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13 Year Old Piano Prodigy Treated As Truant By Public School System

She should be treated the same as any other kid who has the same number of absences. Being a so-called prodigy should not entitle her to special treatment.
 
roguenuke said:
If they weren't marking her as excused, then their system is broken and needs to be fixed. There was no reason she should have been getting truancy notices and phone calls if they had excused her from school, as they claim they did, unless the system needs to be updated so that excused absences are not counted the same as unexcused absences and reported as possible truancy violations automatically.

Petula Dvorak: No misrepresentation of piano prodigy

I'm actually using information from the stories on this, not assumptions. So, if we go off that information, it still means the school was wrong in not simply admitting that their system was/is messed up and needs to be fixed, and then they need to actually do something to fix it.
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You are the one assuming here, by saying something you don't like and disagree with is wrong. That is your opinion. Regardless if it is shared by others.

And you are accepting the reporters version of events as told by the parent. You can do that if you like, but there exists another side.
And the school was not in the wrong for following their policy. Nor does it need to be fixed.
 
Kushinator said:
The experiences gained from playing among the top talent in your age group, on an international stage, in front of thousands, are life changing. Ten days at an underfunded school... not so much.
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Irrelevant as it is not a school function or school sponsored activity.
 
Excon said:
Irrelevant as it is not a school function or school sponsored activity.
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It being a school function or school sponsored activity is not the determining factor; it's a matter of magnitude with respect to the activity, school related or not.
 
Kushinator said:
Excon said:
That she is a star student has not been substantiated in any way, nor did the school declare her one. So go back to the original comment.

Excon said:
The Washington Post said:
In D.C., a 13-year-old piano prodigy is treated as a truant instead of a star student
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Why should she be treated like a star student?
I mean really? I piano prodigy does not necessarily make one a Star student.


That said.
The parents should have removed her from that school and found one more amenable to her absences or home schooled her.


edit: Just saw that they were home schooling.
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So again.
Are you claiming she was a star student?
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True or false: she is a straight-A student despite her absences.
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Try answering my question first.
Are you claiming she was a star student? Because you are apparently arguing again that which you say you are not.
 
Kushinator said:
It being a school function or school sponsored activity is not the determining factor; it's a matter of magnitude with respect to the activity, school related or not.
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Says who? You?
 
Excon said:
Try answering my question first.
Are you claiming she was a star student? Because you are apparently arguing again that which you say you are not.
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No, i am saying claims are substantiated. Whether or not she is a star student is irrelevant.
 
You can always change the law. The public school system is mostly broken and corrupt - at least in major metropolitan areas. The longer you stay in public schools, the dumber you get compared to the rest of the world. This was from a study a number of years back but I doubt its changed.

Henrin said:
It should be noted before anyone thinks about going that path that vouchers do not cover all of tuition or other required fees.
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Excon said:
Says who? You?
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Yes. Playing on an international level has benefited her more so than 10 days of underfunded public school.
 
When I was in Junior High there were many girls that practiced their ice skating in the morning and were allowed to miss the first two classes of the day.

It was agreed upon beforehand so they were not truant.

The same was true in this case. The school was notified by the parents the child was going to be absent that day, and that should have been the end of it.

The school should not be in a position to decide which absence is excused and which are not.

truant


noun
1.
a student who stays away from school without permission.
2.
a person who shirks or neglects his or her duty.
adjective
3.
absent from school without permission.
4.
neglectful of duty or responsibility; idle.
5.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a truant.


This girl did not fall into any of these categories to be labeled as truant.
 
Kushinator said:
No, i am saying claims are substantiated. Whether or not she is a star student is irrelevant.
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:doh
Whether she is or isn't is relevant to what you commented to. So stop with your silly game.
It has not been substantiated that she was to be treated as such, and the school did not call her one.
Nor has it been substantiated that a star student should be treated differently than a regular student.
So again, stop with your silly game.
 
Kushinator said:
Yes. Playing on an international level has benefited her more so than 10 days of underfunded public school.
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Funny!
Still irrelevant.
It is not a school function or school sponsored activity.
Like you don't understand that it does not go on her academic record.
Your argument is stupid.
 
Excon said:
Funny!
Still irrelevant.
It is not a school function or school sponsored activity.
Like you don't understand that it does not go on her academic record.
Your argument is stupid.
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The school was offered discretion, and made an inferior decision, most likely on the basis of funding. Whether or not it was a school function/sponsored activity is irrelevant. School is about preparing youth for the future, and not following arbitrary guidelines.
 
Mason66 said:
The school should not be in a position to decide which absence is excused and which are not.
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While you may believe that, that isn't how it works. Nor is that reasonable position for schools where parental participation is low.

When students have to attend a certain number of days, legislators or school policy can and should dictate such.



Mason66 said:
truant

noun
1.
a student who stays away from school without permission.
2.
a person who shirks or neglects his or her duty.
adjective
3.
absent from school without permission.
4.
neglectful of duty or responsibility; idle.
5.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a truant.​


This girl did not fall into any of these categories to be labeled as truant.
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Yes she did.
"Did" being the operative word here. 1 & 3, and because of 1 & 3, 5 also.
 
Kushinator said:
The school was offered discretion, and made an inferior decision, most likely on the basis of funding. Whether or not it was a school function/sponsored activity is irrelevant. School is about preparing youth for the future, and not following arbitrary guidelines.
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Where did you hear that the school is underfunded?
 
Kushinator said:
The school was offered discretion, and made an inferior decision, most likely on the basis of funding. Whether or not it was a school function/sponsored activity is irrelevant. School is about preparing youth for the future, and not following arbitrary guidelines.
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:doh
Is that what you think? That's nice.
:lamo
Those guidelines are in place specifically to accomplish the mission of educating the youth.
 
Excon said:
You are the one assuming here, by saying something you don't like and disagree with is wrong. That is your opinion. Regardless if it is shared by others.

And you are accepting the reporters version of events as told by the parent. You can do that if you like, but there exists another side.
And the school was not in the wrong for following their policy. Nor does it need to be fixed.
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They admitted their policy was wrong and that it didn't even represent reality in what they put out. I already posted that link. They only failed to admit that it is because of their end having problems with communications, and it seems like a system that does not work as they want it to, one where excused absences are counted as unexcused absences in their computer system. This is an issue because it causes problems like this one.
 
FreedomFromAll said:
Its the parents fault for not properly arranging for the students absence ahead of time.
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They did. Go back and check out what has been said. They arranged this well in advance, including providing the school with a complete study schedule for the girl before she left. The main issue was an inept computer system and miscommunications.
 
TeleKat said:
In D.C., a 13-year-old piano prodigy is treated as a truant instead of a star student - The Washington Post

Thoughts?
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??

They should have chosen to home school her to begin with - all that traveling and stuff? When does she have TIME for school? To be honest: it seems like public school would hold her back, education wise. If she's gone a lot and still making Straight A's the kid's just freaking smart.

But that doesn't mean this would have gone the way of 'Truancy' - this is a matter of employment (I think) or something of that nature. Not the same thing. I think the courts will toss this out and at least expunge her record.
 
roguenuke said:
They admitted their policy was wrong and that it didn't even represent reality in what they put out.
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No they didn't. All they did was reverse their decision.
So again.
Just because DCPS determined they were excusable doesn't make the absences right, or what the school did wrong, just excusable.​
 
roguenuke said:
They did. Go back and check out what has been said. They arranged this well in advance, including providing the school with a complete study schedule for the girl before she left. The main issue was an inept computer system and miscommunications.
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It does not say it was before the fact.
 
Excon said:
No they didn't. All they did was reverse their decision.
So again.
Just because DCPS determined they were excusable doesn't make the absences right, or what the school did wrong, just excusable.
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Not according to what they have been putting out and even what the parents were saying, in that they were telling them that they could disregard the notes of truancy, but never said that the absences are excused. The Chancellor/principal of the school even said that it was a miscommunication about whether they were excused absences or unexcused. It certainly seems that the school had no issue with the girl actually going away for the two weeks. The problem seems to be that the school has an outdated or screwed up system for their absence marking and instead of changing the system or figuring out how to stop the letters/calls, just told parents to "ignore them", despite this causing parents to worry about what was really going on. Otherwise, the school is lying.
 
Excon said:
It does not say it was before the fact.
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You're wrong.

Statement from Chancellor Henderson Regarding Inaccuracies in Petula Dvorak Washington Post Column - DC Public Schools, Washington, DC

We recognize that Avery’s circumstances are unique, and we’ve worked closely with her family to support this specific situation. Last year, for example, DCPS ensured that Avery was able to take high school level math courses to meet her academic needs. School staff was aware that Avery’s travel schedule would result in an accrual of absences, and worked to ensure completion of key school assignments during her travels. We are very proud of Avery’s accomplishments throughout her entire educational career as a DC public school student, and we are hopeful that her parents will enroll her back at her back at Deal Middle School soon.
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sangha said:
Where did you hear that the school is underfunded?
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School funding is allocated on the basis of "average daily attendance", i.e. the funds are disbursed in proportion to attendance. This is a major concern for DCPS.
 
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