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Arizona Principal Hesitates to Excuse Absences of GI's Kids
FOX news online ^ | 3/25/07 | AP

Posted on 03/25/2007 3:56:22 PM PDT by Kimmers

TUCSON, Ariz. — When her husband comes home to Tucson on leave from Iraq, Keila Rios could face a dilemma she finds infuriating.

She plans to take their children out of school for a week to spend time with their Army dad.

But when she asked for makeup work they could do at home, she initially was told they'd receive zeros if they didn't go to class.

The head of the charter school they attend declared the absences inexcusable and told the Arizona Daily Star that Rios' children would not be allowed to make up missed assignments. It now seems the principal is reconsidering.

Click here for FOXNews.com's Education center.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," said Rios, 29, of her March 19 conversation with Lee Griffin, principal and founder of Children Reaching for the Sky, an elementary charter school.

Her husband, Staff Sgt. Enrique Rios, 30, is due home sometime this week for a two-week rest and relaxation leave. Some of it falls during the school's spring break and the family asked for an extra week off.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Arizona; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: arizona; children; principal
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Frankly, if parents want to pull their kids out of school and also the kids are doing well in school, I do not see a problem.
1 posted on 03/25/2007 3:56:22 PM PDT by Kimmers
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To: Kimmers; SandRat

BTTT


2 posted on 03/25/2007 3:58:31 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: Kimmers

The principal needs an attitude adjustment...

Semper Fi


3 posted on 03/25/2007 3:59:08 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat

It seems the educational system feels they have a right to usurp parental rights.


4 posted on 03/25/2007 4:02:09 PM PDT by Kimmers
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To: Kimmers

What in ingrate.


5 posted on 03/25/2007 4:03:38 PM PDT by SoldierMedic (Rowan Walter, 23 Feb 2007)
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To: Kimmers

Ah, the Idiot Factor continues. Where do they find that caliber of total sensless idiot?


6 posted on 03/25/2007 4:04:21 PM PDT by Razmataz
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To: Kimmers

If these kids are in charter school they must be minority members; surely there is some extenuating allowance for such situated representatives of the deserving.


7 posted on 03/25/2007 4:05:16 PM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: river rat
If those were my Grandchildren, the Principal and I would be having a polite little talk as I started to describe the situation and request his support but,.... when he went political he'd find himself at the position of "PLEBE BRACE" and that the only acceptable answer was "YES SIR!".
8 posted on 03/25/2007 4:07:51 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Razmataz
Where do they find that caliber of total sensless idiot?

Membership rolls of the NEA.

9 posted on 03/25/2007 4:08:35 PM PDT by w1andsodidwe (Jimmy Carter allowed radical Islam to get a foothold in Iran.)
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To: Razmataz
Ah, the Idiot Factor continues. Where do they find that caliber of total sensless idiot?

Yet another example of the idiocy of "zero tolerance." When you have to play 100% by the rules, no matter how stupid, it insulates the "decision makers" from actually having to make decisions.

Mark

10 posted on 03/25/2007 4:10:00 PM PDT by MarkL (Environmental heretics should be burned at the stake, in a "Carbon Neutral" way...)
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To: Old Professer
If these kids are in charter school they must be minority members

Wow, how incredibly ignorant of you. But please, do continue.

11 posted on 03/25/2007 4:11:50 PM PDT by ShadowDancer ("Gandhi probably wouldn’t approve, but I can live with that")
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To: Old Professer
If these kids are in charter school they must be minority members;

Huh? How do you figure that?

While Kansas City, MO school district is "minority majority," you don't need to be a "member of a minority race" to get into any of the charter schools.

All a "charter school" is, is a school set up and run as an alternative to a local school district school, usually by some outside organization.

Mark

12 posted on 03/25/2007 4:12:46 PM PDT by MarkL (Environmental heretics should be burned at the stake, in a "Carbon Neutral" way...)
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To: Kimmers

They will most likely learn way more about LIFE in that week with their dad than they will in the liberal indoctrination center.


13 posted on 03/25/2007 4:13:07 PM PDT by Riverman94610
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To: Kimmers

Another NEA bred idiot showing their contempt for the very people that put their butts on the line so they can disrespect them with crap like this.


14 posted on 03/25/2007 4:13:52 PM PDT by stm (Believe 1% of what you hear in the drive-by media and take half of that with a grain of salt)
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To: Kimmers

HOMESCHOOL! The government does NOT own your children. They will learn more being home with dad than they will for that week!! Sheesh, what idiocy.


15 posted on 03/25/2007 4:18:11 PM PDT by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
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To: Kimmers

OK, what's the worst? The kid flunks 3rd grade? I have never, NOT ONCE, had my third grade grades checked.


16 posted on 03/25/2007 4:19:03 PM PDT by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
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To: bboop

Exactly. If they are in elementary school I wouldn't even be asking for makeup work.


17 posted on 03/25/2007 4:22:21 PM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: Kimmers

She should have told the school they were going to attend a Code Pink rally, the kids might have gotten extra credit!


18 posted on 03/25/2007 4:25:14 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
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To: Kimmers

Or for that matter, even if they're not doing well in school. Where do parents get the idea that they have to ASK the school for permission to have their kids do what their parents want them to do??? Zeros? So what? The public schools are out of control, but mainly because parents allow them to be.


19 posted on 03/25/2007 4:26:35 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: Kimmers
She and her husband "have been worrying all week," she said. "It was very upsetting to think the children's grades would suffer if they spent time with their dad."

That's a really scary line. It's upsetting to think that these kids would be allowed to think that it mattered what effect spending time with dad had on their grades.

20 posted on 03/25/2007 4:29:21 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: GovernmentShrinker

Exactly, if parents want to take their child out of school, it is the parents right to do so.

We had some issues within our own school system. In my efforts to point out what the school was doing was wrong many parents had the "whatever the school wants to do" attitude....I was amazed.


21 posted on 03/25/2007 4:31:55 PM PDT by Kimmers
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To: Kimmers

I thought the Army and the schools had all this worked out ages ago. ( They probably did.)


22 posted on 03/25/2007 4:32:38 PM PDT by Waco
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To: Razmataz
Where do they find that caliber of total sensless idiot?

Education departments of about any college.

23 posted on 03/25/2007 4:34:43 PM PDT by Chaguito
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To: SandRat
Rats think alike...

Semper Fi
24 posted on 03/25/2007 4:37:09 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: MarkL; Old Professer
OP - If these kids are in charter school they must be minority members;

ML - Huh? How do you figure that?

You can posture like a self righteous liberal, or you could look at the statistics:

Hispanic 69%
White 15%
Black 9%
Native American 5%
Asian 2%

So there's only a 15% chance they aren't minority (or you could look at the names.)

25 posted on 03/25/2007 4:37:43 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: river rat

RATs get angry they gotta knaw and bite.


26 posted on 03/25/2007 4:39:13 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Kimmers; patton; Gabz; SoftballMominVA

how interesting!

i just typed a letter to our sons 6th grade math/science
teacher (cc'd the principal) about almost the exact same
thing! we followed the procedures to a T ... submitted in
writing details of our trip 2 wks in advance and requested
a list of his assignments and dues dates. the teacher has
been very rude to our son every time he has asked about
his make up work and we still have no information from
her. i am at my wits end! perhaps my repeated request to
her and the principal will get us some answers.


27 posted on 03/25/2007 4:41:12 PM PDT by leda (19yrs ... only 4,981yrs to go ;))
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To: river rat

"The principal needs an attitude adjustment... "

Yes, a quiet little "Come to Jesus" session.


28 posted on 03/25/2007 4:44:28 PM PDT by dljordan
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To: leda

Your husband coming home and the children aren't allowed time off?

I'd try to get the help of the news media, AFTER contacting someone in the military to help.

This REALLY tee's me off.

We're at war, for Gods sake.


29 posted on 03/25/2007 4:47:58 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: leda
To me family time is so important but the schools do not recognize that.

The schools want to take away your rights as parents and the bottom line is money. The school looses money every time a child is not in school and there is the problem.

We parents should be able to call the school and tell them when they will not be in school and when they will return. You should not have to give anyone an itinerary.

I used to take my boys out of school so they could go hunting with their dad.
30 posted on 03/25/2007 4:50:02 PM PDT by Kimmers (Coram Deo)
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To: Kimmers
Griffin then said he was prepared to view her situation as a family emergency, and as such, her children could make up missed class work.

Griffin could not be reached after that by the Star.

Bet it was the flood of angry e-mails and calls from patriotic Americans demanding that this "educator" educate himself a little bit about the needs of the families of those fighting for our freedoms. Note that two other principals interviewed said they'd have no trouble accommodating the family's wishes in this situation.

31 posted on 03/25/2007 4:52:04 PM PDT by hsalaw
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To: Kimmers

Follow the money, if the kids are out of school for any length of time, the school loses money from the govt based on the number of children attending every day. The principal is worried about the cash.
Jack


32 posted on 03/25/2007 4:53:26 PM PDT by btcusn (Giving up the right to arms is a mistake a free people get to make only once.)
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To: Kimmers

My wife ran into the same problem at Thanksgiving. I'm at the Pentagon and they are still back an my old base. The school wouldn't accept her excuse and gave my kids zeros for the day they missed while the were here visiting me.


33 posted on 03/25/2007 4:54:16 PM PDT by Mr.Unique (Global Emergency!)
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To: w1andsodidwe
Where do they find that caliber of total sensless idiot? Membership rolls of the NEA.

Another one who couldn't qualify at the register at MacDonalds.

34 posted on 03/25/2007 5:01:56 PM PDT by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
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To: Mr.Unique
I am so glad my youngest is a senior.

Your kids getting to go to DC to see their Daddy, I do not think they can create that same experience in the classroom.
35 posted on 03/25/2007 5:02:33 PM PDT by Kimmers (Coram Deo)
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To: Balding_Eagle

oh no, my husband is home. :D
we are taking a pretty big family trip.
the kids will only miss 3 days of school,
but the teacher has not managed to get
us the assignments he is to make up...and
it's the end of our 3rd quarter, so i'm
a bit miffed.


36 posted on 03/25/2007 5:08:35 PM PDT by leda (19yrs ... only 4,981yrs to go ;))
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To: dljordan
"Yes, a quiet little "Come to Jesus" session."

Hell, I'm not overly fussy about a little noise...
Sometimes, screaming adds to the "moment"..

Semper Fi

37 posted on 03/25/2007 5:13:34 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: SandRat

You, sir, are a fine individual and a creative thinker! I would only ask that I be allowed to be there, as it would be better than the Emmy's, the Academy Awards and, oh, whatever other stupid award show you can think of.

Hubby and I just chatted and he suggested that the principal wouldn't have had the, um, nerve....to say no to the dad, face to face. He couldn't have stood up to a real man.


38 posted on 03/25/2007 5:18:12 PM PDT by trimom
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To: Kimmers; leda; patton; SoftballMominVA
The schools want to take away your rights as parents and the bottom line is money. The school looses money every time a child is not in school and there is the problem.

And I have had the total opposite problem. The school nurse is a horse's arse about the "no nits" policy if a child gets sent home with even a suspected case of head lice. The teachers are great about sending home work and test make-ups, etc.but the nurse is such an absolute witch that in many cases they will call the parent(s) instead of sending the child to the nurse....which is so TOTALLY against district policy they are putting themselves in jeopardy.

This year the woman had been treading on eggshells with me over the issue........she got her self chewed out by more than one higher up due to my complaints, and those of at least one other parent, about her. Absences for head lice are "unexcused" absences and can lead to a schoolboard hearing for truancy and a visit from social services (all because of the money thing, I'm sure)..........I dared her to do it to me, right before I reminded her of the penalties for "doctor shopping" for prescription medications, something she said I should do when my daughter's doctor refused to prescribe what she wanted prescribed and went so far as to offer a name-----her mistake was doing in front of others.

39 posted on 03/25/2007 5:18:20 PM PDT by Gabz (I like mine with lettuce and tomato, heinz57 and french-fried potatoes)
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To: Kimmers

we're headed to germany for alot of family time.
i think this experience will certainly be as
valuable or even more valuable than the three
days of school they'll miss. i just do not want
his grades to suffer because the teacher won't
give us his work.


40 posted on 03/25/2007 5:21:00 PM PDT by leda (19yrs ... only 4,981yrs to go ;))
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To: trimom

As I said, were those my Grandchildren the principal couldn't have stood up to this 6'5", 200#, 58 year old retired soldier either.


41 posted on 03/25/2007 5:21:05 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Kimmers

As a teacher, I would say that what the principal does not know will not hurt him.

In other words, allow the students to make up the work under the table or excuse the work completely.

Not that I have ever done that, nope. Not I.


42 posted on 03/25/2007 5:21:27 PM PDT by shag377 (De gustibus non disputandum est)
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To: SandRat

I love it Sandrat.His eyes would bug out of his head.Do you think he could brace with no back bone?


43 posted on 03/25/2007 5:27:22 PM PDT by imahawk (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: Gabz

oh you know how i feel about school nurses. ;)

ours has been a stickler about temperatures.
unless they have a fever, they stay at school.
no matter that the poor kindergartener is
wilting before our eyes, coughing, sneezing,
aka spreading germs! all over me and the rest.

i just let the parents know when they pick up
or write a short note about the exact symptoms
i've seen at school and just suggest they "keep
an eye" on their lil one that evening.


44 posted on 03/25/2007 5:28:28 PM PDT by leda (19yrs ... only 4,981yrs to go ;))
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To: Kimmers

Our school district has a limit of 19 days EXCUSED absences which include doctors' notes. If you get over ten, you get a warning call from the cops (truant officer). If it reaches 19, you have to go before the school board to show them why your child should not be held back. This is the case even if your child has straight A's and a member of the Naitonal Honor Society, etc. It's all about the money your school loses with absentism.


45 posted on 03/25/2007 5:29:33 PM PDT by daybreakcoming
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To: shag377

Giggle.....bless you


46 posted on 03/25/2007 5:30:58 PM PDT by Kimmers (Coram Deo)
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To: imahawk

He'd sure as heck find one in a hurry! We all know the drill of being on the wrong and dumb side of a DI when he's teaching you the finer points of how to stand at attention and you are behaving like a GOBBER.


47 posted on 03/25/2007 5:33:31 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: dljordan

No, no,no a very LOUD come to Jesus meeting with a large number of fellow parents. Or pull them out and home school them.Its gonna be tough but well worth the effort in the long run.


48 posted on 03/25/2007 5:37:11 PM PDT by imahawk (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: leda

gawd, don't get me started on this witch and fevers.............last year Jax didn't get her spring pictures taken because the witch decided she had a fever and had to go home.

dont mind me, tomorrow is spring picture day and we found some nits in her hair and I don't trust the nurse to not try to get even with me.


49 posted on 03/25/2007 5:49:33 PM PDT by Gabz (I like mine with lettuce and tomato, heinz57 and french-fried potatoes)
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To: operation clinton cleanup

LOL. No doubt.


50 posted on 03/25/2007 5:54:44 PM PDT by streetpreacher (What if you're wrong?)
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