Schools are Punished Because Kids are Sick

It's true. San Diego Unified explains it succinctly here. Every time a student is absent, the district loses money. I guess that makes sense when you think about kids playing hooky (or does it?) or if districts were to keep kids on the rolls even when they move. But when kids are actually sick, which does tend to happen, the district also loses money.

So, we have to try to convince students to come to school even when they are sick. I think the official stance is to tell the parents that they should bring the kids to school and if the child still feels sick, come back and get them. There are some obvious problems with this theory - not the least of which is that all the other kids are then exposed to the germs. Also, I'm not sure the parents are thrilled about taking their sick child school and turning around to get them again.

The kids then come to school sick, because we tell them to. Then they get each other sick, and get us sick. But we still tell them to come to school sick, just perpetuating the cycle. Does this make any sense at all?

But we (and I use that word loosely; I for one, tell the kids to stay home when they're sick) still do it, because the school loses money when a child is out, even if they have a doctor's note. I wonder how many less of us would have the flu if students got to stay home when they were sick!

As I've already mentioned, educators seem to always feel guilty when we get sick and have to take a day off. But I don't think this is the way to deal with it.

Comments

A Loss

(I have been putting off finishing this blog post for months. You'll see why) Today, I was cleaning a bookshelf and I found the journal from one of my third-grade students, who I call Fred in my book , in 2001. I still had it because he didn't come to the last day of school to get his stuff this year and I guess it got put in a pile and somehow I've kept it with me. He didn't come to the last day of school, probably because his family was a mess: dad in prison, mom in an abusive relationship, all the kids (understandably) acting out violently. Fred was expelled from our school in second grade for hitting a teacher. Then he was expelled from the other school, I don't know why, at the end of second grade. He came back on the condition from the administration that he be in my class because I had him as a student in first grade and he listened to me and worked well with me. We had a really good relationship, although Fred was definitely not easy to have in class....

A New Prison, Part Two

Second very long part of the prison visit report. After we got all the paperwork filled out and went through the metal detector, we got visitation slips with the name of the inmate, and made our way over to the other building for visitation. This is not maximum security so thankfully you can just sit next to the inmates, and not be separated by glass or have to use a telephone to talk. First, you get a gate unlocked and go into a holding pen that is of course in direct sunlight (or rain if it's that season) and surrounded by fences topped with razor wire. You wait there until the gate at the other end is unlocked. This holding pen was a little bigger and less claustrophobic than the other prison (I do not have any claustrophobia and I came very close to a panic attack once at the other place) and they opened the other gate more quickly. Then you walk, again in blazing sunlight (or rain) to the visitation building. This one was less of a walk than the other pri...

A New Prison, Part 1

My former student, friend, and co-author was moved to a new prison during COVID. We (myself, Mitali, and his Abuela) have visited a couple of times via the video visit functionality they set up, but we've also been trying to visit in person, ever since in-person visits were allowed again. After four of them being canceled (sometimes we were told why, sometimes not), we finally got a visit. I was super nervous about this visit. (I felt better when Mitali mentioned that she was also, because she is an inherently positive and optimistic person!) I am not proud of this, but there was a large part of me that was hoping that the visit would be canceled, just like the previous four were. I felt a little better when someone I know messaged me privately to tell me that they had had very good experiences visiting a family member in that prison. But I still didn't sleep well at all that night, worrying about the guards, the many things that could go wrong, and the projected 111-degree hea...

Bronwyn Harris, Author

Search This Blog