I have searched the suggested sites via another Q&A regarding withdrawing my student. My son is in kindergarten and due to parts of days being missed ( for example 1-5 minutes for tardy) we are looking at truancy charges being filled if we miss any more school without a DR note.
We have had a vacation planned for nearly 2 years, its with our business and can not be changed, we will go to Hawaii and wont miss it.
We have missed 5 days of school 2 dr and 3 not-excused.
We have 2 early check outs, 7 tardies.
I spoke to the truany Facilitator and assistant principal today and it doesnt look good,
I have heard horror stories regarding the "judge"/justice of peace Payton in collin county. Court fee is $160 and minimum charge per day of absence or "failure to attend school" is $500
My son will attend Leadership Prep school in frisco next year, this is a charter school with more lenient rules.
My main focus is him attending first grade at LPS, my second concern is avoiding trucancy charges.
What options do I have?
being that he began kinder, and its not required in texas, am i allowed to withraw him and just enroll in first?
.....will he have to take a test to skip kinder? He is well over the age of 6 on sept 1 (he will be 7 in dec)
Can i withdraw to homeschool then enroll in first?
Please no bashing for the attendance record.
He can not make class up on saturdays, nor come early to delete tardy.
he is allowed to be walked in daily before 745 for a chance to make things right, if he is late one day and the numbers are right they can file charges.
Any advice is appreciated.,
First go round with public schools
Parents schedule vacations, appointments, etc. around their children's education, not the other way around, no matter how they choose to educate them. School(public, private or home) comes first.
Don't be upset with your school. Their hands are tied in this matter. I know because I was a counselor for several years in Frisco ISD. The AP is in charge of tardies ( you've probably receive many many certified letters from her before it got to this point). She is just as uncomfortable with the situation as you are. Please make an appointment to talk with her about the Hawaii trip. Problem solve together. She wants to help and doesn't want yup to miss a trip like that. Yes, I have had children (who travel for extended times) unenroll and then reenroll when they return. I do think you will regret leaving FISD. This district is the best as far as I'm concerned. Don't make a rash decision because you are angry and frustrated.
It is SUPER easy to homeschool in texas. To quote the gov
"In Texas, we view home schooling as something to be respected and protected - respected for the energy and commitment of parents; protected from the interference of government. Texas does not index or monitor home school programs."
Legally:
"You are not required to file any papers or notify anyone that you are homeschooling your children in Texas. If they are already enrolled in a public school, you can tell the school's office that the child is going to be homeschooled or is going to be attending a private school. In Texas, a homeschool is a private school. Some districts may want to give you a hard time, but you have every legal right to homeschool without their blessings."
Practically speaking, you may wish to officially unenroll your son to get his records. NO ONE in Tx can deny you the right to homeschool. You cannot be told no, fined, charged with truancy, period. Tx is one of the BEST HS states in the country.
So walk on into the office and tell them you're pulling him out to homeschool, mama. And welcome!!!
R. -aka- hs'ing mom for going on 4 years now (Started at the end of K). Boy has the time flown!!!
PS: Links you may like
HS'ing in Tx
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/extras/Search.htm?cx=...
A very active yahoo homeschooling group (secular)... thre are hundreds of homeschooling yahoo.groups, I'm on about 10. The one above just happens to be superactive and very "general". Just 'search for groups' and type in ________________ homeschool.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/secular_homeschoolers/
My personal favorite guide to hs'ing philosophies
http://www.homeschooldiner.com/
Massive Curriculum Discounts here
http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/
If you are at all interested in either Montessori or Charlotte Mason
http://www.freemontessori.org/?page_id=9
http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/started/charlotte-...
I have homeschooled for years but as to truancy if they have not turned you in, you can withdraw him - do it in writing. If the process has already started you may not can stop it. I will say the law is the same in Charter schools and attendance rules are law...tardies, early release all count as 1/2 day.....it will get harder as he is older as they will not allow him to make up work when you take vacations during school time - that is what spring break is for. If you are going to have your child in public school you have to be willing to put in the time - getting him there on time and makeups and detentions...not sure why he can't do it now.....not bashing you, just stating facts.....good luck
Yes you can withdraw and re-enroll for 1st grade. I had to take my 4th grader out and home school him for other reason's. I'm surprised your district is so strict on 5 days of missed school kids do get sick and you can't take them every time to the doctor. However tardies seriously? well I know if a kid in our school isn't in his seat the teacher can mark them tardy even if they are up and have been in the class, some thing are a bit out of hand but what can you do.
Anyway, yes you can home school then go back to a school, that what we are doing next year.
It's sad they are that extreme it's kindergarten not Harvard, I feel for you. I know when we were at a charter school they got that weird about attendance. Told me if I took my son out to go to the doctor even an hour before release he's be marked absent 1/2 day. I said the last hour in kindergarten? they said yes parents have abused it. i said even with a doctor note? they said yes. I said wow looking for a new school and did.
best wishes we like our home schooling it's really pretty fun too
When I was in 6th grade we had the opportunity to go to Washington DC while my dad was there on business. My mom went to the school and talked to them about it. Now this was in the early 80's and schools werent such a pain back then. They sent me work to do while I was gone and I did a "report" that I gave in one of my classes about what I had seen. You could offer to do something like that but on his age level. To quote my social studies teacher he said that I would learn more in a week in DC than I would at school. Make it a learning opportunity even if you pull him out of school. I child can learn outside of four walls!
contact your local homeschool association. they can hook you up.
If you withdraw your child, will you lose the spot in charter school?
If kindergarten is not manditory, then how can you get truancy charges? My kids have miss 15 day, yes three weeks of school this year due to illnesses, a death in the family and a vacation. I got the slap on the wrist truancy letter for the ones in 3rd/6th grade but not the one in K. Thats because it is not mandatory.
Pull him out, if it is not mandatory, just enroll him next year in 1st grade. No need for homeschooling (although it is good to keep him learning for the remainder of the year).
Go to the school, hand them a letter stating you are withdrawing him from school and will be homeschooling him. Ask them to place the letter in his file and leave. You owe them no explanation, no nothiing. You don't even owe them a letter,but it is a good idea. If truancy shows up at your door you don't have to answer or let them in. Check out the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. You can even become a member of HLDA and they will legally represent you if you need it. They also have a smaple letter you can use. As one other intelligent person posted, Texas is the easiest state to homeschool.
I don't know all the rules, but I know our charter school has begun to take Tardies very seriously. but I also know that our school is very helpful if they feel the family is not trying to take advantage of the system, (i mean if my kid is late every week because I'm just to lazy to get up and get my kids to school on time it is different than if there is a valid reason for us being late to many times, medical or what ever) we also took a week long trip that caused my kids to miss 5 days of school, and I had to write a letter to the principle that explained the benefits of the trip (history, cultural studies, and how it related to what they were studying in school at that time,) to have it "excused" by the school, but they explained to me that the State still had rules that they could not overrule, about days missed. but I know several students that have taken 2-4 week trips with their families (to europe or spring training for their Dad's baseball career) and they somehow worked around it. Talk to your School administrator and see what they can do to help you work it out. My guess is that schools have to watch their truancy rates and they don't want theirs to look bad or it will affect their ratings overall, and that is important to them.
Wow. Yes, homeschoolong in TX is great:). You can just tell them you're withdrawing him as far as I've heard. You could check out the message boards for "Happy Homeschoolers" on Cafémom and ask this question too someone who's had this experience will answer you.
Hugs!
Loni
Kinder is not required, but once you enrolled him, the rules apply to him as well as all other grades. You can withdraw him but will have to sign papers stating you agree that he will have to be tested before re-entering pulblic school, to make sure he's ready for whatever grade he will go into if re-enrolled. Judge Payton is very fair but does not take lightly to parents not getting kids to school on time or unexcused absences. Rules have to be followed at any school - public or private.
