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

Excon said:
Unless that is what the overseeing authority has determined, then no.
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Your position is noted.
No valid academic purpose is served by it.
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Says who? You? The overseeing authority? Screw them. You are obviously unaware that school funding is tied to attendance. School sponsored activities are not treated as absences, even in the event that the students are away from class.

Although it's impossible to prove, i believe this decision was motivated by dollars and cents.

They shouldn't be excused as no valid academic purpose is served by it.
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Says who? You? The overseeing authority conflicted by financial interests?
 
Excon said:
That would be yours, as the school did not say she was a star student.
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The subjective label of "star student" isn't the determining factor when excusing absences.
 
Kushinator said:
Says who? You? The overseeing authority? Screw them.
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What academic purpose does playing the piano serve? Can I get my kid out of school because he is really good at playing the guitar?
 
Excon said:
iLOL
Says who? You? :doh
Unless that is what the overseeing authority has determined, then no.

Nothing but your personal opinion. No valid academic purpose is served by it.
If you want to change things, move there and run for a seat on the overseeing authority, whether that be the school board or the State legislature.

Regardless, the problem was solved by removing her into home schooling.

They shouldn't be excused as no valid academic purpose is served by it.
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Most of what you have said here is contradicted by the information we have and reality.

First of all, yes, the school did excuse the absences, after the fact, meaning they felt that yes there were reasons to excuse such events. It also means that they will take into account circumstances, as long as the parents are willing to stand up for themselves and their children.

Second, yes, a valid academic purpose is served by playing a musical instrument. That is one reason that we have school bands. Playing instruments though have been proven to improve brain function.

Childhood Music Lessons May Provide Lifelong Boost in Brain Functioning

18 Benefits of Playing a Musical Instrument

This opportunity also provides her with advantages for her future. It can go on her resume should she wish to become a professional pianist.
 
Henrin said:
What academic purpose does playing the piano serve? Can I get my kid out of school because he is really good at playing the guitar?
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Actually, playing musical instruments does improve brain function.

This is your brain on a musical instrument

Certainly, there is a balance. But in this case, this opportunity was well above her personal academic needs for this particular time, especially since she has shown that this opportunity did not negatively affect the rest of her education.
 
Henrin said:
What academic purpose does playing the piano serve? Can I get my kid out of school because he is really good at playing the guitar?
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If they were sitting home in their underwear jamming on the piano, i might agree. When your kid gets presented an opportunity on par with what's being considered, i'm sure you'd fight tooth and nail to ensure nothing, not even an authoritarian school system, get in the way.

This is a tremendous experience that will likely be one of the largest stepping stones of their life.
 
Kushinator said:
Says who? You? The overseeing authority? Screw them.
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:lamo:lamo:lamo:lamo:lamo
Says whom? D'oh!
Was any noted in any of the articles?
Nope! Duh!

As you noted, sponsored activity is excused.
This wasn't.
 
Kushinator said:
The subjective label of "star student" isn't the determining factor when excusing absences.
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Who have no point. The school never designated her as one.

Secondly, it apparently is, and should be, irrelevant to such an action.
 
Excon said:
:lamo:lamo:lamo:lamo:lamo
Says whom? D'oh!
Was any noted in any of the articles?
Nope! Duh!

As you noted, sponsored activity is excused.
This wasn't.
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Actually, this was eventually excused. The main problem is the school not accepting responsibility for it prior to it getting this far. If it was a mistake, they should have simply admitted it. Had they just been being jerks, then they were wrong (and they realized this due to how fast they changed the absences from unexcused to excused).
 
Excon said:
:lamo:lamo:lamo:lamo:lamo
Says whom? D'oh!
Was any noted in any of the articles?
Nope! Duh!

As you noted, sponsored activity is excused.
This wasn't.
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The decision was ultimately reversed and the absences excused. Your excessive use of emoticons in no way diminishes the weakness of your position.
 
TeleKat said:
The article said the family is now homeschooling. Probably a good thing too.
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Definitely a good thing. Apparently, the kid is more than intelligent enough to learn at home, and not be exposed to the detrimental harm from the public school system's attempt to mold all kids into the same form.
 
Excon said:
Who have no point. The school never designated her as one.
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You are aware i never argued the school designated anything.

That you continue to respond in a fallacious manner only displays desperateness in full force.
 
Kushinator said:
The decision was ultimately reversed and the absences excused. Your excessive use of emoticons in no way diminishes the weakness of your position.
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That, right there, made me laugh so hard - to lecture someone else about emoticons with you having an avatar like that... I'm still laughing. Thanks for that BTW. I needed a good laugh today.
 
Beaudreaux said:
Definitely a good thing. Apparently, the kid is more than intelligent enough to learn at home, and not be exposed to the detrimental harm from the public school system's attempt to mold all kids into the same form.
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There is a tradeoff. This student will not likely feel any social impact as they will be traveling and performing at an almost professional level. Some home schooled students have whacko's for parents and such a reality would only isolate them from their peers.
 
danarhea said:
In my elementary school system, there was a grade for citizenship.
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They had something similar in my day. Not in middle school though. Nonetheless, the child's character is not in question.
 
Henrin said:
What academic purpose does playing the piano serve? Can I get my kid out of school because he is really good at playing the guitar?
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If he's one of 12 musicians selected from across the globe to play at a prestigious event in a foreign country, yes, yes that would be an excused absence.
 
danarhea said:
In my elementary school system, there was a grade for citizenship.
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We got certificates. But if you were good in all those areas, academics, behavior, citizenship, possibly some others, that was what led to a person being seen as a "star" student. Heck, the Navy actually sponsored the citizenship award for students at my son's elementary school in San Diego last year. They would always have a First Class Petty Officer show up and hand it out to one student per classroom.
 
Beaudreaux said:
That, right there, made me laugh so hard - to lecture someone else about emoticons with you having an avatar like that... I'm still laughing. Thanks for that BTW. I needed a good laugh today.
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Glad to help!
 
roguenuke said:
Most of what you have said here is contradicted by the information we have and reality.
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:doh
Actually no. We are discussing what occurred initially, and then after the fact.


roguenuke said:
First of all, yes, the school did excuse the absences, after the fact, meaning they felt that yes there were reasons to excuse such events. It also means that they will take into account circumstances, as long as the parents are willing to stand up for themselves and their children.
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Yes. They made excuses when there was no real valid reason. iLOL They are allowed to do that. And apparently they did.
Doesn't mean it is right.
And then you still have her being withdrawn from the school to home educate. Making what was reported seem not entirely accurate.


roguenuke said:
Second, yes, a valid academic purpose is served by playing a musical instrument. That is one reason that we have school bands. Playing instruments though have been proven to improve brain function.
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:naughty Irrelevant.
Her playing does not equate to such.

Nor is it academic or sponsored activity.
Or are you forgetting she is a prodigy. She already has the ability. Those synapses are already there. She doesn't need to learn it.
If you think so, she can play in the schools band then.


roguenuke said:
This opportunity also provides her with advantages for her future. It can go on her resume should she wish to become a professional pianist.
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:doh Irrelevant to the issue.
 
Kushinator said:
The decision was ultimately reversed and the absences excused. Your excessive use of emoticons in no way diminishes the weakness of your position.
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It is your position that is weak as shown.
Eventual reversal means nothing.
Especially as she withdrew from that school to be home educated.
So why was the reason she withdrew again?
 
Kushinator said:
You are aware i never argued the school designated anything.

That you continue to respond in a fallacious manner only displays desperateness in full force.
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:doh And yet you continue to argue such when the school never called her one. Go figure. That was and continues to be the point of pointing it out to you.
 
Excon said:
Irrelevant to the issue.
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This is pure nonsense. Assuming the student completes all required course work, the experience of going to another country to play in front of thousands of people is superior to anything offered by attending school.
 
Excon said:
It is your position that is weak as shown.
Eventual reversal means nothing.
Especially as she withdrew from that school to be home educated.
So why was the reason she withdrew again?
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Likely because they weren't marking her as excused, threatening her with a truancy charge (which it could have been) before withdrawal. Possibly they said that she couldn't do such events again and have them excused, despite her being able to show that she could keep up with the work they were giving her, which means her academic progress in that school was not harmed at all by her going to such events.

The school is wrong here. There was no reason not to excuse such absences from the beginning, and they knew this since they did in fact later excuse them.
 
Excon said:
It is your position that is weak as shown.
Eventual reversal means nothing.
Especially as she withdrew from that school to be home educated.
So why was the reason she withdrew again?
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She withdrew from school because her mother did not want all those unexcused absences and an appointed truant officer on her school records. She didn't want her child's brilliant academic record to be dimmed by a bunch of bureaucrats.
 
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