difficult child does not qualify for summer school

[Californiablonde]

So difficult child's counselor came up to my desk yesterday morning and told me she isn't eligible for summer school because she doesn't have a lot of truancies. Apparently summer school is in high demand and they are only accepting kids that have major truancy problems or excessive tardies. difficult child has had many medical issues due to her ulcers this year so her absences have all been cleared as excused. I even have multiple doctor's notes to back me up. So her illness is working against her. Her counselor actually suggested that next year I purposely make her truant in the computer so she will qualify for summer school. difficult child is currently failing English so she needs to make it up but can't. His idea to ruin her attendance is crazy and I absolutely will not do it. So now she is stuck going to adult ed in her senior year to make up her English credits.

I am incredibly unhappy about it but apparently there is nothing I can do. My mom already hired a tutor for summer school but now we are going to have to tell her she can't do it. My mom just sent me an email telling me I need to move back into my old area and put difficult child back in her old school. difficult child hated the school at first but she was finally making friends when we moved. She qualifies for summer school there but not at my district. My mom is putting huge pressure on me to move. I just moved to this city back in April. It was incredibly stressful for me. I don't even have the money for a deposit for a new place. And the gas I was spending to commute to work was very expensive. difficult child still hasn't made friends at this school but she did transfer in the middle of the semester and that's always hard. I think she will have a better opportunity to make friends next year. She absolutely loves the school psychiatric here. He really helps her with her anxiety and motivates her. He thinks changing schools is not the answer. But my mom is making me second guess myself. I am already experiencing anxiety from hell and her email today really brought up the anxiety even more. I am super stressed out and I can't even think straight. I have no idea what to do. Right now I just wanna bury my head underneath the covers and not come out for days. I know that of course that's not an option, but I am so totally wishing I could get a break!

 

[HaoZi]

*scratches head*
Isn't summer school for those that failed, regardless of the reason? Huh... that's messed up. Other options that might or might not be available in your area would be for her to retake it as an adult-ed course locally over the summer, online over the summer, or maybe at another school in the same district that has a slot available. If psychiatric doesn't know, see if he knows who would know.

 

[Californiablonde]

Summer school is indepepent study. The kids go in once a week to pick up the work and then take it home and turn it back in. I don't get why they are being so particular about who gets to take it. It has nothing to do with overly full classrooms. Taking a failed class at another school in the district unfortunately isn't an option. I guess it's going to be adult ed for her.

 

[DaisyFace]

Sign her up for online classes:

http://www.internationalconnections...ol/programs/summer-school-online-courses.aspx

That way she doesn't fall behind her peers....

Good luck!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Ummm... since when should TRUANT kids get precedence? I'd have thought that kids with medical issues and/or kids who just didn't GET it in class... should be more important than the ones who skip school???

I'd be looking for an on-line option as well.

Keep that tutor... can he go back over last year's work with her and help her understand it?

Does your school have a "credit recovery" class for kids who don't quite make it through a certain subject?

But whatever else you do., do not double guess yourself. Do NOT switch school districts.

 

[Californiablonde]

We don't have a computer at home so we can't do online. We had one and it got a nasty virus and I can't afford for it to be fixed. I am going to talk to the counselor again about other options. I can't believe her attendance from last semester's school doesn't qualify her. Before we found out what was wrong with her medically she missed a lot of days. The school stepped in and sent us a letter stating that due to her frequent absences they could no longer be excused without a doctor's note. There were a bunch of days that she didn't go to school and they didn't get excused. We had the district attorney get involved and they made us both go to a truancy meeting. They told us that if her attendance didn't improve they would fine me and i could possibly do jail time. So if I had the DA start tracking her attendance then in my opinion that's pretty bad. I wonder how in the heck she doesn't qualify.

 

[DDD]

Public libraries have computers.DDD

 

[confuzzled]

doesn't she have an iep?
I've never heard of something so bizarre (well, actually, yes I have-in our district if you fail gym you only get summer school if you also fail science, I did not make that up)--i'd personally bypass the guidance counselor and either speak to the school psy that you like or go further up the chain.
i'd raise a HUGE scene over the whole thing.

oh, and I wouldn't move.

 

[Liahona]

I don't think you should move either. I also think you've done a great job this school year figuring out difficult child has a medical problem. Often the behaviors are chalked up to mental illness and a physical problem gets sidelined. You've also had stress from the move, finding a place to live, easy child living somewhere else, supervisor being an idiot. You've had a tough school year and you've done great.

Often though when I've had a tough time I do good while I'm in the midst of the problem and then have a hard time afterwards. I think this might be what your anxiety is doing right now. Of course I could be completely off.

 

[Californiablonde]

I checked out online classes but I would have to pay for them and they are college prep courses, something difficult child would not be able to handle at her level. The school psychiatric talked to the assistant principal in charge of Special Education to see if she could do anything. She called the district for me and the district was absolutely firm that difficult child has to have at least four all day truancies or sixteen tardies. difficult child was out last week due to this darn virus that I now have. The assistant principal asked me if I could go back and unexcuse four days last week. She said she got permission from the district for me to change the attendance. I was assured that I would not get SARB'd this late in the year and it won't negatively affect difficult child. So I went back and changed her attendance and it was sent to the district. Now she has been approved to make up her English credits plus PE. We have a meeting to enroll her next week. I don't really like the idea of having to change her attendance, but it was the only solution. I still can't believe the district favors truant kids who have no interest in their education over kids with medical issues that can't help it. But it is the way it is. So now she goes. Oh, and thank you, Liahona for your kind words. This has been an incredibly rough year and I am so glad it's almost over!!

 

[InsaneCdn]

You went through the right process, though... AND got the result you wanted.
You didn't just go in and change it, although you could have. You went up the chain of command, were told to do it, and "worked the system". We don't like doing that, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

 

[Bunny]

I'm glad that they qualified her for summer school, although I agree with you that I makes no sense that they give preference to kids who are truant over kids who failed because of illness or just not getting the work the first time around.

 

[Californiablonde]

At least I didn't have to ruin difficult child's attendance too badly, but working in the attendance department it's killing me that she has truancies on her record! But she got in so for that I am grateful.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Can you change it back in Sept?

 

[Californiablonde]

No I can't change it back in September. That would be nice but it can't be done. At the end of each month we run reports, print it out, and send it to the state. They are kept there and we are audited every other year to make sure what the state has and what we have match. I have had arguments with parents over this. Our policy is three days to clear an absence but technichally we can make exeptions and go back a month if necessary. But I have had parents try to clear absences several months ago and I have to tell them that there is no possible way I can do it. They get angry, but the education code does say they have three days only. I have to remind them of this but they still take it out on me. It makes my job harder but it's policy and I have to stick to it. Fortuntately difficult child won't suffer any consequences for the truancies, but being in my field it just makes it more difficult for me to accept! But I am doing what's best for her so that makes me feel a lot better about it.

 

[dstc_99]

No one looks at attendance after high school. Seriously it is much worse for her to have that failing grade than it is for her to be considered truant. Colleges don't care and neither do trade schools.

You did what needed to be done for your child with the support of your superiors. Good job!

 

[DammitJanet]

CB...is your computer a laptop or a desktop? Actually either way, mail either the laptop or the tower to me. If you know anyone who knows how to take out the hard drive that would probably be where the virus actual is and would be all we would actually need but you may not know someone who knows how to take that out. But if you can mail your computer to me I can almost guarantee you we can get the viruses off it and get your computer running again. Ive never seen a computer my son cant get working again from viruses.

 

[Californiablonde]

Thank you, Janet, but I wouldn't have any money to pay him. Since I'm not working in the summer I am broke!