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Should a Principal have the right to force a student to attend school?
17/f
New York state
I am nearing the end of my senior year in high school, but lately, I haven't been attending daily because I've been pretty ill, physically. I have an overactive thyroid which is causing me to have diarrhea, as well as many other health issues.
The past two times I've tried staying home from school, though (and after my mom has already called me in sick), the Principal and Guidance Counselor have showed up AT MY DOOR, and told me to get my things and get ready for school. Then, they TAKE ME TO SCHOOL THEMSELVES.
My mom doesn't do much to stop it because... I don't know why. Because I guess she thinks they're doing the right thing.
What I'm wondering is if there are any actual laws for the state of New York that state whether or not this is allowed.
I'm not deathly ill, but I've almost passed out many times in school from being extremely light-headed.
And as far as my health goes, I stay completely hydrated (I drink sooo much water) and try my best to eat normally and healthily. It's not so bad that I have to go to the emergency room or anything (at least not yet), but yesterday, I almost had to. And they still forced me to go to school. And the nurse refused to send me home because I've apparently missed too many days of school already.
The thing with my attendance, though, is that I'm already not graduating on time. I need to go to summer school for one class, and I'll either receive my diploma in August, or in January. So I don't see why they're forcing me to go if (a) I feel terribly ill ALWAYS, and (b)I'm ALREADY not graduating on time anyways.
I...ugh. Yeah.
My question: Are there any laws for New York State that state whether or not it is allowed for a Principal and Guidance Counselor to show up at a student's door, even when they're sick, and force them to go to school and do all their work, even when there's no point in doing so, because the student is already not graduating on time?
All help is appreciated in advance, thank you.
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I live in PA so I am not really familiar with NY laws but I had a similar situation with my daughter. She was having stomach problems and even after surgery continued to vomit four or five times a day. It was disrupting the class and she was miserable having to sit in school with terrible pain in her stomach. We finally had a meeting at the school and got everyone on the same page. The school agreed that she shouldn't be there, her doctors agreed as well so they excused her absences and we brought her work home for her to do. Her condition did eventually improve and she was able to return to school but because we all worked together her grades didn't suffer and she is on track with the rest of her class. I don't understand why your doctor's won't excuse your absences and let the school set you up with some online classes. Your Mom needs to talk with your doctors ASAP about this situation and get their input. If they feel you shouldn't be at school under these circumstances then I think the school would have to provide you with some type of alternative education plan. I know there are others in your situation so there must be something available to accommodate them. Your mom needs to make an appointment with your doctors and explain the severity of your symptoms. You need to get some adults to back you up on this and get the point across that you have a serious medical condition and you are not just another teenager who doesn't want to go to school. In the meantime do some research of your own and find out if they can legally do this to you. I feel so bad for you, I can't even imagine what it must be like for you to be so physically ill and then forced from your home in such a humiliating manner. Quite frankly, between the school,the doctor's and any others in charge of you, somebody dropped the ball! I would also hope that the doctors treating you will try to readjust your medication since it so obviously is not working!Hang in there, hopefully you will get this resolved and start to feel better soon!
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In probably just about every case, at least in industrialized countries like the US, there are some laws that pertain to school attendance. However, these laws generally deal with people who just refuse to send their children to school or children who have a habit of frequently skipping without any good reason.
I don't know for sure but I would be more than willing to bet that school administrators cannot come to someone’s home and take them to school in the manner you are suggesting.
While it is necessary for students to attend so many days of school to move on to the next grade or graduate, there are a lot of people who become sick and can't make that happen. This was actually the case with my father as a child.
As far as I know, in these cases, there's really one of two things that will happen. 1. The student will be held back in that grade another year. 2. The school, school district or some other entity will work with a family to arrange studies outside of the school to fit the requirements.
With all that being said, I would really take a serious look into your health. You really shouldn't be feeling like this. Who knows, maybe it's something that can be worked out with just a regular prescription or something simple like that.
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Things I'm sure have changed since I lived in New York so I'm going to make two suggestions:
1. Have your doctor write a note to the school about your and your illness. How it acts and why you need to stay how when it acts up.
2. Then take this letter to a lawyer and have him or her write a letter to the principal concerning your rights under the law and physical illness.
Why do this? Unless you're willing to drop out of school and get a GED New York law and most states say you must attend so many days of school. Excess unexcused absence is grounds for not graduating or promoting to the next grade. Illness with a doctors note can be an excused absence.
Now Should a Principal have the right to force a student to attend school? If the principal is not accepting your mothers phone calls as excused absences the he may be considering you as Truant. If you are considered a Truant then he can come and force you to go to school or send the police to get you and bring you to school. How truants are handled differs from state to state.
Now and this is the reason for seeing a lawyer also. He may not have the right under the law to come to your home and physically remove you and take you to school. BY that I mean to say or imply that he does is the same thing. Even though his reasons for doing so may be well intentioned; if he does not have the right under the law then he can be charged with kidnapping.
At 17 you are old enough to seek the help of a legal aid attorney so the cost of a lawyer will be little or no charge.
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As LM said, you need to get your mom onside. She's the only one who can help you here.
The simple answer is yes. I had difficulty finding specifics, but given the ways the laws generally exist, they probably do have the legal authority to do this. All across the states there are laws for compulsory school attendance. Without your mother's advocacy in making an exception for you, school employees probably do have a responsibility to make sure you are in school. It doesn't matter if you are set to graduate this year or not. You might be able to discuss that with your mom and your school, but it doesn't mean squat under the compulsory school attendance rules - which are about showing up, not about succeeding.
If your health is suffering so much you can't attend school, your mom needs to take you to a doctor, so you can provide the school the appropriate supporting documentation (and ya know, get some help!) or she needs to take other steps to stop them from coming and getting you.
You need to talk this out with her first, and then have a talk with the authorities at your school. If your mother wont let you see a doctor to address these issues properly, then you should tell the guidance counsellor that your parent is denying you medical care, because this is something they might be able to help you with.
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Sit down with your mom and tell her not to open the door when they show up. If you're sick, you're sick.
You need to have a meeting with your principal, guidance counselor, and mother. There is already a plan for you in place to get your diploma, so they should not be harassing you at your home. While I can understand if they did this for a student merely skipping out on school, you have a medical need to not be in school. While I think their intentions are good, they're going to far and borderline harassing you by showing up repeatedly.
Is there any way you could possibly take online classes to finish your degree? Is there another guidance counselor you can talk to about this? Since you're so close to graduation, I'd discourage you from dropping out and getting your GED, because that would be more stressful and take more time than finishing a summer class.
Good luck!
-LM
[22/f]
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my guess is that NO. THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT.
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