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I don’t think we have a limit but that just seems cruel. We’re on a HDHP and it costs almost $100 per pedi visit. LO is missing 5 days this week for flu we expect and missed one for strep and I bet lots of people are in that situation so I’d definitely ask ... or maybe you can get a note for the longer illness and those won’t count against you or something? There must be a way to make it manageable, maybe your pedi office even has a method if it’s common in your area.

So with our district... there's no specific allotted number of sick days but 10 days is the normal time frame before the school reports you for missing too much school. But that's 10 unexcused absences. Excused absences are given a clear. If your child is at home sick with a fever, you can write a note yourself and send it in and that counts as excused. Now obviously, there are some ppl who abuse the system and if the school is suspicious they have the right to ask for a doctor's note. Also, if you're out sick for a long time at once, there's a specific form and doctor's note you fill out.

@irene: a school's ratings, and in almost every state, part of their funding, comes from school attendance. When parents look for a "good school" and they look at things like Niche.com, greatschools.com, and even their own state's school report cards, student attendance is one of the things that contributes to a school's report card.

On top of that, if schools don't maintain a certain ratio of school attendance, they can lose some of their funding, or they can be put on "probation" by the state, which is a huge headache for schools--that means a lot more state visits, more time spent preparing for these visits, which means less time preparing for the kids that are actually attending the schools.

I work in a school and there are kids every year who will have 15-30 "sick" days and sick in those families can be anything from their kid just doesn't feel like going, to their tummy aches (every single day), to they have a sniffle, to they have anxiety. So, the schools have to start asking for doctor's notes at some point.

I wouldn't take it personally. But schools have to keep records--they are legally obligated to provide an education to every student, even if that student has an acute illness like cancer (they might do home instruction in that case) or even if they have a parent that doesn't value school and keeps their kids home for any reason. So of course, even parents of kiddos with legit reasons for missing 10 days will have to provide some kind of documentation. It's just creating a paper trail and some CYA for the district.

I can't vouch for every state, but we have state inspections every other year where officials actually come and examine all our record keeping, including tracking student absences, financial paperwork, staffing paperwork, student educational files, etc.

@irene: I think there are tons of reasons for “abusing” the system. One that jumps to mind is a student my mom teaches, whose grandmother minds him during the day and doesn’t drive. If he oversleeps, he misses the bus and can’t go to school that day, and no one at home makes sure he doesn’t oversleep. Or she has other students who choose to take their kids out of school for vacations during no school vacation times. In the school’s view, those would be unexcused absences.

@Anagram: @Foodnerd81: @Corduroy: Thank you -- good to know. That is really bizarre (and wrong!) the school gets penalized for a student's absence. If someone should be penalized it should be the parents who decide to take days off of school for no reason / vacation and they should pay for the day Or money should be taken away from the student who oversleeps.... buy an alarm clock! lol It is ultimately the student's responsibility to be on time. Maybe that would give them some incentive to get up in the morning.

As for abusing the system, I am always too chicken to take DS out of school just to go for vacation, but I know people do that! Otherwise it is so odd for me that people would keep their kids home for "convenience". Sometimes I feel the school is abusing / taking advantage of me with the no-school snow days lol. (especially in where I am in, they close down schools for the *fear* of snow)

@Corduroy: I think you shouldn't worry! As long as you keep in touch with your teacher when your DD is sick, I am sure you are fine, I would think. Besides, flu season will be over soon.... a few more weeks! I don't think you will exceed 10 sick days.

I would contact your school as well with your concerns about meeting the 10 day limit. They might be lenient on the note if they sent your kid home from school with a fever, because clearly they needed to go home. I am a teacher in Southern California and this season seems to be particularly bad with colds, stomach bugs, and other illnesses. I have had so many student absences I can hardly keep on track with my lessons. Just check in the with school and see what you need to do.

@Corduroy: I grew up in a town with a military base, our school district had almost all of the military kids. They take attendance seriously, because aside from the state funding, they lose federal funding for snow days and sicks days.

All that to say, the district I attended was as strict as the CA policy you sited, and maybe more so in certain situations. Like we had lots of early releases instead of snow days so that they could meet minimum hours for funding.