Lawrence County Board of Education says ‘absences are not excused’ in most circumstances, even illness

A school district in Tennessee will no longer accept doctor’s notes as an excuse for a child’s absence in an apparent attempt to prepare them for the workplace.

New rules set out by the Lawrence County School System Board of Education state that “absences are not excused” and only permits them in a number of specific circumstances. Regular illness is not included in the list.

Sanctions for multiple instances of alleged truancy include loss of school event privileges and even referral to juvenile court for truancy.

  • michaelmrose@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    This is honestly rarely the case because most sick outs are for short term illnesses people rarely seek treatment for and primary care rarely has capacity to see anyone same day.

    Meanwhile urgent care is expensive and could entail driving to and waiting hours to spend over $100. Nearly as arduous as going to work with the inverse effect on your bank balance. People aren’t doing this.

    It’s most common to have a certain number of occurrences that are acceptable regardless of cause and to get a doctors note for a condition if it an ongoing issue will cause you to continually miss too many days

    • Mirshe@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      This depends on the employer. I have absolutely worked (in short bursts) for employers that have told me any sick time must be accompanied by a doctor’s note, even for a routine illness like flu, cold, etc. This is usually an attempt to make sure people don’t actually take days off, ever, especially since it’s often combined with arcane PTO rules.