will be zero need for an average student to do any make up time. However, the school will likely have a very different opinion on this, partly because they only get the $$ when the student is in class. They may require some form of make up time even if the student has no need for it.

Also NCLB puts unreasonable pressure on schools to ensure all children pass standardized tests and so on. Not sure if any states start standardized testing in kindergarten, but if the state in question does, it does put the school in an awkward position because they need to ensure this student can pass the tests this year, and the fact that he'll easily catch up next year won't matter. Late April/early May is an especially problematic time frame which will almost certainly include last minute review for the tests and may also overlap with the testing.

So regardless of what the law actually says, I would expect the initial response from the school to be a flat out "no you can't do that.". So I 100% would not start by going to the school. Start by educating yourself on what the law actually is so you can then approach the school knowing whether you're asking the impossible, begging for a small favor, or they have no actual grounds to refuse. Usually there are ways to make exceptions, but it's harder than it used to be. At a minimum, the school will likely (attempt to) require you to provide evidence of the educational value of the trip and may request/demand that you have the child complete worksheets each day or something like that.

Ofc all of that is positively ridiculous because the educational value of an international trip is massive and far more than they could possibly provide on school grounds, and a few worksheets more or less in a kindergartner's life just doesn't matter. I would, regardless of what the school says, try to make time for reading (could be the child reads or an adult reads aloud, both have tons of value) at least almost every day, and try to make time at least a few times on the trip for historical and/or cultural excursions. Yes, the vast majority of that will go over the child's head, but it still impacts the development of their brain in very positive ways.

If worst comes to worst and the laws in your state aren't supportive of parents and/or the school is totally uncooperative, formally withdrawing the student and homeschooling for the remainder of the school year is one option. Most states have very light or no requirements regarding proving that the child is being properly educated for the kindergarten level, so it should be fairly easy to do.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

Don’t use information from Reddit to for this. She needs to check her district’s rules.

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just1here@reddit

These rules will be on the website, easy to find. Speaking from neighboring NC, it’s probably fine as long as the kid has not racked up a bunch of absences already. There is a top number of absences per school year that will get you looked at. Hopefully kid will have a healthy year & not be out sick much. Sounds like the kid would be absent 10 school days near the end of Kindergarten, which is not a big deal academically speaking.

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djsuperfly@reddit

If you're writing from NC: 10 unexcused absences will trigger a school-level investigation with possible notification to the local district attorney and the local head of DSS.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

Yeah it's almost surely easily accessible online. I assumed this was really a sister communication issue not actually related to the district's rules or transparency.

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arah91@reddit

Also Know there is a difference between what the school wants, and what you as the parent can legally do.

The school will say they don't want any absences, but there is probably some bar they have to hit to trigger truancy laws, that is the more import one.

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Brave_Pan@reddit

It’s 10 days unexcused in most places. So 2 weeks would trigger it.

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ifallallthetime@reddit

This would be excused, especially if they inform them beforehand

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djsuperfly@reddit

This absolutely would not fall under an excused absence in my state (nor my last).

Google says, at least under state law, it wouldn't be excused in AZ either, although apparently they do give districts there discretion to do so.

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MamaLlama629@reddit

Telling them in advance typically negates issues with truancy

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arah91@reddit

Yes, but there is almost always some way around that. They can be "sick" they can make stuff up online, etc.

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chirop1@reddit

Two weeks is a long damn time...

I know Europeans look at vacations differently than we do, but Jesus...

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scarlettohara1936@reddit

At 5? In kindergarten? The experience of another country and meeting relatives will be just as valuable knowledge wise as sitting in kindergarten. He'll be just fine:)

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ifallallthetime@reddit

I'd argue much more valuable

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

The thing about flying to Europe is you'll spend a day of travel on either end so between time and money once you're paying to get there it makes sense to stay at least a week or 10 days. For something like a family wedding they'll probably be spending an entire weekend on that so they'll want to spend separate time seeing the sights. They also may have free or cheap accommodations with family, which can extend the "might as well stay a few days".

My cousin got married in Italy last year and I didn't bring my kids for these and other reasons. But that wasn't as close a relation as their aunt/uncle and we were fortunate to have people who could watch them and them still go to school.

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AlpsHelpful1292@reddit

I think they mean that’s a long time to be out of school. Especially for a kindergartner.

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Nomahs_Bettah@reddit

I feel like kindergarten is a much easier time to have an extended absence than when you’re older?

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crookedhypotenuse@reddit

Both my kids had homework and tests as kindergarteners. It's not like it used to be.

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ifallallthetime@reddit

What kind of insane school district is that?

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AlpsHelpful1292@reddit

I’m a teacher and I’ve taught high school and elementary. Kindergarteners are building foundational skills that are necessary for the rest of their school career, and most of the learning is done in the classroom so it’s difficult to replicate at home. Social-emotional learning and just being at school with other children is also a huge thing at that age level. An older student is more likely to have developed the skills they need to keep up with schoolwork on their own and its way more likely that they will be able to access material online.

I taught 1st grade from 2019-2021 and the students I had in 2020 who weren’t in school for kindergarten during quarantine were so maladjusted compared to the 1st graders I had the year before. I quit teaching for a while after that and switched to high school when I went back. I’ve had a few students who have missed a lot of school due to illness and it’s not ideal but they’ve managed.

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sigusr3@reddit

OK, but it's two weeks as opposed to several months, and missing school was probably not the only thing that was different for those students.

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Stealyosweetroll@reddit

And for an experience abroad that most kids never have? Hardly a bad thing.

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PugGrumbles@reddit

Are you a teacher?

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fiestybox246@reddit

Some parents who have the “it’s only kindergarten” mentality have the “it’s only” this or that about several other things throughout the years as well. It creates an issue that school isn’t important and somehow it’s everyone else’s fault the child can’t keep up.

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Emotional_Match8169@reddit

Kindergarten isn’t what it used to be. It’s now more like second grade.

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zenchow@reddit

Think of all the missed coloring assignments

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Brave_Pan@reddit

You know kindergarteners are reading and writing by the middle of the school year right? My nephew just finished kindergarten and the school has his class reading short chapter books now and writing paragraphs. We’re in Florida too so it’s not like it’s an advanced curriculum.

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AlpsHelpful1292@reddit

It’s clear most of the people here are not teachers or familiar with child development. I’ve taught elementary and high school and the work students do in K-2 lays the foundations for the rest of their education and I would argue is more important than the work that comes later. Before age 7 is the critical period for children’s mental development.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

That would be my argument and like I said has factored in to my own planning for these kinds of things. But their other replies suggest they think that’s a long trip regardless of the school factor.

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catymogo@reddit

Some districts will automatically unenroll you after a certain amount of time, it's super dependent.

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AlpsHelpful1292@reddit

When my parents went on long trips when I was a kid they left us with our grandparents. My mom did go to the UK and Ireland for 2-3 weeks with her best friend during the school year and we stayed with my dad.

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Zaidswith@reddit

No one thinks it's weird to take a trip that long to Europe. They think it's a long time to pull a kid out of school. That's why parents tend to take trips over summer break.

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Lostinstereo28@reddit

My parents would take me on 2 week vacations all the time in the fall and winter. The school would be notified ahead of time and I would be given the homework/readings like a week before I left. Ostensibly I was supposed to do the work over my vacation but I usually just banged it out the week before then relaxed. When I returned I would take any tests that I happened to miss. It was never a big deal.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

Based on their other replies it seems like the person I’m responding to does think a trip to Europe is kind of weird 🤷‍♀️

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Zaidswith@reddit

There's always one

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exhausted247365@reddit

They’ll be jet lagged when they get back, and jet lag is harder on kids

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ifallallthetime@reddit

He also mentioned that the child is 5. Missing two weeks of kindergarten is not going to hold the child back

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ottersandgoats@reddit

Is it? I think it depends on where you go, but we generally take 2 weeks for trips abroad. I thought that was normal when factoring in flight costs and being able to experience as much as you can.

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slydessertfox@reddit

2 weeks isn't a long vacation. However 2 weeks is a ton of school to miss.

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elphaba00@reddit

It's also two weeks at the end of the fourth quarter. There's a lot of activity going on.

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catymogo@reddit

Maybe they'll be able to back it up to a break? Spring Break is in April and Memorial Day Weekend is in May, so they'll only miss 5-7 days of school.

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elphaba00@reddit

Many school districts have switched to following college schedules for spring breaks, so they'll go in either mid- or late March.

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catymogo@reddit

Depends on your state, NJ is always backing up to Easter. Schools here are in another month still.

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lefactorybebe@reddit

Yeah I'm in CT and we typically get out mid June. This year our last day is June 24th though (omggg😬) because we had a weeks worth of snow days over the winter.

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InterestingFact1728@reddit

That’s an important point. Schools in different states begin/end at different times. For some counties in our state, they are done with school this week or next week. We go until June 2nd (2 early-out days that are instructional insignificant as grades are already done).

South Carolina has a composite 2026-2027 school year calendar posted. The earliest school start for students is in Aiken (July 20) and the last is Horry (August 19).

Looks like May 21 is the close of school for several ‘districts’, with the latest end date of June 8 for Horry.

I suggest OP take a look at the school calendar to see where the 2 weeks fall. And how strictly the school adheres to attendance policies. 10 days out unexcused is a red flag for attendance. Missing 15 (mix of excused and unexcused) can land you a meeting with admin.

Depending on the state, funding, etc, summer school isn’t always an option. In my district summer school is for only a few grades that are mandatory pass/fail grades (think 3rd for my state, where students cannot move on if they do not show proficiency in reading).

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throwawayatxaway@reddit

Not in Kindergarten at the end of the year

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ottersandgoats@reddit

That's fair, I understand the original post but I went on a tangent and was asking generally. My child is not in school yet so we don't factor that in.

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LadyMRedd@reddit

It's normal if you're not taking kids out of school to do it. If you have to go during the school year, then the focus should be on why you're going then (eg wedding, funeral, other event that can't be moved).

So if you're going with kids and taking them when they're off school, sure plan an extended vacation. But if you're taking kids out of school, 2 weeks is excessive and would be a big disruption to their lessons. 1 week is more than enough for them to go to the wedding, experience a little culture, and deal with jet lag.

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chirop1@reddit

I don't know anyone who goes on two week vacations.

Personally, as someone who grew up on a farm and now owns my own business... I really struggled when my wife wanted us to go on a one week vacation. By Wednesday I was antsy and wondering if we really were just supposed to sit around on the beach all day. I'm better now, but I can't imagine being gone longer than 7 days. A long weekend is more than enough for me. 3-4 days and I'm good.

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catymogo@reddit

Not all vacations are beach vacations, lots of people do cultural/city vacations. A week in pretty much anywhere in Europe will be full of things to do.

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ottersandgoats@reddit

Fair enough and to each their own. My mother is the same way, she doesn't really enjoy traveling. It can be a hassle. I wouldn't enjoy sitting on a beach for a week either but our trips are usually filled with activity.

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MysteriousLook597@reddit

i'm so sorry.

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BuildNuyTheUrbanGuy@reddit

Two weeks of hotels sounds like millionaire stuff.

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Zaidswith@reddit

2 weeks is a long time to miss school.

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keja1978@reddit

Agreed. Lots of Americans don't travel overseas though. If you do, the flight is a huge part of the cost in time and money and less than two weeks hardly seems worth it.

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poopiebutt505@reddit

Not.for visiting the UK.

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sweetbaker@reddit

UK fines both parents if their children are out of school too often with a few exceptions

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Frodo34x@reddit

Only in some parts of the UK. Scotland doesn't fine parents for their children missing school.

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sweetbaker@reddit

That’s fair. Everything about the UK should have an * next to it saying except probably Scotland

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Frodo34x@reddit

The worst part is when you're researching something and look up a .gov.uk website, read multiple pages of text describing e.g. how to apply for a marriage licence and then at the very end there's a sentence saying "This page only applies to England and Wales, please see here for Scottish law"

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sweetbaker@reddit

And no one knows about N. Ireland. A mystery to us all 😂

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Cudi_buddy@reddit

I remember being gone for a week+ for vacation every year around the holidays. Some of the teachers griped, but my parents signed off. Definitely depends on your kids tho and how they are with their studies.

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MahFreakinADHD@reddit

I was a former teacher and once worked with a British teacher. He was absolutely mystified that American schools do not give more weekly holidays beyond winter and spring break like they do in the UK. I remember him telling me that they would have six weeks of schooling then a few weeks off for “Holiday” and another six weeks of schooling again. Yeah we only give 2-3 week breaks in a whole 10-month school year calendar.

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JediLincoln14@reddit

They also have a shorter summer break, though.

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CinemaSideBySides@reddit

^ The only answer that matters. OP doesn't seem to actually be looking for general American feedback but for an answer to a very specific location and district

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

I assume OP just thinks that every place in the U.S. is the same with the same rules and laws.

People in other countries often aren’t used to laws being different in different parts of the country.

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kashy87@reddit

Hell those policies are different school district to school district, and even school to school within the same district at times.

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Frodo34x@reddit

OP lives in England, and from an abundance of personal experience I can say that many English people don't realise there are different laws and regulations for school within the different countries of the UK, let alone the fact that different US states might differ.

I know that the concept of unexcused absence (as well as the question of when summer break is) is something that England and Scotland differ on.

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Efficient_Hyena_7476@reddit

When I moved from Scotland to England, prescription charges blew my mind.

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RoundandRoundon99@reddit

I was suprised people were not too familiar with “Bank of Scotland” currency.

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rage1026@reddit

It’s definitely going to vary. I remember mine that legally yes you can but it’s going to be counted as an absent for non emergency.

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Status_Ad_4405@reddit

Exactly. Call up the school and ask. Jesus.

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Super_Development150@reddit (OP)

My sister hasn’t enrolled her child in school yet and will in September, which will be when she talks to the school about it. I’m not looking for a definite answer and then basing plans off what I’ve read on here. I’m merely trying to scope out what the legalities of taking him out of school would be, and if this summer camp would be a viable option.

Thanks for the useful comment.

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VoiceArtPassion@reddit

Im not sure if this is a federal or state law, but where I live school isn’t a requirement until age 8. Before 8, all you’ll get is a strongly worded letter.

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the1slyyy@reddit

Compulsory education starts at 5 for kindergarten in the US. Where do you live that it's age 8?

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VoiceArtPassion@reddit

I live I. Washington and it’s 8 here.

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crookedhypotenuse@reddit

Kindergarten is not required where I live in California.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

I believe States have to offer public education it starting at 5 but age of mandatory attendance varies by state and is as high as 8 in some states.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_1.asp

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the1slyyy@reddit

Damn here kindergarten is mandatory and they're pushing free 4k for 4 years old. 8 is crazy.

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Wchijafm@reddit

Schools typically start in August here. Some states dont legally require kindergarten mine is mandatory 1st grade and above(or submit homeschooling plan and follow those rules). If she enrolling in a private school(paid for by parents) she would have enrolled already. If her child is going to public(paid for by the government) she can technically put it off till end of summer but the sooner they get your info the better. The public school has to take your child you may be required to have certain forms but they cant deny them an education because you are late.

Your public school is determined by a district map(should be available online) so her kid has a designated school already(unless they are moving) . You can submit a request for a different school or even district but she would have done that already

Once she or you knows the school district she should be able to find their attendance policy. This would be considered an "unexcused absence". for my ares you shouldnt have more than 10 unexcused in a school year. Im not sure the penalty but it should be outlined in the district policy.

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RoseNDNRabbit@reddit

Parents can usually take their kids out of school for however long. They will have lesson plans to adhere to and homework to mail back to the school. I didnt attend 2nd grade at all, as we were sailing around the Virgin Islands and goofin off. My homework was mailed out every 5 or 7 weeks and we called it good.

Kindergarten isnt structured like actual school is. Its more of a puppy obedience class then anything. Get everyone used to what will be expected for the next 12 years and how to cope. Taking 2 weeks off that wont be an issue. You don't have to give a large lead time on informing the teacher either. This is kindergarten, not 2nd or 9th grade.

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RoseNDNRabbit@reddit

Oh, and summer camp is an entirely different thing. That is to gain skills, confidence and knowledge outside of a classroom setting. And a lot of hiking. Other social things, like sharing a big room with a lot of other people, most strangers and navigating hygiene and all that.

Summer school is where kids make up classes they failed. Or take classes so they can move up grades faster so they can work. But your sisters kid wont flunk out of kindergarten.

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rachel_ct@reddit

Kindergarten registration is commonly in the spring. Your sister should contact the school now to get her little one in. Waiting until the school year begins is stressful for everyone involved, the child most of all. Most districts have a number of days kids are allowed to miss before trouble begins. Since May is at the end of the year, it could depend on factors such as how much sick time the tyke missed out on.

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Prinessbeca@reddit

Kindergarten is also not always compulsory, this will vary by state. So any potential trouble about truancy will vary not only by district policy and state policy, but it will vary by state laws on ages when compulsory education begins.

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shelwood46@reddit

Students starting school in September need to enroll well before September (especially since many US schools start in August). She can absolutely talk to them now. There would be no summer camp in September, as we consider that fall.

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Zaidswith@reddit

Enrollment has already started and school starts in August.

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BurritoDespot@reddit

Pretty sure your sister will be sent straight to jail just for picking up the phone…

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wookieesgonnawook@reddit

That seems incredibly late to enroll your kid in school.

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Lavender_r_dragon@reddit

Here in western North Carolina, they have already started Kindergarten enrollment. You don’t just show up on the first day of school.

Usually there is a meet the teacher (& see the classroom) day before school starts and sometimes schools do a kindergarten orientation day

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Status_Ad_4405@reddit

It's not like this is the first time this question has been asked. Someone at the school will be able to give you an answer whether the kid is already there or not.

Like they say, Common sense ain't common.

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Proof-Emergency-5441@reddit

She knows which school, which means she can contact them. She doesn't have to wait, and enrollment for next year has already happened.

Your sister is a twit for waiting until September to ask a very simple question.

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Nervous_Ladder_1860@reddit

Wait in other states that is not common? People when I was in school used to go on vacation during the school year for like a week, they just were not supposed to miss so many days.

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socabella@reddit

Yes. Double-check her specific school district, but should be fine. Worst case, they get upset but they’ll move him forward to first grade. Kindergarten isn’t even required where I live.

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lisalef@reddit

Depends on where you live but at that age, chances are they can get the “homework” and do it on the plane. We used to take our kids out the week before thanksgiving when they were in primary school (until about age 10). After that, it was trickier having to have them reach out to multiple teachers to get their work. Once they hit high school (around age 14) we had to stop as it wasn’t just the school but also extracurriculars and part time jobs.

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onegirlarmy1899@reddit

Pull her out of school completely and homeschooling until the beginning of the next year. Worldschooling is what people call it when you travel internationally and homeschool.

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benkatejackwin@reddit

Summer school is for high schoolers who have failed or want to get ahead in credits. There's not summer school in the same way for little kids.

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ifallallthetime@reddit

It's her kid. She can do whatever she wants

There is nothing illegal about this, nor should there be

However, if she misses that much school, she will have to make up the work in able to pass the grade. They also should tell the school they're planning on doing this

The school may hem and haw about this, but that's because school funding is partially based on attendance, so they will not want the child to miss

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Brave_Speaker_8336@reddit

A lot of the time, you’re able to get the schoolwork ahead of time and the kid will have to do it during the trip

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benkatejackwin@reddit

And teachers hate this, just so you know. Because it's extra work for them, and the kids usually don't do the work anyway.

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Unknown1776@reddit

Also, with how much work can be done online these days, it’s easier to makeup work or just do it the same day. But I’m not sure how much a 5-6 year old would even need to do besides some worksheets for spelling and math.

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YogiNurse@reddit

Funny, we are planning to take my kids out of school for a trip to Ireland beginning of next May!

In my district, they are allowed 5 days for travel. Any more than that is unexcused, with a maximum of 10 unexcused absences for the year before you start getting into trouble with the law.

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MenuPsychological853@reddit

We have a truancy law here too. The courts do absolutely nothing once they get to that point. Maybe it is different elsewhere but there are kids missing 20% of the entire year and still no consequences.

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Lostinstereo28@reddit

Yeah like wtf is everyone smoking here. Truancy doesn’t mean shit in most places. Not to mention that warning the school about the vacation and planning how you’ll make up the missed work will negate most truancy claims. The school *will* work with you

Source: dealt with severe chronic migraine/cluster headaches throughout my 10-12 grade school years and would be absent like 3-6 times a month unexcused. It was never anything more than a slap on the wrist by the school.

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Polite_Bark@reddit

I live in the upper midwest and truancy laws are decently enforced. In my area once your kid has reached 15 unexcused absences the parents are summoned to appear before a judge and explain why. CPS gets notified. It's a whole thing.

That said, the school will commonly work with a parent. For example, a 2 week trip for a family wedding might be worked out by the student getting their assignments before leaving and doing the work while on the trip.

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iowanaquarist@reddit

Iowa has a similar law now.

I was talking with a family in Iowa that missed 15 days of school in the first month -- and they had kids in second grade, third grade, and sixth grade, and got called in to a meeting with staff, as per Iowa law. The mother and father came in loaded for bear. They brought receipts and videos showing that the children had been visiting Washington DC, and went to the Smithsonian, as well as several other educational events, toured the White House, not only visited Arlington, but visited the graves of several family members. The parents handed over filled out work books they had purchased for the kids to do while they were on the road (travelling with a grandparent that was a retired teacher), as well as copies of the end-of-year performance metrics from the previous year showing that their students had been performing 'Above Expectations' for the end of the following grade.

They then asked the district to set up a follow up meeting, and to come prepared with a list of specific learning objectives that their children are falling behind on, as well as documentation of what the children missed while they were out.

There was no second meeting, or any further follow up.

While that was definitely overkill, there are ways to travel that are more valuable than in class work.

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cocococlash@reddit

But did they communicate that with the school beforehand?

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iowanaquarist@reddit

They did, but this was the first year of Iowa having these sorts of laws, and like everything the GOP does in this state, it's not done well. Iowa allows absences for funerals, weddings, military service, jury duty, IEP, medical, and religious (of COURSE they allow that). Anything else is either unexcused or requires a court order. The actual guidelines even explicitly list "Family vacation" as "not exempt". There is some wording in the state provided documentation implying that there is some ability for local schools and districts to provide custom rules for "Absent, and parent cited "family reasons"', but does not clearly state how that is done. The documentation published to schools and parents does not reference exemptions for educational opportunities.

It's also worth noting that the law passed in May of 2024, and went into effect in June of 2024, and the absences were the first month of school in the fall -- so schools had not even had a full month under the law to become proficient in it.

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Ellemnop8@reddit

I will defend the religious absences. I know it likely is mostly being used by Christian families, but when I lived in Iowa, I had a lot of friends who were Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu, and it was a huge headache for them to take off a day of school for important religious obligations. They likely weren't the target of the law, but I hope they'll now have an easier time because of it.

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iowanaquarist@reddit

Just for fun, here is the clause that the school had to follow:

School engagement meeting. a. (1) If a child is absent from school for greater than or equal to fifteen percent of the days or hours in the grading period, a school official shall attempt to find the cause for the child’s absences. If the school official determines that the child’s absences are negatively affecting the child’s academic progress, the school official shall initiate and participate in a school engagement meeting. The purpose of the school engagement meeting is to identify the child’s barrier

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EvangelineTheodora@reddit

If you go to r/teachers, you'll see that no one truly gets in trouble.

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cottoncandymandy@reddit

My sister in law literally got arrested over her kid missing so many days. It does happen sometimes

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EntertainmentReady48@reddit

I had a friend get pricked up for truancy because the cop thought he was in Highschool he was a senior in college.

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the1slyyy@reddit

Cop just saw what he thought was a teenager out during school hours and arrested him?

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EntertainmentReady48@reddit

He was walking to class left his wallet at home and the cop was like hey the highschool’s the other way. And then arrested him.

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HighwaySetara@reddit

Sounds like a cop all right

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Standard-Analyst-181@reddit

Your sister is one of the instances.

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Aggravating-Fee-9138@reddit

My mom had to go to court because she would always drop my brother and sister at school late and those days all counted as truancies

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reichrunner@reddit

How long ago was this?

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cottoncandymandy@reddit

Probably 10 years or so ago. It wasn't recent.

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Peculiar-Interests@reddit

A guy I went to school with missed a bunch of time and his parents got fined $1500. There definitely are consequences.

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NonspecificGravity@reddit

I personally know of a child who was expelled from a charter school for excessive unexcused absences. It was the mother's fault.

Kids who are kicked out of charter schools have to enroll in regular public schools. However, this might vary by state

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AlpsHelpful1292@reddit

I work at a charter and have a student in one of my classes with 69 absences this semester.

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reichrunner@reddit

Nice

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Suppafly@reddit

If you go to r/teachers, you'll see that no one truly gets in trouble.

I suspect that sub only focuses on the problems, it's not like the teachers with well enforced truancy policies are going to post about how great it's working in their area.

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reichrunner@reddit

Definitely some selection bias, but my partner is a teacher in a fairly well run district in a blue state and she still has kids missing an inordinate amount of school with nothing happening. Often, they'll move the kids out of regular in person school and move them to the counties virtual option. And then they just stop worrying if the kid comes to class at all past that point

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Mediocre_Daikon6935@reddit

And if you go there you’ll also find stories where the laws were enforced when they should not have been.

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MenuPsychological853@reddit

I’m married to one. Truancy is rampant. I can’t imagine what the parents are thinking but there isn’t anything the teachers or schools can even do at this point.

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TeamShonuff@reddit

I have a patient that went to jail for her son's truancy.

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Federal-Ad-6597@reddit

I have seen the law enforced as a probation officer. But these kids in this family missed more school in two years than they attended before any action happened.

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LiquidityCrisis69@reddit

I missed way more than 20% of my junior and senior years of high school but I was getting straight As in multiple AP classes and, as a result, my parents threatened to raise hell if they punished me

I am not some genius I just employed very advanced level school skipping technology

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BryonyVaughn@reddit

It really differs across states and school districts. Can I ever imagine parents to get hauled to court for taking children out of school to travel to Europe? No! Truancy laws can be enforced more leniently based on parents’ wealth, status, race, education, and community connections.

It should surprise no one that it was a black woman, Kelley Williams-Bolar, who was convicted of two felonies for using her dad’s address to enroll her children in a better school district. My divorce decree orders our chosen be registered in school based on my ex’s address. There’s no way the school will come after me for this due to multiple layers of privilege.

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Original-Locksmith58@reddit

I missed 50% of my senior year because I was a punk but they still let me graduate because my test scores were good. Gotta keep the metrics up!

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Trimyr@reddit

Senior skip day was a small subset of Trimyr skip year.

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awolfintheroses@reddit

I am an attorney who deals with juveniles/juvenile prosecution and I'll say it is definitely jurisdiction dependent (though I think there is a general trend to having little to no consequences). For instance, where I practice, truancy laws are on the books but they have no enforcement teeth so there is no point in bothering to pursue something. It's taken the school district a few years to accept it. I don't know the best way to handle it to be honest and can see the pros and cons of enforcement. It's a weird gray area.

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Rich-Distribution445@reddit

See if you school allows excused absences for educational enhancement. In my district they have a form to fill out where you share the educational opportunities the absence provides. In the past I’ve used it a cheer competition in conjunction with a trip to Disney World and a trip to Hawaii. In our district Ireland would definitely qualify.

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YogiNurse@reddit

Our principal is all about traveling with family! He’s even excused trips to great wolf lodge for us lol. Unfortunately we only get 5 days per the school district so a trip to Ireland will definitely be more than what we’re allowed but I really don’t think much will come of it because they normally only miss if they’re sick or have a Dr appointment.

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ShoesAreTheWorst@reddit

It also depends what grade he is in, though. If the kid is in 4th+, there might be standardized testing in April/may. That could pose possible issues.

Definitely contact the school.

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YogiNurse@reddit

I actually already talked to the principal about testing dates next year so we could plan around them! They’re the last two weeks of April for us.

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midnightsmith@reddit

With the law? For what?! What goddamn law says you can't be a parent?

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Justamemer101@reddit

That is crazy, I regularly missed 40+ days in a school year with absolutely no repercussions

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catymogo@reddit

You missed close to a quarter of the school year? At least a day every week? How did you manage to graduate?

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Justamemer101@reddit

What, like it’s hard?

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Mr_Kittlesworth@reddit

The “trouble with the law” is going to be a call from a cop. Politely tell them to fuck off, and nothing will ever come of it again

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mvanpeur@reddit

Even if you go over the 10 days, they don't do much though. My son missed 23 days of first grade. He had flu B, which affected him for a week. Then he developed pneumonia from the flu B, which knocked him out for another couple days. We took a once in a lifetime trip that made him miss 8 days of school. And he was also getting constant ear infections that didn't stop until we had his tonsils removed.

In all, we got a firmly worded letter. And when we called school about it, they were very understanding. Since it was all travel or illness, they didn't actually care. They said they really only pursue truancy cases when parents just don't send their kids for no reason, so basically neglect.

At most, a school would ask you to explain how the trip is educational, which would be very easy with a trip to England.

That said, in our experience, it was the parents' job to catch up the kids. School didn't do more than send home things for us to work on.

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YogiNurse@reddit

If you have doctors notes, and I’m assuming you did for those reasons, then they’re not counted towards the unexcused days (in our district). My son missed a lot of kindergarten and we got a firmly worded letter but I called the truancy person and he was very understanding.

I’ve also already talked to our principal about this trip because I wanted a rough estimate of dates that wouldn’t interfere with testing. He was very excited for our kids, and started talking about his own trip to Ireland he went on last year, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem when we do go to submit the info! I’ve never submitted for more than 2-3 days for a vacation during the school year so I’m still a little nervous!

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AliMcGraw@reddit

Two weeks in kindergarten is not that big of a deal -- they won't miss anything but their friends -- but it may trigger truancy laws so they should be careful to arrange well in advance. Those laws impact the state funding formula and schools can get very tetchy if they're close to a borderline where the state comes in with heavier controls over the school and its funding.

Also they're not really going to care if your sister lives in Lake Forest and they're going to care a lot if she lives in Dolton. How much the school relies on the state for funding impacts how much the school cares about this.

(I thought this question was going to be about pulling high school students out for a couple weeks, which would be logistically complicated. But kindergarten is NBD, get worksheets from the teacher in advance so she doesn't miss the letter V or whatever. Also maybe help her keep a "journal" (crayon pictures with mom or dad writing the words, for example) so she practices some of those kindergarten skills and has something to share with her teacher when she comes back.)

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emotions1026@reddit

Not sure what kindergarten is like where you are but by May in our school district’s kindergarten students are absolutely expected to be reading, not doing the letter V. Also no way on “Mom and Dad writing the words” for an end of year kindergartener either, she should definitely be able to write a sentence using a combo of her sight words and sounding out, if not 2.

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WorldBubbly@reddit

100% this. Kindergarteners in May where I am are reading fluently, comprehending, computing addition and subtraction within 1-10 and 1-20, etc.

OP, I ran into this a few times as a kindergarten teacher. With the right communication, I was able to set up a math journal, a writing journal, and a Noticing journal for the kiddos to do so they could teach us when they got back. I was most concerned about keeping them writing every day. The specific teacher and school will have good guidance!

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El_Polio_Loco@reddit

Reading fluently?

Maybe basic words, but phonetics, sight words, things like that are first grade here.

Usually kindergarten is half playing catch up for the kids who didn’t have great preschool education.

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wekilledbambi03@reddit

Preschool isn’t mandatory and in many places not even offered. So kindergarten may be the first time kids are exposed to learning letters and numbers.

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aardvarksauce@reddit

Which is a failure of the adults raising them.

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El_Polio_Loco@reddit

Sure. But this isn’t a commentary on good or bad.

It’s a discussion of reality.

That there are kids playing catchup is unfortunate, but the district can’t just let them fall further behind.

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aardvarksauce@reddit

Absolutely. Which is why no one should be arguing missing this much kindergarten is not a big deal.

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El_Polio_Loco@reddit

Who’s arguing missing kindergarten?

This is about the inconsistency of preK and the catchup period that is kindergarten

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emotions1026@reddit

Are you an elementary school teacher? Because I am and kindergarteners at my school absolutely receive instruction in phonics and sight words in kindergarten.

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El_Polio_Loco@reddit

I’m just a person with a kid in kindergarten and first grade.

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DistantRaine@reddit

My kids have spelling tests by Christmas in kinder. It's words like "the" but it's still a spelling test.

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exedore6@reddit

My nephew, in kindergarten now (so at the end of the year) is making their own simple sentences, only needing help with spelling. Knowing letters and numbers is expected on day 1. What they're learning that can't be taught in a packet is how to perform school. Staying in your seat, lines, focusing on a assigned task, etc.

IMO they increased the standards very high to make it easy to deny parents who want to go to kindergarten early (essentially they need to be ready for first grade by their standard to get into kindergarten a year early, and even then, only have a few slots)

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

Most of the kids in my son’s class are reading pretty well phonetically (kindergarten) and writing fairly complex stuff phonetically (like the sentences make sense but the spelling is phonetic).

Next year they really get into it but this year laid all the foundation.

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oceansapart333@reddit

Kindergartners are absolutely taught phonetics and sight words and should be able to read simple sentences.

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CyanCitrine@reddit

Yeah same here, my kids were both reading those "step up" reading books and writing short sentences independently at the end of kindergarten. Also doing basic math problem.s It's not coloring and letters.

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False-Cookie3379@reddit

My daughter finished kindergarten yesterday. She’s reading and writing, knows about 100 or so sight words. She can also write the letter V unassisted.

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Klutzy-Comment6897@reddit

Wow I thought at that age they were still like hamsters.

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567Anonymous@reddit

Did your kids go to Kindergarten in the 1970’s or something? Because it is currently nothing like what you are describing.

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AliMcGraw@reddit

My kids went to an evidence-driven play-based kindergarten. The pendulum has swung back and they're introducing more play and social problem solving and less formal learning.

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567Anonymous@reddit

My kids went to preschool like this, but I have not heard of any public school kindergartens being this way.

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emotions1026@reddit

What is this evidence-based program called?

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OnePuzzleheaded6724@reddit

It depends on school district because where I'm at, there is not a lot of space in the kindergarten classes so if you miss too much, they kick you out and put someone else in your place.

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Hotsauce61@reddit

Of course it’s legal. This is America, do what you want. They may have work to make up but it should be doable that young.

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MamaLlama629@reddit

Is it legal? Yes it is. Schools will always advise against it officially but its kindergarten. It’s not more important than a family event requiring travel.

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CyanCitrine@reddit

A couple of WEEKS could be a problem.

A week or a few days would likely be fine.

My daughter had to miss 3 weeks of school for surgery and there was tons of paperwork involved and she did homebound school.

Truancy laws are different depending on the school district but some will put you in jail if your kid misses too much.

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the-lovely-panda@reddit

Depends on the district like other people have said. When my sister was in middle school we were going on “vacation” for 2 weeks to see my grandfather in another country. Received a letter afterwards from the city saying that if she missed anymore days, my mom will be taken to court. Like bro.

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Patient_Meaning_2751@reddit

While the child might be able to get out of school, it’s a very bad idea. This is the reason that most weddings happen in June, July and August.

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theycallme_mama@reddit

Depending on the district rules, she can simply tell the school they are going to the UK, but it would not be an unexcused absence. Let's keep in mind, age 5 is Kindergarten, that child is going to learn so much more traveling to another country than they would sitting in that classroom. However, kids are now completing work on ChromeBooks, and through apps, etc. Any work missed could be made up on the app while they are there. So, have her check with the district to determine how many absences they can have per semester, but it is the rarest of instances that they would hold a kindergartner back for absences. That is usually only done due to a learning deficit or at the parent's request.

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1LuckyTexan@reddit

It's your child, not the g'mint's .

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Mediocre-Oil-5322@reddit

Yes, children can be taken out of school for vacations. The school needs notice, and I am not sure what limitations there are, but it is pretty commonly done. I was always envious of the kids who got to do that when I was young. My mom was a teacher, so we never did that. But, we just removed my son from school for a week because of a family event, and it was no problem at all. If they are older, they will be responsible for keeping up with homework and asking classmates for all the notes they missed while they were gone.

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Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit

I think my state is one where it isn't true. Kids in my state have a right to an education and I believe extended absences is considered a violation of the student's rights.

I know the local public school actively discourages students from missing class to help with farm tasks like planting or harvesting, something which used to be very common when I was in school. And they are very hostile to senior ditch day, actively discouraging the practice and threatening punishment.

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

Each district sets their own rules but there’s usually a state wide standard and that is often tied to federal laws about attendance because federal funding requires each student they count in their funding formula to be “attending.”

In my district it is 10 unexcused days. Sickness doesn’t count as unexcused. But also vacation days where you do anything “educational” don’t count as unexcused. The definition of “educational” is very broad.

My daughter missed over 10 days for family events. We coordinated with the school, got some homework, and kept a journal of things she learned about on the trip. Like we went to a museum one day and a state park one day. She brought a book related to the topic they were studying in class. She took pictures of flowers and identified them one day. That kind of thing.

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Wonderful_Shower_793@reddit

It’s kindergarten. No one will care if he’s gone for two weeks. He’s learning the abcs and how to raise his hand to speak.

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Aspen9999@reddit

They don’t have summer school for 5 yr olds. And those classes are mostly to help struggling students.

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Mystery13x@reddit

Probably not. In most areas, if you miss too much school, you don't advance to the next grade. Protective services for your area could even be called for not sending the kid to school as required.

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Hooligan8403@reddit

Depends. My kids school district says 20 days absent and they can be held back. We had a letter sent to us as a warning when our kid hit 12 days absent.

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Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit

My local school actively sends out reminders that students aren't allowed to arbitrarily miss school.

It's a rural town and traditionally kids might miss some school to help plant crops or help harvest them and they are actively discouraging that practice now. Similarly, some kids will stay overnight with their farm animals at the local Fair and miss the first day or two of school. And the school administrators seem to really hate that Even though we're talking about less than 10 students And usually just one day because oddly the school year starts on a Friday for some reason.

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Zappagrrl02@reddit

20 days is a lot. There are districts where after 6 absences students can lose credit

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footballwr82@reddit

Yeah mine was only 3 unexcused absences before you lose credit

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vrilliance@reddit

Mine was 18 days absent. Interesting how different every district is!

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MyUsername2459@reddit

When I was in school, it was 8 days. . .but those were for fully unexcused absences.

Under 8 days away in a semester and you didn't even really account for where you were. Above that and things like doctor's notes, permission for special trips (like this one) etc. can come into play.

If OP talks to the school district they can probably work something out.

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Proof-Emergency-5441@reddit

The definition of unexcused varies wildly by district.

In ours, anything other than a school related event or a hsopitalization that is confirmed by a doctor's note is unexcused. Even being out for 3-4 days with the flu with a note is unexcused. Illness doesn't make it excused for us. Nor does this bullshit "educational experience" exception everyone is babbling about.

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craftycat1135@reddit

Mine says 10 days.

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oldfarmjoy@reddit

OMG the kid is 5!! It's kindergarten! 🤪

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Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit

For that kind of holiday generally no. Children have a right to an education and taking them out for an extended period of time is a violation of that right.

Taking them out for a religious holiday, meaning just one day, would be allowed, but that is a different situation.

Some school districts may be able to make accommodations for a long vacation and have the student do some work while away but most families will limit themselves to maybe missing one day during the school year. They might take the child out of school on a Friday for a weekend trip and return Monday. But a full-on European holiday that lasts a week or two would be too much to excuse for most schools.

And I think this is a generational change where such a thing may have been allowed more in the past but isn't as acceptable by modern standards.

This is based on my local school where when I was a kid 20 years ago taking a vacation for 2 weeks was no big deal, but now it is actively discouraged. Similarly, they have to remind the parents of farm kids that they're no longer allowed to moss school for a couple of weeks to plant the crops or harvest them in the fall. Which also used to be common and is not allowed any more.

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ExposedId@reddit

When I was a kid, we went to England and missed the last three weeks of school. My parents talked to the school district and they agreed that as long as there was an educational component, it was okay. We came back and I wrote a report about all of the historical things that we visited.

But as others said, it depends on the school, so ask.

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distracted_x@reddit

I'm not sure where you heard about summer camps but I've never heard about them having to do with school. Unless they are put on by the school but still wouldn't have to do with the child's schooling during the year. I think this info you got is incorrect. Maybe you're thinking of summer school but that's for kids who didn't do well during the school year and need to catch up to move on to the next grade and usually is not voluntary.

They may be able to take the kid out of school early but that depends on the school.

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DjLexHenry@reddit

Absolutely… we pulled our 8 year for 2 days of school wo he could see his brother’s military graduation last week

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CurrencyCapital8882@reddit

Legal? Perhaps not. But the consequences will be minor or nonexistent. However, there in no possibility that the child will learn more in two weeks in a kindergarten then in two weeks in Europe. This is not the same as two weeks in Vegas or Dollywood.

You can ask the teacher for some take home assignments, but take the child. In fifty years he will have no memory of two weeks in kindergarten, but this will be a core memory. I’m 63, and I still remember traveling to Miami with my grandmother at the age of 4.

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Ribeye_steak_1987@reddit

Yes it is legal

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MobileSignificance57@reddit

Summer school is not a camp. It means your kid flunked and is redoing the entire year in two or three months. Having to do it tells everyone the kid knows that he flunked and will absolutely get him looked down on.

Taking kids out of school for anything other than a doctor's appointment is rare. You take vacations when school is out of session or not at all.

I went to Disney World as a teenager and absolutely every employee there knew what state I was from without me telling them. Pretty much everyone there was from my state. We all had the same week off.

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Hungry_Objective2344@reddit

It depends completely on the school district. My school district growing up would let you out with a parent note one year and the next it was considered an unexcused absence without a doctor's note.

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sweetytwoshoes@reddit

My child is grown, but when she was elementary school age, I took her out once for month. We were given all of her school work. It was kind of home schooling. She did well, and the school did not question what we were doing.

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BitterRucksack@reddit

Living in South Carolina, far more likely the five year old will start school in August. Anyway, this is a question your sister needs to ask at kindergarten orientation directly to her child's principal, because rules like this vary wildly. Since the wedding isn't until May 2027, it is very likely that there won't be major issues, because they'll have months to prep things and also he's in kindergarten.

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Bubble_Lights@reddit

You can take your kids out of school for whatever/however long you want. It could affect their attendance record and their ability to move onto the next grade if it's excessive. But there's no law that you even have to enroll your kid in school.

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blackunycorn@reddit

I’ve taught in three states in the US. Non-medical and non-school-related absences are capped and you can and do lose credit if they’re above elementary age and parents can be taken to court and/or fined if they’re out too long. Talk to the counselor or assistant principal at YOUR CHILD’s school to get specific information on how many days are allowed.

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OrangeMustangGal@reddit

I would talk to his teacher. We took our son out for a week to go to Disney World. I would consider England an educational opportunity.

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FlatElvis@reddit

Rules vary by location. Also school calendars vary by location. Some states get a week of more off in April for spring break, and other states get out of school for the year in early May.

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loweexclamationpoint@reddit

Sure is. Teachers and principals hate this, because it's sort of saying that regular school attendance isn't very important. Where I live it's pretty common for South Asian immigrant families to pull out kids for visits back home. Too hot to go during summer vacation.

The other one that really galls educators is pulling out for a cruise or Disney because it's cheaper during the school year.

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elphaba00@reddit

I used to work as a substitute teacher. I got a five-day job because the teacher decided she wanted to take her kids to Disney during like the first week of December. Not sure how that got approved.

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DodgerGreywing@reddit

Wtf why!? I've been to Orlando in the later months. It's rainy and cold. Not northern cold, but 50-60° and wet. It sucks.

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elphaba00@reddit

I've had the same experience with going to Vegas in December. I thought it would be better than the Midwest. It was better than the ice and blizzard conditions, but it was like overcast and 60 degrees every day. Turns out that the city is not perpetually sunny and warm.

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loweexclamationpoint@reddit

Possibly carryover of personal leave days

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Ginger630@reddit

Yes you can. She needs to contact her child’s school and discuss this with them beforehand. It may be an unexcused absence. I’m not sure if her district keeps track of unexcused absences and would consider the child truant after a certain number of absences. This is something she should talk to the principal about as early as September so she can make plans.

I’m not a fan of taking kids out of school for weeks. But it’s kindergarten and will be almost the end of the year. Perhaps she can do some lessons while she’s visiting you guys. She can get books to make sure her child isn’t missing anything.

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deterioratingflesh@reddit

I mean usually that’s fine but usually families plan trips around school off days. If they need to be gone for a different period of time, typical case is talk to school to get homework packets/learning material. This can and does vary by state & district so sister should verify with school

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ancientastronaut2@reddit

Your sister can just ask the school.

Normally arrangements can be made for things like this. She may be given remote assignments or some other way to make up her classwork.

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Puzzled-Sundae-3089@reddit

In our district, you can request a preapproval for this from the school.
Plenty of room for it to be excused at that age. But it is a legal thing.

Yes, a parent note should excuse it.
Yes, if not excused it would be illegal.
No, no way around that.
Yes, there are truancy laws and they will take you to court for it.
So, again, best way is to have a pre approved absence.

Their district may differ in leniency.

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StarWars_Girl_@reddit

That's kindergarten. Most schools in SC finish at the end of May. So end of the year in kindergarten...yeah.

We don't get fines like you guys do, but will they care at that age? Doubtful.

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Swimming-Book-1296@reddit

Not illegal.

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ComprehensiveBad5548@reddit

We took our son out of school (preK in public school) for 2 weeks due to a work trip my husband had to go on, and we wanted to tag along. The principal had to sign a form with dates and excused the absences.

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quothe_the_maven@reddit

People here have no idea what they’re talking about. Unless it’s an absolutely terrible school district, two weeks will almost certainly trigger a call to the police and/or social workers.

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Strange-Employee-520@reddit

That's if you disappear without a word, not if you notify the school that the child won't be there.

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Zaidswith@reddit

That's why you contact them.

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iceph03nix@reddit

Typically, yes, parents can take their children out of school for things, but they can run into issues with truancy if they do it too often, and it can mean having to make up work for the students.

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Adorable_Bag_2611@reddit

She will 100% have to check with her school district. I am a retired teacher. I still work closely with the school districts for a nonprofit. The school district I live in, taught in, and currently work closely with it’s allowed. You do a specific form you get work it’s a whole process. And not a long one. But there is a process. Some of our neighbor districts have the same process and some go. So within a hour radius of where I live, it’s 50-50 with districts.

I know. We’re absolutely no help. But she should definitely check with her district. And it’s getting close to the end of the school year, but there will still be people there and she can talk to somebody at the school The child will be going to.

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ketonat@reddit

High school teacher perspective here: Kinder (and even through 5th grade) it is fine. Once in middle school they may be taking a high school class if offered that would have important info and tests in May. In high school this would be catastrophic because the last week of April/first week of may is when AP and EOC testing starts. And at my (public) school if you let them know far in advance, the school will let teachers know to work with the student on arranging for any missed work, but the absences still count as unexcused (they just won’t go after parents for truancy in these cases).

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AZJHawk@reddit

It looks like the kid in question is going to be in kindergarten. I think they’ll survive missing a couple of weeks. 🤣

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WorldBubbly@reddit

I mean, legal? Yes, as enforcement (as long as attendance isn't an issue) isn't anything. Is it ok or right? I think this is where the discussion is. That timeframe in schools is largely when testing and end of year benchmark mastery is happening. There are definitely tutors and camps kids can go to and if kiddo is at grade level, as long as someone reads with/to her every day she'll be ok. As a former kindie teacher, if I had good communication with the parent and we both had clear expectations, and if it wasn't habitual, I'd do my best to work with them.

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rosemaryonaporch@reddit

I was going to point out state testing. Had a kid go on a cruise the entirety of state testing. He had to make them up when he returned which means he missed another week of class. Extremely frustrating.

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Kennesaw79@reddit

The kid in question would be in kindergarten.

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AZJHawk@reddit

The kid’s in kindergarten. I mean, check with the school and all, but it isn’t like the kid is missing calculus class to visit. If it was my kid, I wouldn’t hesitate.

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DynamiteStorm@reddit

I had an excused absence in high school for 1 week. The week prior my math(s) teacher made me do BOTH weeks work before I left. When I returned to school the math class wasn’t finished with the material I had already covered and tested out on (I got an A btw). Not a helpful response I know but needed to vent thx.

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itdoes_doesntit@reddit

It is possible for children to go on vacation provided that info is communicated to teachers in advance.

However, removing a child from school for a couple of weeks will probably not be approved. it is highly frowned upon for excellent students to be removed from school at the end of the year, which is what you’re describing.

If this particular child is having any issues in school, they’re probably going to say no.

Two weeks is a huge amount of time to be absent from any education plan.

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HistoryGirl23@reddit

My parent's never would have but people do take their kids out of school often.

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Emotional_Ad5714@reddit

Depends on the school, but generally yes.

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ChatBot42@reddit

Up to the state and district, but 2 weeks is a long time.

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JointAccount24601@reddit

Dang this whole thread reinforces my decision to homeschool. I can take my kids on vacation whenever I want!

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twelfthfantasy@reddit

It is legal in that there's no law about it but the school district might have specific policies that will need to be checked. This isn't a terribly uncommon thing, and I don't expect there would be any problem so long as the school is informed properly. I certainly wouldn't worry about summer school for a 5 year old. They're not going to fall behind that much in a two week trip.

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psu256@reddit

Generally in my experience, there has to be some documented justification by the parents about the absence being educational in some way. I would think a visit to a foreign country could easily be justified, especially if you throw in a museum visit or two. Maybe offer to have the kiddo do a show and tell of things they brought back on their return.

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North81Girl@reddit

They need to contact the school and make arrangements

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Phoenix_Court@reddit

In my experience this would not be an issue. But this is going to depend on not only what state she is in, but what school district the child attends. It could be a big issue depending on where she is. Also when school gets out for them. Some schools let out in May, some in June.

She needs to speak to her school district. They'll be the only ones that can say for sure.

In some states kindergarten is not mandatory. If she lives in one of those states, and this vacation is extremely important to her, it may be better to not send him this year rather than face truancy charges. But again, that will depend entirely on the state laws and her preferences.

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damnyankee26@reddit

Every state and district is different but some states allow for travel or may waive the absences if you tell them the trip is education related.

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infinite_awkward@reddit

Rules vary by district and state but are generally flexible enough to allow for extraordinary circumstances.

Most districts would support what a child gains from such a trip, and schoolwork can be provided in advance so they do not fall behind.

I will add this: kindergarten, especially end of year work, is a very light load. In Ohio, children can have 17 unexcused absences before the truancy dept. gets involved. The districts would likely excuse the pre-planned absence for such a trip.

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StuckInWarshington@reddit

Depends on the state and school district. Honestly the kid will get more benefit from traveling the world and seeing new people and places for a couple weeks than they would from just sitting in a classroom (especially at that age).

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huazzy@reddit

Yes, this isn't enforced as strictly as it is in certain European countries.

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Affectionate_Many_73@reddit

It is absolutely strictly enforced in many places.

However most places will grant an exception for a case like this provided the student does assignments while on the trip.

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FibonacciFrolic@reddit

They should check state and local truancy laws. While I agree missing some of kinder isn't a big deal, I think my state sends someone after you of the kid misses 10 days or something, and I don't know how much trouble you're in at that point

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huazzy@reddit

For sure. But my point is that the UK and in my case Switzerland take it A LOT more seriously than the U.S (any state).

Example: Friends of mine here in Switzerland wanted to take an extra week off for holidays and the school rejected their request. They said "F it!" and took a week off anyways. They came home to a 1200 CHF fine and court order. That's around $1500.

This happens surprisingly often here, but I've never heard of it happening in the U.S.

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Adorable-Growth-6551@reddit

Wow that is insane

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Robbylution@reddit

When I was in England, the fine for unexcused absences was something like £60 per day per kid. It may have been leveed to each parent separately. IE, £60 per day, per kid, per parent.

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Adorable-Growth-6551@reddit

I pulled my kid so they could go to a ACDC concert with their Dad. Eyebrows may have been raised, but i heard none of it. She did not go passed her allotted sick days

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Abi1i@reddit

There was a time that this was also the case in the US with truancy laws, but nowadays no one enforces them. Instead school administrators force teachers to work with families so the kids don’t fall behind. Unfortunately, this has had the consequence of parents and kids thinking it’s normal and perfectly fine to just get up and leave for several days or weeks during the school year.

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Suppafly@reddit

There was a time that this was also the case in the US with truancy laws

Not really. It's always been something that's theoretically enforced by law, but I don't think we ever had a time where if you randomly took an extra week off, you'd get a giant fine and court order.

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Abi1i@reddit

Like most things in the US, it’s location depended.

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Suppafly@reddit

Sure, but there isn't a location anywhere in the US where it's worked like that.

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Abi1i@reddit

Not true.

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Western_End_2223@reddit

There are thousands of school districts. You can't say that "no one" enforces truancy laws. There are some that do because truancy affects their state aid.

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glowybutterfly@reddit

I've always been baffled by the audacity of laws like this.

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the1slyyy@reddit

It makes sense. It's not fair to kids to possibly fall behind and miss out on education because their parents want to take an impromptu vacation during the school year or whatever reason they keep them out of school unnecessarily.

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AliMcGraw@reddit

Typically you get a stern letter the first time. (Also "truancy" is so crazy-high after Covid I can barely imagine a school caring about a kindergartener whose parents let the school know in September that they'd be missing two weeks for a family wedding in may, like they know where that kid is, but who knows, local officials can always get drunk on their tiny power.)

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Stan_Deviant@reddit

Even truancy rules have loopholes. My mom would pull us for long family trips sometimes in elementary school and submit what "educational experiences" we would be having to negate the "absence" (we would be going to National Parks so it was actually a learning experience for history and science).

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Disastrous-Group3390@reddit

We missed about three days for a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and had the school excuse it as ‘educational.’ It was!

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chipsdad@reddit

Oh, I’ll bet it was!

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MyUsername2459@reddit

Yeah, in my experience they'd be very forgiving of absences as long as you could show it was for (or could be described in good faith as) an educational experience.

Family vacations definitely would count, as long as they were some place you could argue was learning about something. . .like national parks, museums, trips overseas etc.

They don't want kids just vanishing without a trace, but as long as the parents go to the school and politely go through the motions of saying they're taking their kids to for and they could describe the trip in any way as something educational then they're good with it.

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

It isn’t a loophole so to say. It is part of the law on purpose. If the kids are having an enriching educational experience and you planned ahead with the school it doesn’t count as “unexpired absence.”

What counts as an “educational” day is very broad. A museum, local hike, reading with mom and dad, worksheets given by their teacher, etc.

Plan with your school and they have no issue.

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YOLTLO@reddit

That part. Truancy enforcement is all but nonexistent post-Covid. It’s actually a big problem 😬

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

They should talk directly with their kid’s teacher and assistant principal.

They’ll let you take the vacation and they’ll find ways to keep your kid from falling behind.

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Ok_Resort_489@reddit

This is the way. I mean, traveling outside of the country IS an educational experience.

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

Yup. Pretty much seeing anything abroad probably counts.

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FreeRange0929@reddit

The difference also comes down to the same mindset as the US Bill of Rights.

In Europe, going back for a long ways, the king/state is the one that gives an individual permission to do things. So, the mindset is the state can make any law and now you the individual have to ask permission to have your child out of school for a day.

In the US, the Bill of Rights (and our foundational philosophy) is not “granting” rights to anyone, it’s a restriction on what the government can do. So, I might not have a reason to take my child out of school for a day, maybe it’s just his birthday and we’re going to get ice cream. But, that’s nobody’s business (within reason, there are still truancy laws for excessive absences)

I’m speaking broadly and high level, more to illustrate a greater point. In the US, we generally don’t rely on permission from the government, the expectation is the opposite - that the government needs a reason to interfere.

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TrumanD1974@reddit

Yes, there's a reason why the constitution begins with, "we the people." Ultimately, it is the people granting legitimacy to the government, not the other way around.

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MyUsername2459@reddit

Yeah, I've heard it described that the biggest difference in mindsets about laws in the UK and Europe is that in the US, everything is legal unless specifically banned. In Europe, everything is banned unless specifically legalized.

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Humble_Plate_2733@reddit

As a parent who is planning to take her son out of school to attend a wedding in Europe, I really don’t recommend this. My son has to miss the last 5 days of kindergarten for us to make the trip, which I feel immensely guilty about because of all the year-end activities he’ll miss. You’re asking your sister’s kid to miss two weeks in the middle of the school year, meaning they’ll come back for a few weeks of school expected to sit still at a desk after two weeks of jet lag and inconsistency.

After having to pay for plane tickets, lodging, a 6-piece ring bearer outfit, not to mention all the other costs of having to attend a wedding (our outfits, gifts, etc.), I’ve sunk a lot of resources into my upcoming trip. Asking your sister for something similar, especially having to travel internationally with two young children, is a lot. Regardless of how badly she has been wanting to come home, it requires tons of planning and money, and if she’s IN the wedding, she’s committing even more.

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Affectionate_Many_73@reddit

It depends where you live and what the rules are in the school district.

For a trip like that, most schools will offer the student a packet of independent study work to take with them so it isn’t just marked as an absence and count toward truancy. Your sister should let the school know in advance so that the teacher has time to prepare the assignments. It won’t be a full days worth of school work but things that would be important not to skip for several weeks like writing practice, math, and reading.

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Possible_Juice_3170@reddit

A couple weeks??? That is borderline. The district may ask the parents to unenroll the student. They might deny the request and all those days might be unexcused and send them to truancy court. If the child has multiple absences during the year before the trip it will cause issues. At the end of the day, the parent can do what they want but there might be some consequences.

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Strange-Employee-520@reddit

Summer school is for teenagers who have to make up credits, no kindergartener has to make up work. It'll be up to the parents to work it out with the school, they'll probably have kiddo keep a "travel journal" or do some worksheets. That's based on my experience, but of course I can't speak for South Carolina. I can't imagine it would be an issue.

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LiquidityCrisis69@reddit

At age 5 I should definitely hope so 😂 in school when I was 5 we played with blocks and took naps

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MadamRorschach@reddit

It really depends. My kids school system allows a “home schooling” option for up to two (three?) weeks. As long as the work is turned in when they return, it doesn’t count against them. Kindergarten isn’t too much work, it might be worth her looking into it. I would certainly see if she can do something to not have those days counted as missed. That could get her in a lot of trouble.

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FullAutoEggPlant@reddit

This is America, Ill take my kid out of school whenever I damn well please.

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Apart_Insect_8859@reddit

It's kindergarten, no one will care. If it were highschool, this would be disastrous and very poor parenting.

The kid would have certain number of "excused absences" allotted them, for which teachers would need to provide make up work and lessons, and/or make up examinations. What is "excused" is defined in the school policy, but it's usually things like illness, family deaths, etc. It might have a few days for family vacations, usually described as "educational experiences", but you will have to check. (If a student has serious medical issues, something can be negotiated with the school)

Unexcused absences mean that no make up work will be offered and the kid is on his own. Any missed exams or deadlines would be zeros. Now, because of "no child left behind", it is very unlikely the kid would be required to repeat the year, and would be passed to the next grade, regardless of their performance.

If they go over a certain number of unexcused absences, which will be defined as a matter of county or state law, then the truancy officers will come in to play. Usually, this kicks in at about 20 missed days. What happens after tends to be a matter of the officer's discretion and and the circumstances of the absent child. Meaning, a rich parent pulling out their kid for multiple vacations a year, a poor mom whose kid refuses to go to school on his own, and she leaves for work before he is supposed to wake up and get himself to school, and a belligerent parent who allows the kid to constantly skip, are all going to have a different consequences.

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Jealous-Lychee-5084@reddit

It’s fine.

Ignore all these people freaking out. Im American. I’m a mother (my kids are grown) and I’ve also worked in elem. schools and while 2 weeks away isn’t ideal, it’s definitely not illegal and it probably won’t hurt the kid a single bit.

If your sister tells the teacher a a few weeks in advance she may be able to get some practice work to take with them but even if she doesn’t it is very doubtful they’ll learn so much during 2 weeks in kindergarten that it will impact anything. This is very special and enriching and wonderful and no one should be worrying about it at all.

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ThoughtMinimum2016@reddit

I missed 20 days of school and my mom and I had to go to court. I’m not sure how many days the cutoff was, but that’s just how many I missed

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eccatameccata@reddit

You are asking Americans. Every state has different laws and different school districts have different rules. In Minnesota my son took his daughter out for trips all the time. She did her school work either before or during the trip.

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Megalocerus@reddit

Is 5 kindergarten? It's not even legally required in many states--it's not required in Massachusetts, which is a fairly demanding education-wise state.

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nettenette1@reddit

So it depends. In my old district, we had code zeros, which don’t count as unexcused absences. IF the school district has something equivalent, the right wording and experience can get it excused.

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bopperbopper@reddit

I knew plenty of people that would take their kids out of school for a week, but two weeks would be too much.

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Fun_Machine7346@reddit

Yes

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iowanaquarist@reddit

Schools are closed on many major holidays so students don't fall behind.

That said, why would it be illegal? You can take the kids out for any reason you want, including just a vacation.

Some states have a maximum amount of time you can miss before needing to have a meeting with an official, but if your student is keeping up (and at 5 years old it's almost impossible not to keep up), you are fine.

A 5 year old is not going to fall behind and need summer school, but if you would like to do that, knock yourselves out.

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Ok_Buy_9703@reddit

No one is going to care that a kindergartener missed a month of school. Just tell the school that everything is ok.

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Level-Aide-8770@reddit

Depends on the state. She could get charged with truancy in some states for two weeks. One week should be doable, but it might mean having to get doctors notes for all other absences for the year. My kids are only allowed five unexcused absences per year.

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artemisinagayway@reddit

In most school districts, an excused absence just means a parent called it in, as opposed to the kid skipping school. So if a parent calls their kid in sick, that’s an excused absence.

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Level-Aide-8770@reddit

Well that hasn’t been the case in either school district my kids have gone to in two different states. In both places only doctors notes were considered “excused” absences. Vacations were not.

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Veronica612@reddit

It’s probably allowed but not a good idea. But the kid can repeat kindergarten if not ready for first grade. You sister should talk to someone at the school where the child is attending, preferably the teacher.

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Ericakat@reddit

It’s totally legal. Making it illegal to take kids at of school would be considered government overreach , an affront to our rights, and I guarantee you if they tried that in a state, it would be all over the news, and whoever came up with that idea would soon be resigning. We’re really big on being a free country with lots of rights, and not having the government tell us how to run our lives here. Well, at least in the state where I live. I can’t speak for other states.

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butterflygardyn@reddit

It's not illegal, but unexcused absences can count against them. The school can refuse to let them make up work. My kids were in accelerated classes and were required to be there-doctor's note required to excuse. I'm married to a Brit and I didn't go to his brother's wedding because the kids would have been kicked out of the program.

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JustANoteToSay@reddit

This is something she can coordinate with the school. One possibility is getting a lesson plan & assignments from the teacher(s) & staying current on work while on holiday. The school may push back on this - a lot of public schools get funding that is directly tied to attendance. They lose money when kids are absent, including excused absences. But stuff comes up & people have to travel.

The biggest issue will be staying in open communication with the school. She may need to call in the absence every single morning (or use a website or app). Otherwise the kid may be marked truant & this may automatically trigger legal issues or a visit from child protective services. I’ve had to deal with the threat of this (my kid has medical issues) and it’s a pain but it’s manageable.

My kid’s grade school used common core curricula which is super standard, meaning it was easy for us to keep pace academically during her many absences. Even in kindergarten she was learning math & stuff so there were things we could work on.

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blipsman@reddit

It would be frowned upon, not sure if it's illegal. Not great to miss that much instructional time. There aren't camps for catching up, but summer school is a thing mostly for high school -- I've NEVER heard of summer school for kindergarten.

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oldladylikesflowers@reddit

I can only speak for my experience in my own state, but I’ve done whatever I’ve wanted with my kids. My youngest was just diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, so she has a 504 plan (special plan for kids with special needs) now, but before we had a diagnosis she had all kinds of unexcused absences and I would get a letter from the state with a “warning” and I just threw them away. Nothing ever happened and my daughter has always done her work at home and moved up each year…🤷‍♀️

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DarkestStar167@reddit

Idk about the legalities but my parents used to pull me out of school every other year to travel to other countries and I think what I learned on the trip far exceeded what I would’ve learned in the classroom anyways.

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davidm2232@reddit

Two weeks at the end of they year for a kindergartener isn't a huge deal. Two weeks in November for a 7th grader will put them behind for months. I missed two weeks in 7th grade and it took me the rest of the year to catch up

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Puzzled_Hamster58@reddit

Most schools etc , you can work out make up work etc.

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East-Tangerine1673@reddit

You can take your child out of school for whatever reasons, but often there are consequences.

So, yes, she can take her child out of school.

Being that he's 5, learning about his mother's home country and visiting family is just as important as whatever they teach at school.

Now understand that I am not saying what he learns at school is not important. It is very important! She can ask the teacher and the school for curriculum he can do while visiting.

Kindergarten is where we learn a lot of basic skills that are easier learned at that age; the ABC's, what numbers are, how to count, how to read, how to stand in line, how to follow directions, and basic social skills. All for a successful academic career.

Visiting your country is a good opportunity for the family to teach that child and truthfully any others about their country, about their heritage about their culture. It would be a fun opportunity to take information back to his classroom and make a little "what I learned on my trip" type presentation.

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Living_Fig_6386@reddit

Different school districts have different rules. Here's a typical policy statement from a US school district:

STUDENT ABSENCES AND EXCUSES
Regular and punctual school attendance is essential for success in school. The Committee recognizes that parents/guardians of children attending our schools have special rights as well as responsibilities, one of which is to ensure that their children attend school regularly, in accordance with state law.

Therefore, students may be excused temporarily from school attendance for the following reasons: illness or quarantine; bereavement or serious illness in family; weather so inclement as to endanger the health of the child; and observance of major religious holidays.

A student may also be excused for other exceptional reasons with approval of the Principal or designee.

Accordingly, parents/guardians will provide a written explanation for the absence or tardiness of their child. This will be required in advance for types of absences where advance notice is possible.

instances of chronic or irregular absence reportedly due to illness, the school administration may request a physician's statement certifying such absences to be justified.

In my personal experience, schools are a bit less concerned for kindergarteners than high schoolers when it comes to this sort of absence.

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HermioneMarch@reddit

I’m a teacher in SC. Students can have up to 10 unexcused absences. Any more than that, they might get called into truancy court. She should prearrange this with the school so they will know where she is. I would be worried if a student disappeared for two weeks! She will have to make up her work, but might be able to get some of it in advance and do it on the plane.

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Hollocene13@reddit

In my district, they complain if kids miss too many days, but I think it doesn’t matter if the kids are doing well in school and it’s only a problem if they’re already below average. Below average kids are usually generational issue though, so their parents don’t take many vacations anyway.

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Dapper_dreams87@reddit

It really does vary per district. Like in my childs district if you didn't pre arrange a leave of absence then that would be a lot of sick days and likely enough to trigger a CPS visit. We can arrange a leave of absence for school like that which also generally involves getting with the childs teacher and the teacher making up a work packet so the child doesn't fall behind. The start of May for us is also when the last testing for the school year is done so it's important to be there for that. Ultimately they will need to check with their school district on how to proceed.

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LobabyChick@reddit

I don’t know the rules of that specific district, but if told far enough advance, a school can work with the parents. This child will be in Kindergarten, I’m sure the teacher could provide coursework to be done with the parents.

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YoshiandAims@reddit

It absolutely depends on the specific school district, and their absence policies. Some do. Some do not. Some have an in-between where it's frowned upon, but, as long as the child doesn't miss more than XX days for the year, they won't pursue anything.

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Ill-Conclusion6571@reddit

I would contact the school district

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Word2DWise@reddit

Yes she can, but rules vary based on the school district, so check with them. In my district, anything over 10 days will result the child from being disenrolled, and then you have to enroll them again when you get back. Also, each teacher will have different rules about making up work, or missing assignments. It's not really about legality, it's about logistics and what's best for the child's education.

We do this a couple of times per year, not including random days here and there, but my kid has good grades, is a student athlete, and is well liked by his teachers and peers.

I'll be honest with you, legality usually only gets brought up when you're poor. You child misses classes because of a family vacation? No prob. Your child misses classes because you don't have transportation or they need to work to help feed the family? CPS gets called. I'll probably get downvoted, but this is the truth.

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OGMikeGyver@reddit

A couple of WEEKS? My local schools allow some flexibility to take school work on extended vacations to self learn, but multiple weeks would be frowned upon. I would never take my kid out of school for more than a week, and that would even be a stretch.

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Reasonable-Record494@reddit

One of the things I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments is age. The child will be in kindergarten, which isn’t even mandatory in more than half of US states. Missing a couple of weeks of kindergarten is not going to be a dealbreaker almost anywhere (although still file the paperwork etc).

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OptatusCleary@reddit

I’m a teacher in California. Students here can go on Short Term Independent Study for a temporary period. They are supposed to do some work (maybe the same as what they would do in school, or maybe adapted to allow it to be completed independently) and they are counted as having been present. Different schools and different states might handle this differently, but my guess is that there’s some acceptable option to allow a student to attend something like a family wedding in another country.

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Dangerous-Safe-4336@reddit

Too bad that wasn't possible when I was 16. My parents took me to Europe to meet cousins we'd never met. The only time my dad was free was the first two weeks of school. So in my senior year I got the only unexcused absences I ever got.

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OptatusCleary@reddit

I don’t know how old you are, but I did this multiple times when I was in school in the nineties and early 2000s.

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Dangerous-Safe-4336@reddit

This was in 1976.

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flora_poste_@reddit

We have lots of families in our area from India, working at various tech companies around Seattle. Children at the local schools would fly home with their families to India at Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November), and they would not return to class until after New Year's Day. Nobody minded. They'd usually be given assignments for the weeks they'd be missing.

They'd miss the last week of November, plus the first two weeks of December. So, three weeks total. The normal Christmas Break in our school district is the last two weeks of December, plus New Year's Day.

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MahFreakinADHD@reddit

That may fly in a super Blue state with a very diverse population, but not in a big red state like SC.

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RespectablePapaya@reddit

It flies in Georgia, which is pretty close to SC.

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Zappagrrl02@reddit

Her child’s school should have a parent/student handbook with their attendance policy outlined.

Summer school is not for making up missed learning when parents choose not to send their child to school.

Consistent attendance is an important factor in student outcomes. A one time trip might not have much of an effect, but annual or regular trips during school days will eventually have an impact. Whenever possible, parents should plan trips during scheduled vacations.

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MortimerDongle@reddit

Depends on the district. My district allows up to 10 days per school year, some allow less

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Original-Locksmith58@reddit

They would need to check their State’s compulsory attendance laws and their District’s absence policy. If they left unexcused for a couple weeks I doubt much would happen besides the school being annoyed, but it will be much easier for everyone involved if they get approval or understanding from the District before they leave.

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RespectablePapaya@reddit

You just need to let the school know in advance. Say it's "culturally and educationally enriching" and it will be be excused.

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Mayor__Defacto@reddit

2 weeks is a while to be absent from school. She would need to consult the school’s administration.

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RespectablePapaya@reddit

Yes, this is universally allowed even if some districts might have a "policy" discouraging it. It won't be a problem and the kid won't need to go to summer camp to catch up on what they missed. It's not a big deal and nobody will care. We did it with all of our kids.

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Zaidswith@reddit

Schools are locally run. There is no national curriculum or schedule. Curriculum and attendance requirement vary by district and even from school to school.

They will have to come to an agreement with the school. It might be summer school, it might be a list of pre-determined work to be completed and turned in online. They'll quite possibly get pushback from the school. It's definitely possible.

That's a horrible time of the year though because it's right at the end of the school year. A large portion of the country finishes in May.

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Butterbean-queen@reddit

Depends on the school district. That’s a very long time to be out of school.

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Pitiful_Lion7082@reddit

That's up to three district and truancy laws for that state. When I was a kid, absolutely, yes. In order to stay on track, my parents we like get an independent study packet of work to do while we were gone, so I didn't miss too much

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West-Improvement2449@reddit

I dont think so

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BurritoDespot@reddit

What did the district say when they asked them? Are you aware of how decentralized laws are in the US? Like asking “how is the weather today in the US?”

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manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit

It's not illegal, and the attendance policy is dependent on the school district that your nephew attends. If the trip causes him to fall behind academically, to the point that he'd be at risk of failing the whole year, the district may let him attend summer school rather than being held back, but honestly, I doubt that that would be necessary, I think it's more likely that they'd just give her some worksheets to do with him during the trip or when whey get back, but ultimately she'll have to check with the school to find out for sure.

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Emilita28@reddit

No one is going to care if a kindergartner misses two weeks at the end of the school year

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ChickyBaby@reddit

My kids are grown but I ran into this exact same problem when they were in grade school. We wanted to take them with us to Germany for my father's retirement party as a pilot. The school refused and we took them anyway and nothing happened.

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Immediate-Deer-6570@reddit

As a former teacher - I have had kids gone for an entire month visting their families abroad. Its definitely legal. But have your family check with their district and make sure they properly communicate the absence to administration and teachers (which I'm sure they would).

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CockroachVarious2761@reddit

First -if you're talking to Americans -we call it a "vacation" , not a "holiday". Holidays are single-day events that we designate to describe days of widespread celebrations (New Years, Christmas, Easter, July 4th, etc).

Now to answer your question - I believe the answer will vary by state and perhaps by school district. Absences for illness are typically referred to as "excused" as long as they are not occurring excessively. Absences for other reasons are "unexcused" and in my experience are allowed but limited. Its been a few years since my kids were in school but I believe they were each allowed five days of "unexcused" absences a year. When we took them on a vacation during the school year we would submit a request ahead of time, which was bascially a formality notifying the school district our child would be absent. The school distrct called it a request because, well, they are a bit power-hungry and want to feel like they have he option to approve/disapprove as if it would prevent me from taking my kid - LOL. Of course YMMV but I know we had to extend our vacation by a day due to issues at the airport and the district didn't do anything about it. I think our local district would only care if the student was having other attendance issues.

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starbuildstrike999@reddit

Contact the school district and ask them. Anything anyone says in here is anecdotal. Every school district has different polices.

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Misstucson@reddit

Yes there are laws and such but in my 8 years teaching nothing has ever been done about excessive absenteeism. I once had a kid miss 50% of the year. He moved on and didn’t even need to complete summer school. Likelihood is they won’t care, especially public schools.

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Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit

I took my son out of school so much when we were traveling the world. Zero issues.

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No_Arugula4195@reddit

Put the word "religious" in front of holiday. They'll be scared to mess with you.

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Adept_Carpet@reddit

For kindergarten there is going to be zero consequences. Even in higher grades there may be rules about it but for 5 days with a good reason (a very rare family event that is inevitably international) they should work with you.

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macoafi@reddit

The rules are going to vary with every little town.

My parents took me out for one week each year for vacation. Two weeks in a row of missing school sounds like a lot. (And teachers don't usually have everything planned that far in advance, so "give us all the work and they'll do it themselves while they're gone"? No. They're going to be doubled-up on work when they get home, just as the school year is ending, so no wiggle time to finish it.)

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OceanPoet87@reddit

It is legal depending on the school district and length of time. They are usually responsible for make up work.

I also want to add that in the US "holiday" refers to a calendar date. For example Memorial Day is on Monday (the last Monday in May) and our Independence Day is always on the 4th of July. We use vacation where you would say "holiday. "

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akasunscreen@reddit

Specifics vary so the answer is really just that it depends on their school district. Generally, a child gets X number of excused absences and Y number of unexcused absences before being considered truant, which is technically a legal issue. I think at my school you got like 15 unexcused before you were in trouble.

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AmethysstFire@reddit

Yes. She needs to talk with the school about a month before they leave to arrange homework packets and stuff. Although, may is the end of the school year for many states. I don't see missing too much in kindergarten.

Summer school is more of a high school/middle school thing, not kindergarten.

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Appropriate_Dish1015@reddit

The answer to this depends on their school district. Our school district only allows 10 days per school year without a doctor's excuse.

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zoppaTheDim@reddit

Yes

Kindergarten is still optional many places, unless he is a dimwitted child he won’t be held back for absences.

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Professional_Day6200@reddit

In our district in CA, they can missed 15 days throughout the school year.

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PhatdaddyHo@reddit

Ignoring all of the drama queens posting extreme examples and not answering your question, is no, the child will not get in trouble.

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WheelsOnFire1973@reddit

It depends on their school district. Where I live, our kids get five unexcused absences per semester and travel is unexcused. Teachers are not required to give makeup work for unexcused absences. Some might if you work it out in advance but it's on you and the kid to get the work done and turned in in whatever timeframe you've worked out.

I see a lot of people saying there aren't any consequences, but in my district, it doesn't matter what your grades are if you have more unexcused absences than you're allowed, you're repeating the grade or going to summer school.

This is not something for Reddit. Your sister needs to talk to her kid's school and district and find out their policies.

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BrotherNatureNOLA@reddit

I have students who miss entire months. They just do credit recover in the summer and move on.

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ButterscotchOdd8257@reddit

It's generally legal, and most school systems allow it up to a certain time, but the student (of course) must make up the work.
However, the child is 5. If he/she is starting with kindergarten, it might not even be compulsory - first grade might be the first legally required grade. There really won't be any academic work to make up. The school probably won't care.

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Efficient-Panic3506@reddit

Asking Reddit about American school policy is basically asking 500 different school districts to fight each other in one thread lol

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Cautious-Crafter-667@reddit

A couple of weeks may be pushing it, that’s a long time to be out of school. At that age in my school district, 5 days is fine.

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bizoticallyyours83@reddit

Yeah. Although I didn't mention it to the school on the occasion I letting my kid play hookey. Haha! We went to Magic Mountain.

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SignificantPoet1905@reddit

Very unlikely that a district will permit a multiple week absence. She should talk to them now and try to check the options. Even if they send work, kinder is larger socialization and school usually ends in late May or early June. Leaving for 2 wks right before the end of school would could make the behavior upon return a challenge.

The only way to know is to talk to the school.

Would this be allowed in UK?

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Ok-Race-1677@reddit

The government takes away your kids if you go on vacation in the uk? Wow that’s really bad 😬

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pacifistpotatoes@reddit

For sure! In my district you notify the admin, and you can also get any work they may miss. For that young, missing a few weeks should not be a big deal especially the parents are involved in their education and learning.

For upper grade levels (I have an incoming 10th grader next year) she would not want to miss that much in school time as it's exponentially more difficult.

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Wadsworth_McStumpy@reddit

Different school districts will have different rules. I haven't had kids in school for decades, but when I did, we were allowed to take them out for two weeks (ten days) for a family trip. Teachers would give them the assignments due during that time, and they'd take them in when they returned. The time had to be arranged in advance, of course, and the trip had to be with their parents/guardians.

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keja1978@reddit

In my school district you can take ten days off as an excused absence if you take a packet of work and complete it.

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CatsRock25@reddit

It’s kindergarten and year end. It’s not a big deal. I’d confirm with the school district but as a grandparent who doesn’t approve of missing school, it’s okay in this instance

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MulysaSemp@reddit

yes. But there are no make-up days over the summer for most students, so they would just be missing out on school. Technically, 10 days off is considered the max, and it really depends on where they are about how seriously they take it.

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LongOrganization7838@reddit

Depends on the school and the school district and their specific policies but they wont try to stop you if you do show up and have the kid come down to the office, when I was 7 my dad took me out of school to go watch Revenge of The Sith in theaters the day after it came out since we were both huge star wars fans, melting anakin gave me nightmares but otherwise 10/10

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K_Marty@reddit

I’d be less concerned about the consequences of potentially getting in trouble with the law and more about the consequences of missing that much instruction. Kindergarten in the US is not what it was when we were kids. It’s more like how first grade was, and the expectations are high. They cover a ton of foundational skills that are crucial to success in the future. Also, if your kid happens to have a learning disability, being absent not only makes it harder to tell/take longer to figure out, but can also keep them from being eligible for special services that would help them stay afloat. Just my two cents as someone who works with struggling kids, the majority of which struggle primarily because they miss school or missed a lot of kindergarten.

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Number-2-Sis@reddit

She can try to get it approved if it is an "education and learning experience "
She will need to find out what the criteria is to meet this. My granddaughter actually leaves to travel to her father's home country today. They will be taking her to museums so it will be educational, and only speak the native language so she can learn.

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jessek@reddit

It was when I was a kid. My parents took me out of school for two days because they got a free vacation from something. I didn’t mind.

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notadamnprincess@reddit

My parents would do this, but the school would require we “make up” hours we had missed for unexcused absences in detention. One year I seriously served 164 hours of detention, sometimes doing 4 hours a day (1 before school, 1 at lunch, 2 in the afternoon) because we had taken a vacation. After that year they had pity on me and just let me leave after I checked in for detention and I even got a few excused if I could convince them it was educational.

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Suppafly@reddit

Most places have general truancy laws requiring you to send your kids to school, but the actual rules vary from school district to school district, so only your sister can answer for you. In general, schools have the concept of approval absences vs unapproved ones, which may or may not align with the general concept of the truancy laws and might just be part of their funding for having full compliance or might just be a district 'goal' for attendance.

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GrimSpirit42@reddit

Legally? Absolutely. Unless there is a divorce decree that states the child must remain in school, there's no laws against it.

The SCHOOL may have 'policy', but in reality, what exactly is a 5-year-old going to miss?

The school will most likely allow it if it's arranged before hand, and work with the parents to see that the child does not miss anything vital.

At worst the child will not be eligible for a perfect attendance award at the end of the semester.

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1MrE@reddit

Kindergarten is education focused daycare. Not a requirement in all states. But, that will vary by district. Some places would have no issue with it while others would be more strict. I would advise your sister to check with the school or district the little one will be attending in order to get the most reliable answer.

Congratulations on your future nuptials btw.

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punkwalrus@reddit

I know from 1990-2008, we took our kid out all the time, usually on a Friday, for travel. We just called and said he wouldn't be coming in, and it was excused. I think by 2000, it was an automated system: you called the school, and went into a phone tree, and selected options, then spoke your child's full name, and that was it.

To be fair, my son was out a lot due to doctor's appointments and such. He was also on an IEP (gives children with disabilities or learning differences customized educational support, accommodations, and services), so the school really didn't care if he came or went as much as other students.

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2pnt0@reddit

Yes.

"couple of weeks"

Ahahhahahaha

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Responsible_Side8131@reddit

It’s not “illegal” here like it is in the UK.

That said, like everything else with education, the policies for vacation absences totally depends on the specific school district that child attends. Our schools are, for the most part, run at a local level rather than a national one.

Some districts will be 100% fine with it, others may send letters or expect the parents to meet with a school board if there are excessive absences. It also may depend on how well the child is doing academically.

The problem is that late April/early May is very close to the end of the academic year, and in some states, that’s when standardized testing takes place, and in some states, that is taken very seriously. IDK if SC is one of those states or if they even test kids in Kindergarten, they may not. It’s also the part of the year where the schools tend to do all the fun activities. Field trios, field days, spirit weeks, concerts, etc all happen then.

The “camp” you think your family member might attend to catch up, isn’t really how that works. Summer school is usually (at least in my area) either non-existent except for kids who have profound academic difficulties, or it’s only offered to low income students in underperforming schools. Again, TOTALLY district dependent.

But, it’s Kindergarten. I’d take my child out anyway.

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cameronpark89@reddit

yeah lol

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Bluemonogi@reddit

They should contact their local school in advance.

“ VII. Approval of Absences in Excess of Ten Days and Approval of Credit A. Approval or Disapproval of Absences The district board of trustees, or its designee, shall approve or disapprove any student’s absence in excess of ten days, whether lawful, unlawful, or a combination thereof, for students in grades K–12.

For the purpose of awarding credit for the year, school districts must approve or disapprove absences in excess of ten days regardless as to whether those absences are lawful, unlawful, or a combination of the two.”

From https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/centers/childrens_law/publications_and_resources/truancy_intervention_guide/laws_governing_attendance_and_truancy/

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VinceP312@reddit

Every locality will have its own rules.

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seifd@reddit

Yes, it's legal. My parents did it once with me for a trip to Orlando.

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OrthodoxAnarchoMom@reddit

There’s a certain number of days you can miss without a medical note. Three weeks seems high.

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chicagoliz@reddit

Usually they can work with the school so that any work can be made up.

If the kid is 5 and will be in kindergarten it might not matter -- many states don't even require kindergarten so it is irrelevant how many days the kid attends.

In grades 1-5, usually the teacher will just give some worksheets or something to make up for missed time and it isn't a big deal.

Once the kid is in high school, it becomes more difficult as a lot of work can be missed and especially at the end of the year there are a lot of tests that are a pain to make up if missed.

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Aggressive_Ad_5454@reddit

Take the kiddo to the British Museum and the Tower of London, and what they see there will amount to a lot of learning. Schools know this.

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glamm808@reddit

It's only illegal if the kid isn't yours 😂

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ProudCatLadyxo@reddit

It's ok to take them out for a vacation, but if they miss too many days, the child could be held back for the year or forced to attend summer school. Depending how long they plan to have the kid out, they should check with the school first. Also, give the teacher advanced notice and ask for homework ahead of time so the kid doesn't fall too far behind.

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molten_dragon@reddit

Yes it's legal, but some parents might balk at pulling a kid out for two weeks.

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marty-mcfryguy@reddit

The legality depends on the state and local rules. Generally parents can work with the school to get an absence approved in advance, but even if they can't this is very unlikely to involve law enforcement if the kid generally attends school.

Not familiar with the summer school thing you've mentioned.

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kbivs@reddit

Our district policy is that parents can take their child out of school for any reason they want. The difference between excused and unexcused absences is meaningless. You're either at school or you're not. But if you miss more than 10 consecutive school days they can drop you from their rolls and you would have to re-register your child when they came back. For a district our size, this would mean the child may not be placed in the same classroom or even school as they were in before they left, depending on who else registered while you were away.

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techster2014@reddit

My experience is if their grades are ok and it doesn't cause them to fall behind, it's usually not a problem.

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Next_Ad_4165@reddit

The other thing to think about, in some states, kindergarten isn’t required by law. So in that case, leaving for a chunk of time during the kindergarten year isn’t going to affect the child’s entering of first grade.

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ExistenceOfCranberry@reddit

My local elementary looks askance at pulling kids for holidays but they do nothing about it. Missing a few weeks of kindergarten doesn’t matter in the least.

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Range-Shoddy@reddit

A couple weeks??? At that point just unenroll them but that comes with risks like losing your spot for next year. If you miss that much the district will probably remove them anyway though. Summer school sucks- it’s for kids that need extra help or failed. It’s not for someone who just went on vacation. Legally this is truancy, and depending on their state, no this isn’t legal. Age 5 is tricky bc it’s prob kindergarten but they can definitely lose their spot regardless of their age. She can email the principal but they’ll likely recommend unenrolling for that amount of time. Once they hit age 6 the rules get much more strict and this is just not an option. We spent 3 weeks in Europe for a wedding during the summer break and had a blast. We skipped one during the school year bc they just can’t miss that much school.

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TheDeaconAscended@reddit

We do cruises with my son, we usually travel with Autism on the Seas. He is special needs and in the 4th grade. We work with his team at school to make sure the trips are educational and relevant to his course work. He is typically out 5 days to 9 days at a time and we only do one trip a year during the school year.

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Constellation-88@reddit

It’s legal, it’s also a bad idea at certain stages of education. I don’t think a six-year-old will be hurt too much, but also let me point out that it is not the teacher‘s job to individually tutor your child if you take him out of school for two weeks. It is your job as a parent to keep him caught up and ready to learn when he gets back.

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xxrainmanx@reddit

It'll depend locally, however given the child's age and how late in the year it is, the issue is minor. If the child in kindergarten or pre-school? If pre-school it doesn't matter at all. Kindergarten is still minor.

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Quirky_Bit3060@reddit

I have always been able to take my kids out as long as it was prearranged.

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Lily_Lanee@reddit

Ask the school. Rules vary by state/district, and it may be marked unexcused.

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danhm@reddit

A few days is no problem but a couple of weeks will likely require some sort of catch-up plan.

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3catlove@reddit

It could vary by the state. I’ve taken my son out for a week vacation before but there is a truancy law in my state with consequences if more than 10% (I think) of days are missed and unexcused. If I pulled my son for two weeks I would have to take that into consideration. I’m not sure if it starts with Kindergarten or not. That’s the age where I’d really be willing to pull them out as a parent as they are not missing much, so I would have your sister check with the school. Congratulations on your wedding!

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SabresBills69@reddit

Each district has its rules on this. You need to talk to them.

When does thr local school district end for the year? How us thr curricula? Its possible school has finished most things by early May so missing school might not be as big if a deal if they are a very good student

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EgoSenatus@reddit

You’re not going to be legally punished for taking kids out of school for vacation. The school district might mark the 5 year old as absent if his request for leave is denied (too many absences may result in him needing to repeat the grade). More likely though they’ll approve it and might just give him homework.

I should also probably mention, we’re talking like a 2 week leave max. If you’re talking about a month long trip or longer, he’ll more than likely be required to attend summer school or repeat the grade (unless your sister can prove to the school district that he was receiving an education while he was away).

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mvance0808@reddit

In most states kindergarten is not legally required. So they cannot enforce attendance laws. But if they did you could just unenroll them and “homeschool “ the last month of kindergarten and just start summer early. Depending on the schedule they really only miss a bit of learning most of May is pretty easy on the learning in lower grades.

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Ambitious-Ad2217@reddit

Your sister should talk to the school. She’s probably fine but states have started enacting laws about the amount of time you can be out of school

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AdamOnFirst@reddit

Yes. A high schooler may start to have trouble missing that much class, making up that many assignments, etc, and it’s a bad idea.

A five year old? No problem whatsoever and nobody will care.

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Dense_Gur_2744@reddit

This greatly depends on the school district so she’ll need to check with her school district and school policies. My children’s school allows for 5 vacation days throughout the entire year, after that, they are considered absent and subjected to our states truancy laws. We get like 9 absences total for the year before child protection/welfare is contacted and parents can be criminally charged if things are improved.

Generally, a vacation is going to be fine, but it really depends on the state and school for how long. A couple of weeks isn’t usually going to work unless it also connects with a school break.

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Gunther482@reddit

Yes. There was a kid in my class that went down to Florida to his grandparents for a week during Spring Break (our Spring Break was only a couple days off in my district) every year in school and they did not care.

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Lizzielou2019@reddit

I'm seeing a lot of generic info and wrong info, so for SC specifically, kids should miss no more than 10 days per year or they risk the school beginning truancy proceedings. Most schools will not do that unless absences creep up a good bit farther than that. Also, compulsory attendance begins in the year the child turns 5, so attendance would be mandatory. However, as long as the child doesnt have excessive absences already, your sister should speak with the principal about the trip. A lot of them will work with you, and maybe have the child do some kind grade-appropriate project. They may even count it as a field trip for cultural purposes. Source - SC resident with a school-age child and child protective services caseworker who deals with educational neglect cases sometimes.

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Firefly_Magic@reddit

I did this once with my children in middle school. They originally said no more than 5 days could be missed before they would report them as truant to the county (sheriff dept). I told them what my plan was. It was the end of the school year. They would miss about 2 1/2 weeks of the end of school and we knew about it ahead of time to try and do any work that they needed beforehand. Ultimately, I told them I was doing it whether they liked it or not. Turns out there was no work that needed to be done. Their grades had already been determined. It was at this point that I realize schools are really just a big daycare system because the last 2 1/2 weeks of school they didn’t need to do anything. They still pushed back on me taking them out of school, but they went ahead and provided us the end of the school documents to say they passed they get to go to the next grade and we took them out and had no issues. Originally, I think they are just told to intimidate parents to not take them out.

Worst case scenario, if school pushes back about taking the kids out, depending on the state that they live in, they can provide a letter to the school, stating they’re homeschooling their children. Requirements are unique to each state, but I did this when one of my kids had a horrible elementary school teacher and the school would not allow them to transfer to another class, and all it required was a letter stating my intention.

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Cookies_2@reddit

This is district dependent. That being said, I'm not sure if Kindergarten is mandatory in any state. It very well could be but many states have laws that say "must be enrolled in school from ages 6-16" or something along those lines. Missing a few weeks of school at age 5 is very different than at 15. I don't know how SC school year operates but it may be the end of the school year. Most schools in the US end in mid-may but other areas like the North East, and think the North West, end in June.

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invisibleman13000@reddit

It's mandatory in 19 states (including South Carolina), and Georgia just passed a law requiring a child to attend Kindergarten to enter the 1st grade.

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Vanilla_thundr@reddit

Every district is different but two weeks of unexcused absences feels a little close to being truant.

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CaptainAwesome06@reddit

Yes, it happens all the time. The worst part is catching them up on whatever they missed.

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ATLien_3000@reddit

The kid is 5.

I think he'll recover from the learning loss.

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mesembryanthemum@reddit

In my school system it wasn't uncommon for kids to be out of school around Spring Break because it and the University refused to coordinate vacation time.

My sister and I missed roughly 45 days and then about 60 three years later due to my father (University professor) guest teaching in another country. We got homework to take, although the first time I was in kindergarten so I had none.

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craftycat1135@reddit

She needs to check district policy. In my school district, two weeks would excee the year's worth of allowed absences even though if you talk to school they might allow it if you tell them in advance and they send packets of school work for the child to complete and turn in.

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Bane8080@reddit

Ask the school staff. They will point her in the right direction.

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Ok_Concentrate4461@reddit

As an 8th grade teacher, I typically have 3-4 kids a year who are gone for a week or more on vacation. I used to be infuriated, but now I don’t care. I give them what they missed when they come back and have them ask a friend to explain it. It’s never the families of the smart/hardworking kids either.

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YellowSpoon123@reddit

We are allowed 10 days for the entire school year before we get in trouble with the law. My daughter got sick a lot in kindergarten (as most kids do) and we started getting warning letters after she had missed 5 (spread out) days. I personally wouldn’t pull my kids that long for a trip bc it wouldn’t leave any room for other absences. A week would be my personal max.

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calicoskiies@reddit

It’s legal, but what do you mean by “weeks”? More than a week is very much frowned upon.

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EggieRowe@reddit

Children still belong to their parents and not the state here. You can’t let your kids have an excessive amount of unexcused absences, but family trips are usually excused. I’ve heard of one situation where the school said if a child went on a trip he would be held back a year, but he had missed like 30 days already.

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goldslipper@reddit

South Carolina doesn't have a state standard for absences in school. It's going to very district to district. As long as the school knows ahead of time more than likely they can consider it an excused absence in some districts if you can show the trip as educational they won't even count it as an absence. Where my niece and nephew go to school in South Carolina as long as they can show they did educational stuff when they go overseas to visit my sister-in-law's family the absences are excused.

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DeniseReades@reddit

Just a minor point of clarification....there are summer camps, which tend to either have a certain theme or are a general sleepaway camp and then there's summer school which can be used to catch up on missed classes or take extra classes to graduate early.

Despite there being academically based summer camps, the two terms aren't interchangeable.

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Fae-SailorStupider@reddit

Parents definitely get in trouble if their child misses more than a certain number of days. Growing up, I did know several kids who took extended holidays, and they worked it all out with the school and teacher beforehand. The kids were sent on holiday with prepared courses and homework to do abroad. And as long as it was finished and turned in when they got back, they didnt miss any credits. With a lot of schooling being online these days, it may even be easier to do such a thing. Have her ask the school about doing e-learning for the time the child is missing. Missing several weeks of school can also set the child behind quite far and they could end up failing all their classes, so its important that they actually get and do the work.

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larkinowl@reddit

Kindergarten is not compulsory in every state. I’d check that first.

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holymacaroley@reddit

It would be considered inexcusable absence where I live.

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IAmBaconsaur@reddit

Rules vary by school district and state. Sometimes if you can prove the trip was educational in some way, it’ll be excused.

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Reasonable-Penalty43@reddit

Generally speaking, most schools are required by law to educate a child for a specific number of school days per school year. In my state, it is mandated by law that students must receive 180 days of education. Other states have 165 or 185.

If the school does not meet its requirement, there are penalties such as loss of funding, mandatory make up days, even loss of accreditation.

If a specific student doesn’t meet the required 180 days, there can be penalties for that student or family.

While there are a certain number of sick days allowed, most systems recognize absences as either excused or unexcused.

In my district, students are allowed up to ten sick days. If a student comes down with strep throat and is ill for four days; when the student returns if they have a doctor’s note confirming the illness, then those four days will be counted as one sick day—excused.

If there is no doctor’s note, then all four days will be counted.

Once a student has five sick days total (counting both excused and unexcused) the school is mandated by law to meet with the parents or guardians and impress upon them the importance of school attendance.

If a student accrues ten (10) absences total, the computer attendance system automatically sends an alert to the local prosecutors office and the parents need to explain every absence.

The school system and legal system agree that a parent or guardian should is not ensuring their child is attending school is neglecting that child.

In the cases where a family travels for whatever reason, each school handles that with its’ own policies and rules.

In my elementary school (ages 5 through 11/12) you can arrange ahead of time the travel plans. Usually the school can work with you, if you keep your child caught up on their schoolwork and lessons or the trip can be considered educational (seeing another culture or country).

The policies are (or should be) clearly defined in the student handbook that is easy accessible (my school district has them on their website)

Your sister should review the handbook and then meet with them next year a few weeks after the start of school to discuss the whole thing.

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GarciaWolf@reddit

Shit I didn’t go to half my senior year and graduated with honors.. but that was the early 2000’s

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Interesting-Quit-847@reddit

There was a year that my wife and I took our kids out of school for 42 days for various trips we took that year. We did get called to the school counselor's office to make sure we were fit parents, but it was fine.

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Fire_Mission@reddit

Like everything else here, it varies. The local school district will have a policy, most likely in a student handbook posted online.

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IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit

It really depends on the school district. Ours doesn’t recognize travel as an excused absence, unless it’s for religious reasons or a funeral. There is some number of unexcused absences, I can’t recall how many, that if it’s exceeded the kid will be unenrolled. I am sure it’s listed on the district’s website.

In Kindergarten I would not worry too much about making up the work.

Best wishes on your wedding!

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rawbface@reddit

Of course it's legal. Why wouldn't it be? In your country are you not allowed to take your child out of school? This is a strange way to consider parental rights.

Kids go on vacation for whole weeks all the time while school is in session. They're responsible for the work they missed.

Summer school is for kids who fail the school year. It's not for making up work you missed while you were on vacation.

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DianneNettix@reddit

As long as the kid isn't truant you don't even have to tell the school they aren't coming. It's a good idea to tell them if you care about their education, but it's not the law.

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B00k_Worm1979@reddit

Yes and we just did. It was an educational trip and was also excused with a form we filled out.

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machagogo@reddit

Yes. They won't even need summer school assuming they do well the rest of the year.

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mozzerellastewpot@reddit

I take my kids out for a week every september. If the school wants to complain, let them

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TheBimpo@reddit

We have 50 different states and thousands of different school districts, there is no single federal policy over this. Your sister and her husband need to talk to the administration at their school.

Parents aren’t getting hauled off to court because they take a week away during the school year, this is incredibly normal stuff. Typically arrangements will be made for students to have something to keep up with their studies while they are gone.

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Chainsawsas70@reddit

Absolutely, and at that age the child shouldn't need to get caught up with anything as long as they can get some of the basic work ahead of time to bring with them.

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Vachic09@reddit

The guidelines and how strictly they're enforced heavily depends on where you are.

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Daddysheremyluv@reddit

Certainly not on the range of criminal infraction. It may be akin to an administrative situation In my experience a week missing for an international trip the teachers found ways to make it work and many supported the trip. School administrators whose budgets are dependent on state funding, state funding tied to attendance probably didn't love it. We were careful to not miss other days when possible. The kid will get more out of this than one week near the end of the year.

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RedSolez@reddit

Understand that in the US everything school related is hyper localized - rules will vary by individual school district, not by state or national standards. In my children's district you can take 5 excused family vacation days per year, but you can take up to 18 absences total per year before there'd be any major issues (18 absences would be 10% of the school year). In our district and the one where I work, if a student is going to be absent for more than a month and it's not for medical reasons, then they have to be withdrawn and re enrolled upon return.

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RestRare3056@reddit

A lot of places kindergarten isn’t compulsory so it is more relaxed with missing school as far as legalities. Some places you can get permission to miss for an extended trip ahead of time. Some private schools have more lax rules. It is highly location dependent.

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NedThomas@reddit

In SC, the compulsory education age is either 6 or 7 years old. Either way, just talk to the kid’s teachers.

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katiethekatie@reddit

You’ve got to check your local rules/laws. Two weeks would be considered a lot in general.

For reference when I was in school (which to be fair was a while ago) my district’s policy was 15 absences regardless of reason, so 3 weeks for sickness/family emergencies/vacations for the whole scheduled school year. After that we were told it was an “automatic fail” (it wasn’t, they would take circumstances into consideration).

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Derwin0@reddit

A couple of weeks?

You can apply with the school district, but something that long will likely be rejected.

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giraflor@reddit

It depends on the school district for public. Private schools largely don’t care.

I tried to give my kids three big travel experiences before they leave the nest. Each got their passport in third grade. In public: we had to ask to school principal for permission to be absent and the teacher assigned a travel diary as well as a packet of makeup work. In private: the headmaster laughed when I asked him. He said I didn’t need their permission and no one ever asks. My child could make up the missed work if they wanted, but the teacher would probably excuse it. He suggested sending a postcard to the class.

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iheartmycats820@reddit

Honestly, as a teacher, I see kids go on vacation all the time. As long as the parents notify the school, letting the attendance secretary know the dates they'll be gone, there should be little to no issue. 🙂

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Reddittoxin@reddit

Depends on the local laws/districts. There are truancy laws that dictate how many days a child can miss in a year, some are stricter than others (Texans complain all the time about getting truancy officers on their ass over a bad flu lol. But when I grew up in Missouri 8 never remembered hearing anything about truancy officers).

A lot of schools get government funding based on how many students they have on average, so they don't like it when kids are out for a long time.

But it's also there for safety reasons. Abusive parents LOVE to randomly pull their kids out of school for stretches of time when they have visible bruising and marks bc the school will report em to the police. So having the truancy officers come out can help save kids in that predicament.

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CupBeEmpty@reddit

You can!

Each district will have a certain number of days that can be missed before it causes a problem.

This is almost always set to federal standards because federal funding has a requirement for attendance of each student because schools get money for each student they have.

It’s usually 10 unexcused days a semester.

Now, the way around this is to plan in advance. Give the school a heads up. Also any day you do something “educational” doesn’t count towards a missed day and the definition of “educational” is very loose.

Go to a museum? Educational. Do a reading project about the place you are visiting? Educational. Teach your kid a little bit about local history? Educational. Get some worksheets from the teacher and have the kid do them in the airport or on the plane? All of a sudden your travel day is educational.

It’s totally possible just talk with the kid’s teacher, let them know the plan and ask them what you need to do and they will work with you.

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potterinatardis@reddit

They really don't care when they are that young. Once they are older, it matters more.

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nicohubo@reddit

I’m in NJ and took my daughter (who was in Kindergarten) out for about 10 days last year for a trip to Mexico. We checked beforehand and they said they don’t really pay much attention to attendance in elementary school. It’s once they hit middle and high school where they crack down on it. Her principal is great and very pro vacation and taking time off to do fun family things. It might vary a bit by school district and state though I’m sure.

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LaLechuzaVerde@reddit

Maybe. Local truancy laws vary a lot.

If the school is near capacity it may be possible the child will lose their enrollment and be forced ti change schools after such a long absence. This is probably the most likely negative consequence of such a decision.

I would suggest the parents go into the school and talk to them about the situation.

I’ve never kept my kid out for two weeks. I have absolutely taken my kid out for one week for a vacation. That’s short enough not to risk their enrollment. But it was enough that I started getting frequent reminder emails that my child’s attendance wasn’t meeting expectations.

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Radar1980@reddit

For that age it shouldn’t be an issue.

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Cereal____Killer@reddit

Two weeks is a little long for a student to miss, but in Kindergarten you’ll be fine. You can skip kindergarten and go directly to first grade (I know kids who have done this). Everyone talking about missing expectations and truancy laws needs to get over themselves. Just explain the situation to the teacher and ask what can be worked on while they’re away. Kindergarten is actually more about teaching kids the expectations of how to behave in school than anything else.

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bangbangracer@reddit

This is going to be heavily reliant on the specific school district. Technically no, since a parent can pull their child for whatever reason, but also they may trigger truancy or required minimum attendance laws.

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Lovebeingadad54321@reddit

A week, maybe, a couple of weeks is REALLY frowned upon.

My kids school has a no more than 5 days missed policy.

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ToxDocUSA@reddit

Variable by state and even by county. I've been places where 10 unexcused absences for the year prompts an investigation by the truancy officer and the only excused absences are medical. Also been places where people go on 2-3 week trips to India immediately after they get back from Christmas break and no one says a word about it.

That said it's really your sister's job to worry about this. Kindergartner in a district that is willing to excuse the absences, I would go ahead with 2 weeks. Current situation (kids in 3/5/7/9th grade), not a chance. I feel terrible that we are taking the kids out of school for 2 days to go watch their brother row at the national championships.

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WiseQuarter3250@reddit

If the kids attend public school, the school is paid less tax payer money for every day they are gone. As a result some schools and communities may be stricter about that especially when budgets are very tight already. But in my experience outside of making arrangements to get schoolwork ahead of time its always been possible so long as it's not a habit and they don't miss over a certain number of days in a year.

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WorldBubbly@reddit

Hmm, it may work that way some places. In my state, there is a cutoff day in early October that determines the official reported attendance numbers. Either way, fully agree with checking in with the office and communicating early!

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False-Cookie3379@reddit

Oklahoma is October 1.

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False-Cookie3379@reddit

It depends on the school district. Since it’s for a pre scheduled international trip it might be excused. I would have her contact the school and ask, when my children go to school if it’s not a drs appointment or unforeseen emergency they will not excuse the absence. As for summer school, I don’t think they do that for kindergarten, but maybe sending all of the school work with the child to work on while they’re gone might be an option as well? I would have your sister talk to the principal. Congratulations on getting married.

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_WillCAD_@reddit

People used to do it all the time when I was in school. As recently as a decade ago, my brother took his teen daughter out for a vacation. If it's arranged with the school ahead of time to avoid the kid losing academic progress or missing critical items, it can be done and is usually legal in most school systems.

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Certain_Accident3382@reddit

Theres a lot of factors that can affect this. Which state are they attending school? Is it a "standard" school year, or "year round" set up?

My school even explicitly states how many absences and of what sort are allowable in the student handbook.

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Organic_Salad2910@reddit

Yes, she can take him out. Generally kindergarten isn’t mandatory, but it may be depending on the state. Some states have strict attendance policies with a limited number of absences allowed while others do not. She should check with the district office.

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olivefreak@reddit

My mom once checked me out of school so we could go fishing.

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Disastrous-Cat2840@reddit

I imagine that your sister could probably speak to the teacher about ways to keep her child up to speed in the class during the holiday. For my area, May is the last month of the school year, so there is the possibility that the school does some sort of testing around that time, but who knows how important that is for a kindergartener.

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tsukiii@reddit

Yes, when I was a kid I went to Italy for two weeks. I was assigned a project to put together a presentation on what I learned about Italy and just caught up on things when I got back.

How it’s handled is at the discretion of the teacher (within the school’s official policies).

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Exotic_Yam_1703@reddit

I don’t think he’d be allowed to miss multiple weeks. A week at most, maybe