It’s a common refrain among educators: Even as schools focus time and resources on driving down rates of chronic absenteeism, some parents make the uphill climb even steeper by pulling their children out of class for non-urgent family trips.
Since the pandemic, families appear more relaxed about missing two or three days of school so they can take a trip to Disneyland or go skiing, they say. And it doesn’t take long for those missed days to add up, landing a student at or near the 10% of missed school days necessary to be considered chronically absent.
That hunch aligns with research. Surveys have found that, although parents see chronic absenteeism as a problem, they underestimate their own children’s absences.
That’s led some districts to get creative by taking more holidays off; extending the calendar and strategically scheduling periodic four-day weekends to give families more breaks; and scheduling staff development days near holidays, when they expect more absences.
Retired principal Gail Johnson saw the tension up close recently when she made a social media post questioning absences for family trips.
Angry replies suggested schools “think they own your kids,” and called the post, which had nearly 4 million views on X, “an ad for homeschooling.” The Today Show even covered the fallout.
In an unscientific social media poll, Education Week asked readers what they think about parents taking their children out of school for a vacation or family trip. Among 1,200 respondents, 53% said it “provides real world experience,” while 33% said it “disrupts students’ education.”
Their responses offered a variety of perspectives on the question. Here’s a sample:
Absences disrupt learning for teachers, other students
I’m old enough to remember when parents would only take their kids out of school for actual rare educational trips (i.e. Israel, Egypt, other historically important places), but by the end of my teaching career, even with a school calendar approved by March of the previous school year, students were being removed for a trip to Florida or to Grandma’s house. And when schoolwork was asked for and sent with, it was rarely completed.
Scott S.
No! There is plenty of time when students aren’t engaged with school when families can take vacations. Use that time. It is so hard on both teachers and students when students miss school unnecessarily. They miss out on experiences that can’t be made up via packets sent home. And teachers have to create alternative assignments and then spend extra time grading. It’s one thing if a student is sick, even for several days. But vacation? C’mon!
Sheri W.
I teach MS/HS and I have no problem with it, BUT I tell my students: “I’m really glad you have this opportunity! But you understand that you are responsible for your learning during the time you are gone. You are prioritizing something else above being in school, and that’s fine, but it’s a choice. I’m here to help but cannot spend the same amount of time individually teaching you as I did your classmates.” Same applies for being gone for sports, etc. If you make a conscious choice to be gone, you make the conscious choice to be responsible for your learning.
Amy H.
It’s a lot of extra work for the teacher getting copies made in advance [to provide students assignments to complete while they are absent]. Can you picture a HS teacher with 6 classes of 25 students and the potential if this is the allowed process?
Diane G.
Who’s responsible for teaching the student what they missed? We have some kids away for 3 weeks. Yes visiting family is important, but a classroom can’t stop learning because one family is on vacation. When the child returns, catching them up shouldn’t fall on the teacher.
So, we added up the number of days missed by all of our students and it’s almost 1,700 days missed by 619 students. I know many of my students were on week-long vacations. That is around $50,000 of state funding lost for just our school. The occasional day or two here and there is gonna happen, I get it. But that amount is staggering considering we don’t have the funds to buy paper or take field trips.
Rachel E.
‘It depends’
Depends on how long, where, etc. Whole-person development is important, but vacations should be scheduled around school time whenever possible.
Grade level is [a] huge variable. As a teacher and parent, I have seen both sides of this scenario, having family around the country. I have found younger students have less homework that they will miss; classroom recovery or make-up will be much easier.
Patrick M.
How are they performing academically?
Safirah I.
I have mixed feelings … if the trip is going to enhance the child’s learning, maybe. If its just to match the parents schedule, then I say no.
Susan Y.
‘It really doesn’t bother me all that much’
As both a parent and a teacher, this really doesn’t bother me all that much. There have been opportunities for my son and all of us to go and spend time with family away, and I think that is more important.
It’s their prerogative. Some students can handle catching up, some can’t. Regardless, in the grand scheme of things, it won’t effect their college or career plans. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Michele N.
They’ll get way more out of a family trip than sitting in a classroom.
Michele J.
As a teacher and administrator—yes we need/want kids to attend, but also our current school schedule where everyone has the same major breaks causes issues with price spikes and with adults’ abilities to also take time off …. We’re in school 180 days—missing 7 isn’t going to be a huge impact. It’s the regularly showing up, being respectful, & ready to engage with the material that’s the key.
Becca W.
Bigger fish to fry.
Kevin M.
