If your child was home sick and you forgot to call school

[cas]

When did the school notify you that your child was not in school?

I ask because recently my son was home sick and I forgot to call. At 4:30 that afternoon I received an automated voice message telling me my child was not in school. Is this the norm? It seems wrong. I understand that schools get overwhelmed, but what if he hadn't been home sick? I know stranger abductions are rare, but what if God forbid he had been kidnapped? That would have been 8 1/2 hours where no one knew he was missing and nothing was done.

I walk him to the bus every morning and have been thinking about what age I'd feel comfortable letting him walk by himself. After this, I'm not sure I'd ever feel comfortable because I'd never know he got to school okay until he was home that afternoon to tell me about it. I'd like to bring it up with the school, but was hoping to hear how some other schools function before I do so.

Thanks!

[Globetrotter]

We get a personal call around 9, I think. It's a small school, but still no reason a larger school couldn't send an automated msg. out in the morning. that's nuts!! You should complain to the school.

[cono0507]

This happened earlier this month - I didn't forget but the online system we use to send them a message that kids are going to be absent apparently didn't deliver the message I'd sent to them. I got a call by 9:30am. We are a school of about 650 kids.

[KrisM]

We start at 8:50 and 9:00. Calls come about 9:20 and 9:30. I get a call regardless of whether I call in or not. DH and I get emails as well. They do it to make sure it was the parent who called the child in.

[kdeunc]

We do not get phone calls if the kids are not in school nor do we call to let them know if they are going to be out sick. That is a foreign concept to me. We are at an elementary with 700 kids.

[wendmatt]

we get automated message around 4 like you did to say they weren't at school. I think that's the ISDs policy here.

[jacksmomtobe]

In the PTO we have volunteers who call parents if the child is not in school and no one has called the School Nurse to say that the child is out sick. You can opt out of the callback program but I would say it is rare to opt out. I forgot to call once & they calked me around 9 & school starts at 8:35. They typically call between 8:50-9:15 depending on how many calls they have to make

[ahisma]

Ours is late afternoon - which is exactly why I insist on walking my K'er to his classroom. I trust them to care for him, but they can't do that if they don't know that he's in their care.

It's the same at DD's high school. Really, really irks me.

[ABO Mama]

We have to notify the office of any absence. They will call about 30 min after school starts if we don't call.

[egoldber]

We get an automated message around 11/11:30 (8:30 start).

[scrooks]

We do not get phone calls if the kids are not in school nor do we call to let them know if they are going to be out sick. That is a foreign concept to me. We are at an elementary with 700 kids.

That actually sounds really odd. I have never heard of a school where you don't have to call a child in sick. Is this a regional thing?

[gatorsmom]

We do not get phone calls if the kids are not in school nor do we call to let them know if they are going to be out sick. That is a foreign concept to me. We are at an elementary with 700 kids.


:yeahthat: ours doesn't call either.


We start at 8:50 and 9:00. Calls come about 9:20 and 9:30. I get a call regardless of whether I call in or not. DH and I get emails as well. They do it to make sure it was the parent who called the child in.

I really like this system. I may suggest it to our school.

[Green_Tea]

We get a call, but the time at which we receive it varies widely. I've been called in the morning (by 9:30 or 10) and I've been called in the afternoon. It depends on how swamped the office staff is, I suppose, and how many other sick kids there are.

[dogmom]

Well, I've had to do the calling when I did a substitute school nurse once. So the parents call into the nurse line and leave a message or they can send a note to the teacher if they know they will be out. The individual classrooms do attendance (28 classrooms) and that goes to the office, and the office gives the list of unexcused absences to the nurse. School starts at 8:35, parents are supposed to call by 8:45 with absence. As the school nurse I got the list around 9-9:15. You compare that to the messages and who you know is out sick (parents might call and someone will be out a few days). Of course you ares till being a school nurse, so kids can come in for something and that can delay listening to messages or answering the phone. It also depends on how many people can call in. I can say the two times we forgot to call the nurse called by 9:30. This was an elementary school, so they would also call the cell phone, not just the home.

[SnuggleBuggles]

They don't call and you don't have to call them. You send a note in the next day.

[KrisM]

:yeahthat: ours doesn't call either.



I really like this system. I may suggest it to our school.

I like ours as well. It's just an automated call saying which school it is and the student name. It then gives the attendance phone number so that we can call to clear it if needed. The email comes with the same message. When both kids were at the same school last year and both were out sick on the same day, I did get 2 calls and 2 emails, which is a bit entertaining :).

[mom_hanna]

We get a call around 9:30 (school starts at 9:00). Our call in sick/late line is automated, and you just leave a message, but the call if you forget is from one of the ladies in the school office.

[sophiesmom03]

This has happened to us, twice, and never received a call. :(

[s7714]

We get an automated call in the evening, anywhere between 4-6 pm.

[jjordan]

They don't call and you don't have to call them. You send a note in the next day.

This is the way my school was, growing up. Now at the kids' school, they call around 9/9:30 (8:15 start) if a kid is absent, even if we've told them ahead of time that the kid will miss. It actually bugs me. I've never had any desire for the school to call me when my kid isn't there.

[SnuggleBuggles]

This is the way my school was, growing up. Now at the kids' school, they call around 9/9:30 (8:15 start) if a kid is absent, even if we've told them ahead of time that the kid will miss. It actually bugs me. I've never had any desire for the school to call me when my kid isn't there.
I keep thinking about how annoying it could be to get the call after you just got a sick child settled in.

I really don't need a call. If I have to get something, I'd choose a text or something.

[KrisM]

I keep thinking about how annoying it could be to get the call after you just got a sick child settled in.

I really don't need a call. If I have to get something, I'd choose a text or something.

We have run into the settled in sick kid once, but usually it's not a problem.

I do wonder, what if your child didn't make it to school for some reason and you didn't know until they didn't come home? I mostly don't worry, but do worry about this a bit, so I like being called. DS1 often walks and sometimes wants to walk on his own. I've let him a few times, and I am glad to NOT get the call, since I know that means he's there safely. I am much more comfortable with him walking home, since I'm the end point :).

[ilfaith]

Last month DS1 was sent home sick from school on a Tuesday morning. I called the school Wednesday to tell them he would not be coming in. He ended up staying home for me the rest of the week and I did not notify the school. I never got a call from the school. I don't know if he was already on some sort of "sick kids" list, or if it is not their policy to call home to check.

[justlearning]

This happened earlier this month - I didn't forget but the online system we use to send them a message that kids are going to be absent apparently didn't deliver the message I'd sent to them. I got a call by 9:30am. We are a school of about 650 kids.

Same thing here. DH did call and leave a message on the system regarding the absence, but they didn't get the message. They called here in less than an hour after the start of school to check on DS.

[crl]

I do wonder, what if your child didn't make it to school for some reason and you didn't know until they didn't come home? I mostly don't worry, but do worry about this a bit, so I like being called. DS1 often walks and sometimes wants to walk on his own. I've let him a few times, and I am glad to NOT get the call, since I know that means he's there safely. I am much more comfortable with him walking home, since I'm the end point :).

Yes, this is me. Ds would like to walk himself to school, but I'm not sure exactly when I would find out if he didn't make it. I'm good with him walking home, but not really comfortable with letting him walk there just yet.

Catherine

[o_mom]

We had a kindergartner left on a bus all day a few years ago, so the district is very cautious. If your child is not there and you did not call they will call every number you have given them until they reach a live person. If they do not reach a person and do not get a call back from you fairly quickly, they will send the police to your house to check on things/try to contact you.

I have never forgotten to call, so I haven't had them call, but I have been in the office around 9-9:30 and they are calling parents (bell rings at 8:05 am).

[EllasMum]

This thread is making me flashback to junior high and high school, when the schools would call around 6pm because they knew (most) parents would be home from work by that time, so as to alert them that their kid had not shown up for "one or more classes...". I still recall dashing for the phone on the (rare ;)) days I had skipped a class. :rotflmao:All the students knew that was when the 'absent' phone calls came in so I always envisioned my friends making the same dash for the phone.

[sarahsthreads]

That would really bother me. I mean, for my bussed kid that gets picked up at the end of my driveway while I wait with her or watch from the window, the only chance of going missing is when the bus drops off in the loop - and while that's pretty chaotic, I think the chances are pretty slim of someone grabbing a kid or a kid running off...but...it's not impossible.

We have to call every day that the child is going to be absent, and if we don't they call us within 30 minutes after the official start of school. We still have to send in a written excuse when the kid gets back to school, which they keep on file.

The one time we pulled DD1 out of kindergarten for a few days for travel, we were able to send in a note ahead of time and they didn't call (at least, I'm assuming, we weren't home and they didn't leave messages!)

Sarah :)

[Tondi G]

I think we get an automated call around 11:00 and then again at 4 or 5:00

[erosenst]

Same district as O_Mom, but different elementary. About 750 kids; the two days I've forgotten to call I've been called within an hour of start. They try every number, sometimes concurrently. (They have volunteers helping sometimes.)

(Once was in K and I truly forgot; once was for one of the Jewish holidays where DD had said the teacher had asked who would be out the day before. With the relatively large Jewish population at our school, didn't think a call was needed. I learned that it was!)

[oneplustwo]

Gee, I am really appreciating our school district after reading this thread. I have kids in an elementary school and the middle school. Both have the policy that if they haven't heard from you 10 minutes or so after attendance is taken, they will call you at all numbers they have for you until they reach you in person. Most of the time when I call to report a kid not going to school, I speak to someone in person. And on the few occasions when I forget or can't call in time, we've gotten a personal call from the school within a half hour.

We've also had the opposite happen ~ one morning in November DH got a call from the middle school that DD was not there. DH replied that she should be there because he had driven her to school. Somehow the fact that it was election day (the middle school's auditorium is always used for voting) threw everything off and the school didn't realize DD was there and had been in homeroom properly for attendance. They figured it out pretty quickly though. Thank goodness I wasn't the one to get that call first, or I would have freaked out royally.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yes, this is me. Ds would like to walk himself to school, but I'm not sure exactly when I would find out if he didn't make it. I'm good with him walking home, but not really comfortable with letting him walk there just yet.

Catherine

They let the walkers call home when they get to school.

[KrisM]

They let the walkers call home when they get to school.

That's a great idea. I am sure DS1's teacher would be fine with him calling me when he got there. I will have to ask her about that once the weather is nicer and he's walking again.

I was thinking about getting nice walkie talkies, but we are more than 1/2 mile, so we'd have to get an FCC license to use the GMRS channels to get the range, and I just don't want to have to do that.

ETA: I am not very concerned about someone grabbing him, as there is a police car stationed in front of the school in the morning to help get the busses in. I do worry that he somehow gets hurt, crashes his bike, etc and needs help. Logically, I know that many kids would be walking and someone would stop to give him a hand. But, it worries me.

[crl]

They let the walkers call home when they get to school.

Interesting. I'm not sure how well that would work as the kids line up outside so they would have to call during class time. Plus everyone walks pretty much, just not all by themselves.

I have been thinking maybe we could set up a couple of kids to walk together at some point. I'd feel a lot better about that--they would be able to help each other if someone fell or something.

Catherine

[KrisM]

Interesting. I'm not sure how well that would work as the kids line up outside so they would have to call during class time. Plus everyone walks pretty much, just not all by themselves.

I have been thinking maybe we could set up a couple of kids to walk together at some point. I'd feel a lot better about that--they would be able to help each other if someone fell or something.

Catherine

Our situation is weird, because while we're within easy walking, we are bussed. Often kids who want to walk or ride bikes, meet at the bus stop and then go together. It worked well for quite a while, but then a bunch had before school activities, so it broke up. Maybe you could make a walking bus stop in your area where kids meet to walk together.

[randomkid]

Our school doesn't have a policy that you have to call if your child will be out, but I always email DD's teacher to let her know if she's sick or will be late. I'm thinking our school doesn't call because it is a private school without bussing and is located downtown in an area that is not within walking distance to anything residential (other than a few senior apartment buildings and a few small homes/apartments). All students are dropped off by parents. Actually, now that I think about it, we do have a policy that kids cannot walk to school - they have to be supervised by a parent/adult until they are at the entrance. Some parents were dropping middle school kids off on the sidewalk near a very busy major road and letting them walk in. The school does not allow that and I haven't seen it happening since they started really enforcing it.

The only thing I'm wondering about with the schools that call early - what if your DC has a dentist/doctor appt and you are just bringing them in late? Do they still call to say they aren't there or do you call in advance to let the school know your child will be late?

[justlearning]

The only thing I'm wondering about with the schools that call early - what if your DC has a dentist/doctor appt and you are just bringing them in late? Do they still call to say they aren't there or do you call in advance to let the school know your child will be late?

I always call first thing in the morning (before school starts) to say that my child will be absent for the entire day or will be coming in late for whatever reason--and that's what they expect all parents to do. Once we were running about a 1/2 hour late due to our car not starting and I forgot to call then and they did call to see if my boys were coming into school that day.

[Pennylane]

We get an automated call in the evening, anywhere between 4-6 pm.

This is our school also. We have about 800 students.

Ann

[anamika]

Call in the morning - can't remember when. They do this even when we call in and tell them she is sick/has appts etc.

[cas]

Thank you for all the replies! It just didn't sit quite right with me, but I wanted to be sure I wasn't being unrealistic in my expectations.

[R2sweetboys]

If we do not call the school, the office staff will call us by around 10AM to check in. I have absolutely no problem with it. I've even gotten a couple of calls for DS1 when he was actually in school but his adviser forgot to mark him present. They called me back promptly confirming that he was there.(we drop him off anyway, so I really wasn't worried)