School attendance

[hbridge]

So we are new to the school district and second term report cards just came out. There is an obvious mistake on the attendance record listed on DC's (grade 1) report card. It's not horrible, but it indicates a few more absences than are correct.

I called the school and left a messege. The school hasn't called back, but DH saw my list of actual absences on my desk. DH is ANGRY at me for "being THAT mom and making a bigger deal about this than it is". Um, it's the official grade report, I called once to get a list of the dates that they have in their records (the secretary was out so I had to leave a messege), and the school makes it a point to go down hard on attendance. My guess is that the days were recorded incorrectly on the report card, but the official record is correct. I just want to confirm that this is the case.

Am I making too much out of this? Was calling the school over the top? Will following up on this make me "THAT Mom"? DH is so upset that I'm following up on this issue? I need some perspective, am I out of line?

[caleymama]

I would say absolutely not. I would have called for clarification as well. I might even have stopped by the office in person! While I don't think an extra few days recorded as absent will have much, if any, impact in the long run, I would want the official record & the report card to be correct. Good luck getting it resolved!

[MoJo]

Simply calling the school does NOT seem over the top at all, to me.

[o_mom]

Uh, no, you are not over the top. Our district is a total pain about this. Here if you don't go to the doctor, missing due to illness is not really excused. They start nastygrams at seven days and contact the prosecuter at 12 days, so I would be making darn sure they have the right number.

[hillview]

Not "THAT Mom" if you call to make a correction.
/hillary

[WolfpackMom]

Definitely call, what if DC gets sick later this year and misses several days, you could end up over the limit and on the naughty list and that would be even more difficult to straighten out!

[hbridge]

Thanks for your support. I just called the school and there WAS a mistake on the handwritten report card (not in the school records). DH needs to STOP BEING CRANKY!

[s7714]

If your district is anything like ours, going over a set number will cause you to get into serious trouble. Two years in a row we got a warning letter (even though the absenses were from serious documented medical issues--broken arm one year and pneumonia another), so needless to say I do track our absenses and make sure the school shows the correct number.

I do not think you're being THAT mom or over the top in anyway by making sure they have the records correct!

[miki]

Aside from the school hassling you if you have more than a certain number of absences, some school districts have their funding tied to the average daily attendance number. I'd want my child's school to get every penny they can from my kid's being at school.

[Melanie]

Frankly, if they are going to keep track and report back to you - it should be correct. Keep calling!

[ehf]

They'll probably appreciate your attention, actually.

Our school has issues with truancy, and we definitely take the report card stats into account when we consider what kind of services different children need.

Typos happen. I think they'll be impressed with your attention to detail!