Family’s Disagreement With School Over Excused Absences Goes Viral

As parents, at one time or another, we have all taken our kids out of school for a number of things. Family vacations, weddings, personal days, etcetera. However, one family's disagreement with school officials has boiled over to social media. Mike Rossi, a radio personality in Philadelphia, took his family on a vacation to Massachusetts so that he could participate in the Boston Marathon. When he got back, he was surprised to receive a letter from the principal of the school his children attend, stating that "family vacations" are unexcused, and that continued offenses can lead to "notice of violation of the compulsory school attendance law." You can see the letter in its entirety here:

This has led to an "open letter" response to the principal that has gone viral.

Dear Madam Principal,

While I appreciate your concern for our children’s education, I can promise you they learned as much in the five days we were in Boston as they would in an entire year in school.

Our children had a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one that can’t be duplicated in a classroom or read in a book.

In the 3 days of school they missed (which consisted of standardized testing that they could take any time) they learned about dedication, commitment, love, perseverance, overcoming adversity, civic pride, patriotism, American history culinary arts and physical education.

They watched their father overcome, injury, bad weather, the death of a loved one and many other obstacles to achieve an important personal goal.

They also experienced first-hand the love and support of thousands of others cheering on people with a common goal.

At the marathon, they watched blind runners, runners with prosthetic limbs and debilitating diseases and people running to raise money for great causes run in the most prestigious and historic marathon in the world.

They also paid tribute to the victims of a senseless act of terrorism and learned that no matter what evil may occur, terrorists can not deter the American spirit.

These are things they won’t ever truly learn in the classroom.

In addition our children walked the Freedom Trail, visited the site of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre and the graves of several signers of the Declaration of Independence.

These are things they WILL learn in school a year or more from now. So in actuality our children are ahead of the game.

They also visited an aquarium, sampled great cuisine and spent many hours of physical activity walking and swimming.

We appreciate the efforts of the wonderful teachers and staff and cherish the education they are receiving at Rydal Elementary School. We truly love our school.

But I wouldn’t hesitate to pull them out of school again for an experience like the one they had this past week.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Michael Rossi

Father

 

Now, I understand that there are just some days that your kid just doesn't want to go to school. In our house, they are called "personal days." However, do you think this school or any school has the right to dictate what is best for your child when it comes to family vacations or activities?

Mr. Rossi has made it clear that this is not a personal issue and has actually spoken out that he is a supporter of their principal. The school has recently released an updated statement after Rossi had the opportunity to sit down with school representatives. I'm sure that this story going viral across the country had nothing to do with it.