My kid caught a virus and was really sick. We ended up going to the er twice because we couldn't get his fever under control.. and then he developed spots that looked an awful lot like measles. The dr said it was a virus of "unknown origin" and told us to keep him home for at least two weeks as he was highly contagious. Immediately called the school and let them know. They said as long as we had his paperwork, it was fine. Kid finally got better and with a note from his pediatrician we were able to send him back after nearly 3 weeks. The school insisted on a note from the pediatrician showing he was no longer contagious before he could return to school, which made sense.




 Fast forward to the end of the year, got a note that my 1st grader was being written up as truant and we had to go to a meeting with the school board, possibly face fines for not going to school and a threat to send the police to our home if we didn't go. We went to the meeting, armed with the paperwork. Showed them where the er and the pediatrician had both highlighted that my kid was highly contagious and needed to be kept home. The case manager told us that we should have sent him to school anyway. I was in complete disbelief and blurted out "you would rather i send my very sick, very contagious kid to school and get everyone else sick, than him stay home and get better?" Woman looked me straight in the eyes and said "Yes"




In the waiting room before the meeting we met another mom who was also there because her kid was being labeled truant and being threatened with fines. The child had been receiving once a week breathing treatments for severe asthma.. which was an ongoing condition the school was made aware of when the kid was enrolled and told her that as long as they had paperwork from the doctor, it wasn't an issue. Mom had the paperwork. The school board tried to fine her $250 and wanted her to go to a special meeting about how truant children are likely to fail in life. 


It came out later the school board was accepting bribes for having high attendance rates so they would get more grants. Like.. these people were getting 100 grand a year for threatening families who had kids with legitimate health issues in elementary school. .