My kid's school secretary is useless.

[RandySF]

A few days ago at 5 p.m., I received a robocall from my son's school that my son was absent from class without explanation. I immediately called the school secretary and informed her that my wife did indeed take him that day and she promised to correct the error. A short time later, I picked him up from the school to which he supposedly did not go. Tonight I checked his attendance record online and the unexcused absence is STILL THERE. So Monday, I will tell the teacher and hopefully she can correct the mistake, because the secretary refuses to enter the few keystrokes necessary to change his record.

[seabeyond]

1. isnt he kindergarten, lmao.....

isnt that what i remember. that is funny. maybe this is a different child?

[RandySF]

2. He is

And he has an unexcused absence for which we will eventually get a letter unless it's corrected.

[seabeyond]

3. omg... that is just crazy, lol. too sad.

already you are dealing with this crap, and it is only kindergaten. your future is not looking so bright. lol.

[NYC_SKP]

9. Conformity is 99 percent of what is taught in public schools, private too.

If and only if all conformity requirements are met may your child have a slight chance of exercising some creativity or imagination, but that won't last.

If their standardized test scores don't conform to norms then all creativity will be squelched.

See this short video that's been making the rounds among us educators:

(TED Talks) Ken Robinson: Changing Educational Paradigms-

I promise you, if you're disappointed I'll edit this post to add an apology.

I think you'll like it, and with your child still young enough to protect, and given as you're a very involved parent, I think you will benefit from seeing this.

[kcass1954]

4. Mine's in HS, and it's no better. I've completely given up.

I call him in sick, they call to let me know that he was absent in periods 1, 3 & 4. (What about 2? I know for a fact he never made it to 2nd period!)

I pick him up after 2nd period for a doctor's appointment, they call me to let me know that he was late in 4th period. (Really? Are you sure he was there?)

He was in IS on Tuesday, they call to let me know that he was absent in periods 1, 2, 3 & 4. (Y'all put him in IS - don't you know where he is?!?)

[seabeyond]

5. i think this is why i chuckled. i dont think i have had any issues all thru middleschool

i know the people working in these schools, from teachers to principal to other employees, well. but highschool.... forget it. son is a junior. i too, have given up.

[alphafemale]

6. How old is he?

I drove my HS age step daughter to school and dropped her off at the door.

Got a few of those calls. Turns out she was waltzing off after I delivered her to the school house door.

A threat of parking the car and walking her into the principals office holding her hand solved that. lol!

[whistler162]

7. Better get it fixed before it goes on his permanent record....

can the Secretary just change the record without the okay from the Principal or someone with the authority to correct the inaccuracy? You are blaming the lowest rung on the ladder for what need the permission of someone farther up and without it might be fired.

[backscatter712]

13. Does anyone actually take the "permanent record" seriously anymore?

I certainly hope not.

[LeftyMom]

8. Are the Kindergarten attendance police going to come to your house if it's not fixed?

[RandySF]

10. You get a nasty letter after 3.

Getting an absence excused in not easy. It applies to doctor/dental visits, appointments and funerals. If a child is out sick, you have to write a note and bring it to the office. If you want to go on vacation, you have a sign an "Independent Study" contract promising that your kid will do homework while off. I took my son to visit his grandparents in Michigan and the teacher gave us his regular homework IN ADDITION TO a stack of extra work he sent us. He spent almost as much time doing schoolwork as he did playing with his grandfather. And they say standards are low in public schools.

[backscatter712]

14. So what happens if you ignore the nasty letter? n/t

[RandySF]

15. It's a warning letter.

After 11, you get a letter from the District Attorney.

[hunter]

17. What happens after that?

When I was a kid the powers-that-be were afraid to call my mom for fear she'd show up raging at them, or raging at me. Hard to say which was worse for them. They were less able to deal with my mom than I was. It was always much more embarrassing to me when she raged at them.

So I spent a lot of time in quiet detention at school with not a word to my parents. I sorta liked it. Otherwise there wasn't a lot of quiet time in my life.

My favorite day as the parent of a high school student was when my youngest had after-school detention, from which I was required to pick him up and sign off on his demerits, on the very same day he was one of the headliners of an evening academic awards ceremony. Woohoo! I got to shake hands with the principal twice that day, once for having a kid who mouthed off to teachers, once for having a kid who was an academic achiever.

Now is the time your kid learns how to deal with authority. You don't want 'em to be like my mom, who would pick a fight with God or the Pope or Saint Peter at the Gates of Heaven, who will tell a criminal or a cop holding a gun to go fuck themselves on a cholla cactus...

...but you don't want your kids to be pushovers either.

[RandySF]

18. Criminal penalties for "truancy".

[hunter]

19. And???

Think of it as expanding your social circle.

Seriously, all they want you to do is sign a certain piece of paper. One thing I learned young was to always be a cheerful part of a school secretary's day.

[femmocrat]

11. Wow! The secretary was at school at 5 p.m.?!

Send in a note or a letter. Sometimes phone calls are forgotten if things are hectic.

[JohnnyLib2]

12. Naaah. I saw him by Pier 39

Had a cute sign saying "ha ha, my daddy thinks I'm in school today." Little twerp was charging $5 to have his picture taken.

[quakerboy]

16. Wait... what?

I was in school once. Granted, that is now a while back, but not that long ago. I once skipped a whole week. But I totally ruined my own fun, because I knew they would call home, so I had to make sure I was home to field the call.

Except there was never a call. It was an educational experience. All the risk was not really a risk. Plus staying home was boring. So I went back to school.

They call now? They have to excuse things, they keep a record other than a little tally in a book that gets pulled out at the end of the semester if needed?

What is this world coming to.

Hey you kids... Get offa my lawn before I set this here doohickey to robo call your parents.