How the school board is contributing to the health care crisis.

[nissangirl74]

My daughter fell down the stairs yesterday morning and sprained her ankle. I had her soak it in Epsom salts, gave her a couple of Aleves, wrapped it in an Ace bandage, and had her keep it elevated for the evening. She was scheduled to have marching band practice last night. I contacted her teacher, offered to take Priss so she could practice her music from the sideline. The teacher said not to bring her, that she needed to be able to march. Later on that evening, I find out that her absence from practice will not be excused because I did not take her to the doctor and get a doctor's statement.

This is now common practice in the public school system. If your child misses school, they have to have a doctor's statement in order to be excused or make up the work they missed. If not, it becomes a truancy issue. Gone are the days when you can have a 24-hour bug, stay home, drink plenty of fluids, and sleep it off. I know there are those who would take advantage if they didn't have to have an excuse, but it causes a lot of problems for the parents and the nurses/doctors who have to waste their time treating the sniffles instead of trauma cases.

The problem is this. If you can't get your child into their pediatrician, and there isn't an "Urgent Care facility" in your area, the child has to be taken to the emergency room. That's the only option left. Johnny's parents and the insurance company, if they are lucky enough to have coverage, just had to pay (the equivalent of) $800 so he can make up his spelling test.

[telcoman]

My daughter fell down the stairs yesterday morning and sprained her ankle. I had her soak it in Epsom salts, gave her a couple of Aleves, wrapped it in an Ace bandage, and had her keep it elevated for the evening. She was scheduled to have marching band practice last night. I contacted her teacher, offered to take Priss so she could practice her music from the sideline. The teacher said not to bring her, that she needed to be able to march. Later on that evening, I find out that her absence from practice will not be excused because I did not take her to the doctor and get a doctor's statement.

This is now common practice in the public school system. If your child misses school, they have to have a doctor's statement in order to be excused or make up the work they missed. If not, it becomes a truancy issue. Gone are the days when you can have a 24-hour bug, stay home, drink plenty of fluids, and sleep it off. I know there are those who would take advantage if they didn't have to have an excuse, but it causes a lot of problems for the parents and the nurses/doctors who have to waste their time treating the sniffles instead of trauma cases.

The problem is this. If you can't get your child into their pediatrician, and there isn't an "Urgent Care facility" in your area, the child has to be taken to the emergency room. That's the only option left. Johnny's parents and the insurance company, if they are lucky enough to have coverage, just had to pay (the equivalent of) $800 so he can make up his spelling test.

If a child accidently falls down a flight of stairs a visit to the emergency room is a prudent and wise decision.

It may be a sprain or it could be a hairline fracture that would require a cast. Better to be safe than sorry.

Just my $.02

Telcoman

[nissangirl74]

She didn't fall from the top of the stairs all the way to the bottom. She missed the last step.

[srellim234]

...This is now common practice in the public school system. If your child misses school, they have to have a doctor's statement in order to be excused or make up the work they missed. If not, it becomes a truancy issue. Gone are the days when you can have a 24-hour bug, stay home, drink plenty of fluids, and sleep it off. ..

Maybe in your public school system, but not here. Here, we still have the leeway without the doctor's note until the kid has an accumulation of at least a week's worth of missed school. The kids are allowed to make up the work, but only within the same amount of time they have missed. One day missed, one day to catch up. That strongly encourages people to stop by the school and pick up the work for the sick/injured child the day they're missing in order to be working on it while they are at home. They don't get homework stacked up that way.

[AZhitman]

If a child accidently falls down a flight of stairs a visit to the emergency room is a prudent and wise decision.

Thanks Mom.

A visit to the ER for a hairline fracture is foolish and an insult to the personnel of an ER.

Emergency means life-threatening. Period.

You just supported the OP's point as an example of the abuses of the ER system and a contributing factor to our [manufactured] health care "crisis".

[audtatious]

Same problem here. last year my step daughter missed a few days due to being sick and missed numerous "first bells" due to orthodontist appointments and doctors appointments. These were spread out through the year and they never questioned anything. Near the end of last year we received a notice from CPS about her "truancy" in which they threatened investigations and to take her away due to neglect. This year, they are making her stay 2 days after school each week for 18 weeks as punishment.

[nissangirl74]

they threatened investigations and to take her away due to neglect.

Dumbasses. If you were neglecting her, why the hell would you be taking her to the doctor?

[AZhitman]

Unreal.

You kids are better cared-for than the damn CPS workers' kids.

[audtatious]

Luckily her braces come off tomorrow so that should not be an issue this year. We also found out this summer that all year two other girls were making her buy their lunch with her lunch money and she was afraid to say anything about it. That was brought up to the school before it started this year and was blown off. The school in general does not care if she gets an education either, they just want to make sure she is there as they get state money based upon attendance. Hopefully her current math teacher will teach from the book instead of on the board with non-book assignments like the last one. This school system is screwed up and I can't wait to get out of it next year.

[nissangirl74]

Katrina doesn't bring her books home. They have to stay in the classroom because the school only buys one set per room. Not enough money for everyone to have their own. How messed up is that? The way the public school system has deteriorated, I can't help but wonder if kids would get a better education going to school online. At least then they would have a textbook for reference. I seriously doubt that issue is going to be brought up anytime soon though. When it does, there won't be any money left anyway.

[telcoman]

Katrina doesn't bring her books home. They have to stay in the classroom because the school only buys one set per room. Not enough money for everyone to have their own. How messed up is that? The way the public school system has deteriorated, I can't help but wonder if kids would get a better education going to school online. At least then they would have a textbook for reference. I seriously doubt that issue is going to be brought up anytime soon though. When it does, there won't be any money left anyway.

nissangirl74

Sorry to hear your rant about the public schools.

Here where I live in NJ we have an excellent public school system that are funded thru some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

http://www.ebnet.org/Awards%20...8.pdf

+1 for title IX

You generally get what you pay for.

Our teachers here are unionized and well paid and they produce excellent results.

One former local HS graduate

http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/....aspx

Generally poor pay and working conditions for teachers results in a poor educational system. The same would be true for private schools as well. Crappy pay = crappy teachers.

Telcoman

Modified by telcoman at 5:35 PM 9/16/2009
Modified by telcoman at 5:37 PM 9/16/2009

[nissangirl74]

Sorry for the rant, the injustice boils my blood.

Back to the original topic....

I believe that the school's requirement for doctor's excuses every time a child is absent puts a heavy and expensive burden on everyone involved. I just think it is unnecessary.

-It wastes the doctor's time -It costs the insurance companies (and the state "free" medical programs) a fortune.-It costs the parents time and money away from their jobs. -Each school system has to employ someone to keep up with all of the records. (Truancy officers)

[the converted]

I was just talking to my mom about this (she's a 3rd grade teacher) and she thinks it's ridiculous. It is definitely a waste of time and money for everyone involved except the school, so why would they care.

[telcoman]

Sorry for the rant, the injustice boils my blood.

Back to the original topic....

I believe that the school's requirement for doctor's excuses every time a child is absent puts a heavy and expensive burden on everyone involved. I just think it is unnecessary.

-It wastes the doctor's time -It costs the insurance companies (and the state "free" medical programs) a fortune.-It costs the parents time and money away from their jobs. -Each school system has to employ someone to keep up with all of the records. (Truancy officers)

I think in todays environment it is a CYA policy on the part of the school system.

Frequent injuries of a child resulting in school absence not reported to a Dr could be possible parental abuse which the public schools are required to report to DYFS.

[AZhitman]

I think in todays environment it is a CYA policy on the part of the school system.

Frequent injuries of a child resulting in school absence not reported to a Dr could be possible parental abuse which the public schools are required to report to DYFS.

HOLY CRAP!

Howard pulled a relevant, sensible, on-topic post out of thin air!!!!

Nicely-done, sir. Well-said.

[WDRacing]

When I registered my Son this year, it was mandatory to check what ethnicity and religion he is. So I scratched out all of the choices and wrote in HUGE letters, White Anglo Saxon Protestant - GFY. What does race and or religion have to do with anything? I know this is off topic, but it deeply concerns me that our public schools are turning even deeper into the gutter.

I'm allowed to turn in my own sick notes atleast though.

Anyone that says a hand written note from me isn't good enough is going to have a bad slipnfall accident themselves.

Just because some parents suck at life and beat their kids is no reason to punish the 99.9% of the rest of us. If my children are in need of medical attention they'll get it. But not because some POS tells me they made a F'in policy. Rage is the only thing you should feel as a parent when things like this policy are "installed" for "our own good". BS...stay the F out of my personal life damnit.

It is no wonder the good citizens of this great Nation are worried for it's future. Revolution is what we need and we need it soon.

[HashiriyaS14]

If a child accidently falls down a flight of stairs a visit to the emergency room is a prudent and wise decision.

It may be a sprain or it could be a hairline fracture that would require a cast. Better to be safe than sorry.

Just my $.02

^^Here are your $0.02 back, we don't need them.

(abuse post was peachy though, good point)

This is a DUMB rule.

My parents repeatedly got me out of public high school to go on vacations, and we literally told the school "Chris is going to Zurich this week". They didn't really care, they recognized that foreign travel is a worthwhile experience and that so long as I did my work for the week, I should go.

I never had to produce a doctor's note for medical stuff.

My HS ran a lot like college. We could wander off campus, we could make our own schedule and if we had a free period it was fine so long as we were getting all our credits. We had a lot of autonomy.

Of course, according to Newsweek, it was also the 56th best public High School in the country this year (out of ~27,000)

[nissangirl74]

My HS ran a lot like college. We could wander off campus, we could make our own schedule and if we had a free period it was fine so long as we were getting all our credits. We had a lot of autonomy.

Of course, according to Newsweek, it was also the 56th best public High School in the country this year (out of ~27,000)

Sounds a lot like my old high school. We just weren't allowed to leave campus. Not that it stopped us, just saying.

Just because some parents suck at life and beat their kids is no reason to punish the 99.9% of the rest of us.

Precisely.

[WDRacing]

I'm just tired of people in authority coming up with new idea's to control society. Stay the F out of my business unless I'm breaking the law...period. The worst part is that we are absolutely helpless to do ANYTHING to change ANYTHING.

We delude ourselves into thinking our votes count. Lets look at the last Presidential election. Those two idiots aren't who the people picked, they are the two the current rich and powerful picked for us. Certainly no one believes that Obama is the absolute best this Country has to offer. And McCain..."Holy Crap"...is the only thing I could say when the GOP was like..."yup, that's our boy".

There is no democracy anymore and there hasn't been for years. If you have enough money, you can be POTUS. Or at the very least you can be a Congressman. The corrupt, money mongering, power crazed people that most of us HATE are running things and telling us how to live. I don't care what side of the damn aisle you're currently sitting on, but wake up people. Things are bad and getting worse every day that passes us by.

Are there really that many stupid and lazy people in America now?

[audtatious]

Realize that schools get "X" amount of funding per student for them to be physically in school. Truancy effects the bottom line. We were specifically told that that was the main reason the school system was taking such a hard line against us for Lisa "officially" missing 16 days of school throughout the school year last year. Of those 16 days, 5 of them were due to vacation where we took a trip to Canada and Nova Scotia, 6+ of them were due to her being sick, 2 were due to my father passing away, and the rest were due to doctor / orthodontist visits. None were due to her skipping school.

[nissangirl74]

I'm just tired of people in authority coming up with new idea's to control society. Stay the F out of my business unless I'm breaking the law...period. The worst part is that we are absolutely helpless to do ANYTHING to change ANYTHING.

We delude ourselves into thinking our votes count. Lets look at the last Presidential election. Those two idiots aren't who the people picked, they are the two the current rich and powerful picked for us. Certainly no one believes that Obama is the absolute best this Country has to offer. And McCain..."Holy Crap"...is the only thing I could say when the GOP was like..."yup, that's our boy".

There is no democracy anymore and there hasn't been for years. If you have enough money, you can be POTUS. Or at the very least you can be a Congressman. The corrupt, money mongering, power crazed people that most of us HATE are running things and telling us how to live. I don't care what side of the damn aisle you're currently sitting on, but wake up people. Things are bad and getting worse every day that passes us by.

Are there really that many stupid and lazy people in America now?

What's worse is that they are out here blowing each other, talking about all the good they are doing for the American public and blah, blah, blah. Get the F out of my face with that BS!! No one on this earth is going to convince me that anything is better than it was. The reason that change isn't happening is that it doesn't provide any benefit to the lawmakers. They have everything they need. They don't need change.

[WDRacing]

Greg said I would like you. He was was right

[HashiriyaS14]

Sounds a lot like my old high school. We just weren't allowed to leave campus. Not that it stopped us, just saying.

My HS was also in a pretty urban area, so everything around us was 15 story office towers. When we left campus, we just walked. Metro stop was half a block away, etc.

They couldn't really have made it a "closed campus" even if they'd wanted to, so they didn't try.

Of course, this was before the day of student ID badges, metal detectors, etc. All the doors were always unlocked, people came and went as they pleased.

Generally, it was a school filled with pretty ambitious kids who knew it wasn't in their best interest to skip school all day.

[Cold_Zero]

I realize in this case, this is not Indiana. But in our state, funding is based off of attendance. So schools must feel compelled to enforce strict attendance policies. Unfortunately as in this case it sounds like the school system is being very unreasonable.

I have to ask and maybe I didnt understand, what is the ramification of your daughter missing band practice? Is band practice part of a class or an extra curricular activity?

I wish I had some words of wisdom, but I dont. All I know is that if my child does not go to parochial schools, I am going to be going head to head with the Public School system.

[nissangirl74]

I have to ask and maybe I didnt understand, what is the ramification of your daughter missing band practice? Is band practice part of a class or an extra curricular activity?

She gets a "0" for the day. Even though I offered to take her so she could at least play the music.

[telcoman]

My daughter fell down the stairs yesterday morning and sprained her ankle. I had her soak it in Epsom salts, gave her a couple of Aleves, wrapped it in an Ace bandage, and had her keep it elevated for the evening. She was scheduled to have marching band practice last night. I contacted her teacher, offered to take Priss so she could practice her music from the sideline. The teacher said not to bring her, that she needed to be able to march. Later on that evening, I find out that her absence from practice will not be excused because I did not take her to the doctor and get a doctor's statement.

This is now common practice in the public school system. If your child misses school, they have to have a doctor's statement in order to be excused or make up the work they missed. If not, it becomes a truancy issue. Gone are the days when you can have a 24-hour bug, stay home, drink plenty of fluids, and sleep it off. I know there are those who would take advantage if they didn't have to have an excuse, but it causes a lot of problems for the parents and the nurses/doctors who have to waste their time treating the sniffles instead of trauma cases.

The problem is this. If you can't get your child into their pediatrician, and there isn't an "Urgent Care facility" in your area, the child has to be taken to the emergency room. That's the only option left. Johnny's parents and the insurance company, if they are lucky enough to have coverage, just had to pay (the equivalent of) $800 so he can make up his spelling test.

Gee there is more going on in high schools today than when I was in HS

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09...1&hpw

Who knew?

[dusred]

I've made threads about the abuse of CPS (Child Protective Services) against the general public before and hardly any of them got a post. I know of a case where a child came to school with a bruise and the school called CPS. CPS took the child and all of it's siblings and declared the parents "unfit parents". The court sided with CPS because the parents had not taken the child to the doctor. The parents didn't have the money to appeal the decision and hire real lawyers and so the children were adopted out within a few weeks.

I'm not lying.

I would be damn scared if your schools' even mention CPS because if they do chances are you'll loose your children; unless of course you have a few million dollars to fight them.

I'm mostly talking to Matt and Becky.

[audtatious]

They just threatened us with a letter. In general, CPS and the school system can kiss my azz. It's easy to pick on people who don't have much money, we are not ones that can be steam rolled over. The schools records are so screwed up we were told not to worry about it when we pushed it up to the districts Superintendent of schools directly as she had already had makeup days for those she missed while sick and for what I call "parental excused" days had gotten and completed the homework while out. We actually have a tutor come out twice a week to work with her as well due to dyslexia.

[dusred]

Well Matt, each child the CPS can adopt out they get a $4000 cash bonus from the feds on top of their normal wages. This gives them great incentive to adopt out children. True, it helps empty out orphanages but money corrupts and it has corrupted the CPS system to the point where they do all they can to adopt kids out.

I can give you some glaring examples if you wish. Texas is the very worse.

[audtatious]

Don't need them. I've seen plenty of examples online before. CPS is mostly a bunch of hag-maidens or young women with no kids. Those with kids think their farts don't stink and their snotty child is a angel.