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School remarks are contradictory about illnesses

Leo Breeden
Published: May 6, 2008

I want someone with some common sense to please tell me what a parent is supposed to do when their child keeps coming down with some malady and is too sick to go to school.

Especially when some officials being paid by a taxpayer’s salary set themselves up as doctors and say the child has missed too much time from school and the parents are being neglectful, and then seek to have them arrested.

I don’t live in Culpeper; however, a friend of mine is going through this and we are seeing such stupidity here. School officials say to not let your child come to school with a fever or strep throat, but when you follow these guidelines, you are commiting a crime.

I don’t think most people have the money to go to a doctor every time they get a cold so I guess the next thing is to have a school for just the sick kids.

Leo Breeden
Fredericksburg

Reader Reactions

Posted by ( citizen1 ) on May 07, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Clearly, someone doesn’t have all the facts. State law requires school attendance. If the schools are acting on what is required by law, they are doing their job. I agree, most families cannot pay to go to the doctor every time their child is sick. However, from what I’ve heard, some of these kids are sick A LOT! If they are missing ten, twenty or more days a year, something is wrong. If they are that sick, doctor’s notes should be easy to get. If they are missing this much school and not going to the doctor, something else is wrong. It is a shame that the people at the school have to spend their time getting these kids in school. Do families not know how important going to school every day is?
Maybe the people at school do have their hands tied. The law is the law. No, they are not doctors, but typical kids only miss a few days of school a year, not twenty or thirty.
Money! If your worried about your tax dollars going to waste, don’t tie-up the schools with attendance issues, get your kid to school. If you’re paying for it, take advantage of it. That’s like making your car payment each month and then leaving your car in the driveway, not driving it.
You said the teachers were great. Well, who takes the attendance and tardies you’re talking about each day? And, why is your child tardy? How many times will they be allowed to show up at work late when they start working?
I applaud the schools for acting on these issues. These are the kids that will be working to take care of the rest of us when we’re old. Who is going to do it if they don’t have an education or if they don’t show up for work?

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Posted by ( quetzalmom ) on May 07, 2008 at 11:50 am

I don’t know if it is the same situation, but my 8 year old came home yesterday and told me of a classmate whose grandmother was about to be arrested because the child had missed a lot of time due to sickness. I don’t know how he learned of it, whether from the classmate or school personnel, but I’m shocked that young children would be aware of such a matter.

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Posted by ( CulpeperWalker ) on May 06, 2008 at 7:10 pm

Mr. Breeden said above: “Especially when some officials being paid by a taxpayer’s salary set themselves up as doctors and say the child has missed too much time from school and the parents are being neglectful, and then seek to have them arrested.“
I ask the following: How is what you describe like a “doctor?“ It sounds to me like you as the “friend” to the persons involved do not have the whole story.
Plenty of parents keep their children out of school for hang-nails, and other terrible ailments - sometimes the school is suspicious.
And to poster “KTrick” - did the school system scar you THAT BADLY? Is there nothing you can say that is good?
You base your comments on a vaguely written letter that really says nothing.

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Posted by ( catalpa5 ) on May 06, 2008 at 6:03 pm

The schools don’t take into consideration what this does to the kids and the family Financially, mentally and physically. This is plain out harrassment and defamation of character on the schools end and I think what they need right now is a big old law suit. They are taking away your right as a parent. Instead they have a nurse who is dealing with 900+ kids by her self and she doesn’t know each and every kid and SHE and THE SCHOOL are not DOCTOR’s they cannot tell me they know my child better than me. It’s all about the MONEY! My tax money is paying for my child to get a decent education and with the administration that is in place now it’s not going to happen. I can’t say anything bad about the teachers, they are great. They need to deal with the kids who are skipping school and hanging out at Yowell Meadow and the shopping centers then to worry about the kids who truly sick. Why is that they’ll arrest a parent for keeping their children home when they are sick but they slap a deputy on the hand for having sex with a 15 year old in a police cruiser? Hello!!!! What the heck is wrong with this picture! Oh and then Sheriff Branch refuses to do anything about his civil servants who don’t serve court summons in enough time for people to be in court on a certain date. He doesn’t see anything wrong with arresting someone 4 weeks after they were supposed to be in court because the Sheriff’s office didin’t do their job Oh let’s see another cover up in the making. It’s not okay!!! There is no excuse for papers not to be served and that only by pure (car)accident several weeks later was it even found out that there was even a court date. He doesn’t seem to think anything wrong was done! Something needs to be done and the community needs to stand up and do something. This is getting out of hand.

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Posted by ( catalpa5 ) on May 06, 2008 at 5:29 pm

You will not find anyone in the school administration with a lick of common sense!!! If asked a question the answer is always “It’s out of my hands I can’t do anything about it.“ I have also gotten “We are here for the children” and the best one and the only answer is “it’s all about the money!!! If your child is not taking up a seat in a classroom then they don’t get paid for that child” I am here to tell you that everything they do contradicts everything they say. I have the paper work to prove it. I would tell every parent in this county that they should pull their childrens attendance records and ask for proof of all the tardies and I will bet you will find a ton of mistakes. In one quarter I found 19 discrepancies and asked that they be changed and to this day nothing has been done! The school made the mistakes!! But it’s easier to have a parent arrested and lose money and more than to have to deal with the REAL problems that this school system has!

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Posted by ( gonetothedogs ) on May 06, 2008 at 5:29 pm

Only in Culpeper. That’s all I got to say about that.

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Posted by ( KTrick ) on May 06, 2008 at 7:58 am

That’s amazing to me…I’ve never experienced even a hint of ignorance or apathy from some of the school personnel.

They are always helpful and ready to assist any and all with a big, welcoming smile!
<end sarcasm>

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