{"id":57,"date":"2008-06-09T08:47:10","date_gmt":"2008-06-09T13:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=57"},"modified":"2023-09-19T18:47:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T22:47:10","slug":"when-schools-punish-sick-children-who-miss-school-a-game-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/when-schools-punish-sick-children-who-miss-school-a-game-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"When Schools Punish Sick Children Who Miss School: A Game Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"When%20Schools%20Punish%20Sick%20Children%20Who%20Miss%20School%3A%20A%20Game%20Plan\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><blockquote><p><em><strong>From Wrightslaw:<\/strong> After nearly 400 comments, we must close this page to new comments &#8211; the blog program cannot accept more text. Since this topic continues to generate questions, I will make a new page with a similar title when I get time. Thanks to all! (09\/19\/2023)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My child has an IEP. She has chronic health problems documented by three medical specialists and she has a Health Plan. Chronic health problems and medical appointments forced her to miss many school days this year. She made up all her work and has no incomplete assignments. Her grades are A\u2019s and B\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>The school told her that if she doesn\u2019t make up the time she missed, she will not get credit for these classes. Can they do that? She would gladly give up her sick days for school days.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The purpose of laws that require children to attend a certain number of school days is to deter truancy.<\/p>\n<p>A law that is intended to deter truancy must include exemptions for children who have chronic illnesses or who are injured, not truant. Your child passed her classes with flying colors but the school is threatening to withhold credit for these classes because she was ill and unable to attend school.<\/p>\n<p>Public schools are required by law to accommodate the health needs of students. The plan to accommodate health needs may be called a health plan or a 504 plan. Your child has a health plan but the school is not following it.<\/p>\n<p>Call your <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.yellowpagesforkids.com\/help\/seas.htm\">State Department of Education<\/a><\/span>. (You will find contact information for your state in the Directory of State Education Departments) Ask about your state\u2019s attendance requirements and exemptions for children who have documented illnesses and health plans. Please let us know what you learn.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I spoke with the state department of education about the school\u2019s punishment of my child for truancy when she has a chronic illness. Because the chronic health issues are noted in her IEP, and because her IEP states she will need special accommodations, her absences are excused. The representative thought our district is just not familiar with the laws that protect students with chronic illnesses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Thanks for letting us know that you were able to resolve this problem. In our opinion, the school should give your daughter an award for courage and perseverance despite the obstacles she faced.<\/p>\n<p>For readers who have sick children, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">American Diabetes Association<\/span><\/span><\/a> has prepared excellent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/resources\/know-your-rights\/safe-at-school-state-laws\/written-care-plans\/section-504-plan\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">model 504 plans and health plans<\/span><\/a>. These <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/resources\/know-your-rights\/safe-at-school-state-laws\/written-care-plans\/section-504-plan\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">model plans<\/span><\/a> can be modified to cover other health or medical problems that affect a child\u2019s school performance. Download the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/resources\/know-your-rights\/safe-at-school-state-laws\/written-care-plans\/section-504-plan\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">model plan<\/span><\/span><\/a> and revise it so it describes your child\u2019s medical condition and needs related to that condition. Consult with your child\u2019s doctor to make sure the plan is complete and covers all your child\u2019s health needs.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about helping children with chronic illnesses, read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/heath\/sec504.asthma.truant.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">My Child Has Health Problems, the School Reports Him Truant<\/span><\/span><\/a> by Suzanne Whitney. Sue writes about creative advocacy strategies in <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/heath\/dyh.index.htm\">Doing Your Homework<\/a><\/span>. Review the <span style=\"color: #0066cc;\"><a style=\"color: #0066cc;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/living-with-diabetes\/know-your-rights\/discrimination\/legal-advocacy-at-the-ada.html\">legal and advocacy information and resources<\/a><\/span> from the American Diabetes Society. This information is useful in advocating for children with other health problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Wrightslaw: After nearly 400 comments, we must close this page to new comments &#8211; the blog program cannot accept more text. Since this topic continues to generate questions, I <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/when-schools-punish-sick-children-who-miss-school-a-game-plan\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1363,57,1365,18,529,9],"tags":[116,117,114,1306,115,118],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-discrimination-section-504-adaa","category-fape","category-medical-health-care","category-ieps","category-parent-rights-responsibilities","category-section-504","tag-504-plans","tag-chronic-illness","tag-diabetes","tag-discrimination","tag-health-plans","tag-truancy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27055,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/27055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}