School choice...check into it.
Or, if you are so adamant, home schooling.
Or maybe virtual school.
Just trying to help you out of here...I mean out here...;)

no jon-doe I shouldn't go to school on Saturday. I finished school. and we didn't have any stupid make up days for snow either. I work for a living. I shouldn't have to get up early on a SATURDAY to take my kids to school for a snow day to go to assemblys all day and have a party in the classroom. and I'll use any excuse I want. am I supposed to be scared of the Janesville school district. because they wanna be communist. if I had the extra money, I would move my kids out of this school district.

hollynpat wrote..."the only way my kids will ever go to school on a Saturday is if they have a detention"...
If they are truant from a mandatory Saturday make up day, they should get detention, and then go on the next Saturday.
If it's a bogus excuse that they are truant...you should go on Saturday....

sending your kids to school on a Saturday isn't showing them responsability. it's showing them how out of whack the school district is. to me Saturday school are for trouble makers. I get up early every day Monday through Friday to work and get my kids to school. why should I have to wake up early on a Saturday to take my kids to school to watch movies and party in class. the only way my kids will ever go to school on a Saturday is if they have a detention or we move to a communist country. Janesville schools suck.

To be continued...

Which 2 snow days are you referring to out of the 4 days off?? It would help others to elaborate.

YES, I sent my son to school on a Saturday & YES <& OF COURSE! :)>, he complained!! (.."Most of his friends weren't going!", he said, beforehand. And, of course, my only response was, "Well, it's the law Buddy! :)...BUT, in ALL honesty, I SERIOUSLY don't see (...even now!) WHY a couple (& EXACTLY 2!) of the so-called "SNOW DAYS" were even called....!! ELABORATE ANYONE!!!!

MOC0428 I wish our school had a actual learning day but it wasn't at all,so I don't think of it really as skipping school when I decide to take my daughter to a museum where she will actually learn something vs a day of nothing but games at school on the next Sat makeup day.

As a side note, I am a firm believer in that children learn best actually seeing and touching history & science than just reading about it in a book.

Her teacher has even agreed that it would be in her best intrest to skip a Sat school or even a regular school day for that matter, if it meant that she could learn something new and bring it back to the class to share. Especially when it is about a topic they are studying in class at that same time.

Now don't jump to conclusions that her teacher is encouraging skipping school, but she does encourage learning and if means missing O N E day then so be it.

I also don't object to making up these snow days. What I do object to is that they are on a Sat, when we could of had other days available that wouldn't of impacted families lives as much. But that is another issue that is done and over with.

justsome,
Normal attendance is about 92%, it was 76% on this make up day. But I doubt that had anything to do with it being a Saturday.

MOC0428 - The calendar that was set for next year was negotiated by the teachers union and district officals. Reference gazette article
"Coin flip sets dates for school"
By FRANK SCHULTZ Thursday, April 10, 2008 for specifics.

Foxyroush: It is a state law so it really doesn't matter what you agree with. You can argue that the school district did not build enough days into the year but that is in the past. Oh and by the way, the district only built in 1 day for next year as well! I hope we have 6 snow days to make up next year! That will give some of you parents another chance to teach some responsibility to your children! In all seriousness, I hope we don't have any, but I think you got my point.

....and all the intelligent remarks begin! It is amazing how many people just can't suck it up and do the right thing. I just want to say thank you to Monroe Elementary School for the curriculum they provided on Saturday. My daughter was excited to share all that she learned when she came home. I believe Mrs. Burns said that 78% or so that came to school. At least some of us parents have our priorities set right. For the parents who think it is ok to let them skip without a good reason, you should be ashamed of yourself. The most important thing that you could teach them is RESPONSIBILITY. I understand that the district didn't build enough snow days and Dr.Evert could have made the middle and high schools show up for a longer day but that didn't happen. Get over it and teach your kids how to be responsible!

For the the next Sat. school it will be interesting to see what the attendance rate is. especially if the weather is nice outside.

Like I said earlier I won't be sending my daughter. I can teach her more things by her staying home and as a family go to a museum than what they learned this last Sat in school.

Call me a bad parent but I prefer to have my childs weekend time and mine used more wisely. And for those of you who say well she had her snowdays off, I will tell you we did school work on those days! It was not all fun and games. Real school learning was done here at home, not like this weekend were she went to school and played games.

The reality JCK is that you really do not know what the reason was for students not being there and quite frankly it really is none of your business unless those children are yours.

The reality, justsome, is that the parents didn't let their kids miss school for any of those reasons. Most of which are pretty legit. They let them skip because it was Saturday and, evidently, because they didn't feel the day would be a productive use of their children's time.

Well for the elementry kids learn on saturday so I'm glad I had my student go. But my middle school child they watch the teachers play basketball. Hmm wow thats worth driving my kid to school and for high school they had assembly and there you just sign in no teachers checks you off for being there! Can't wait to see what happpens the next saturday!

Where is that perfect parent that has NEVER pulled their children from a REGULAR school day or excused them early for doctors appointments, orthodontist appointments, dentist appointments, eye appointments, vacations, visitations and funerals out of town, sports, or for any other reason under the sun? It really is hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way!

I wonder how those of you who kept your children home would feel if 1/4 of the teaching staff took the day off? Based on your theories that would be acceptable. It wasn't any more productive a day for them than your children. Why should they have to show?

I love the posts from people who say it is their business and not anyone else's. Is that why they choose to put it in the paper? Don't feel so guilty. Why not let everyone decide whether a law is right for them? If it seems silly to them, they should not have to follow it. It can be their business and no one else's.

Both of my kids went. They didn't whine about it at all. They just took it in stride. Life goes on.

I'm must be a horrible parent for allowing my 18 year old daughter who hasn't missed one day of school this year to stay home. Some peple are taking this whole thing way to serious about not making our children go to school on a saturday. for thse of you that did make your children g then that is your business just like the ones that didn't make their children go. I't is our business!! doesn't mean we are bad parents

I agree with "Heatherpink17"... is "was a SNOW DAY!"... we never had to make up a "SNOW DAY" when we were kids..why should OUR kids have to? For heaven's sake...she's right... we "live in Wisconsin" (you know,.. S N O W ?!) ... "we need more than 3" snow days!! I disagree totally for making the kids MAKE them up! They should be a given!!

I thought it was weird for my son to be going to school on Saturday. All week, he kept beggin me to take him. Then I got the letter in the mail saying his bus would pick him up at regular time. My son was excited to go. So he went. Had he not wanted to go, I wouldn't have sent him. I left it up to him, being that Saturday is his "do whatever" day. It really didnt bother me that he went. Gave me some time to relax :).

People, come on. I am sure most of you are the same people that were complaining with the snow days and school was called off. Most of you are never happy with anything. Get a real life.

Any parent that allowed their child to skip school Saturday for no good reason should be ashamed of themselves. That is setting a terrible example. Although I believe it is a bit silly to schedule two hours of non education, they were supposed to be there. My son attends Parker and enjoyed the opportunity to watch the illusionist show.

I would be more interested in the number of teachers that were there today, any subs today?

That is messed up... School on a Saturday or Sunday is just plain wrong. If Brodhead, where I'm from, did that I definately wouldn't make my kids go (unless they wanted to). I've never heard of such a thing. Let kids be kids. They'll have plenty of work to do on weekends when they're adults. Let them enjoy their weekends when their young.

My son WANTED to go today...he was happy to be able to spend the day with his friends at school.

Come on people!! It's Saturday, most of us are not working today. Kids are in school, now that is what I call a RELAXING day.

My oldest attends Marshall Middle School where the students watched the girls basketball team play the teachers. From what I was told, they were going to have a tug-of-war at half time. My youngest attends Monroe Elementary and had phy ed, social studies, math, and keyboarding. I do volunteer alot at both schools and chose to "attend" Monroe today. It was very refreshing to see the educational approach used at that level. Yes, the social studies class was playing State Capital Bingo...but it was still a learning experience...and each class was approximately 20 mins long. I honestly believe that our educators did they best they could with the situation they were given. Kudos to all parents/families who sent their kids to school. I'm not going to bash those who did not. There's no way all of us will ever feel the same way about everything and/or make the same choices/decisions.

I ended up sending my daughter today. Even though I wasn't going to. Originally we had plans to be out of town, but they changed. So as a good parent I sent her. I wish I hadn't. All they did was play games all day. I thought maybe they would at least do some review work or something more constructive, but no it was just games.

I can tell you right now on the next Sat school I will not send her. She can learn more by being with us on a Sat. than in school all day playing games.

booch11 - you should have sent your daughter down to us(an elementary school). We had our children all day. She may have learned something. :-)

heatherpink17 - the state does not determine the number of snow days. Each district determines how many snow days they wish to allocate during the school year. For example in Jefferson, that district has 5 snow days built into their school day. Milton has 2 or 3 built in (not sure which for sure, sorry) and Janesville of course has only 1 built in. Rural areas tend to have more snow days built in because of busing. The bus companies make a majority of the decision on whether or not it is safe to pick up the children or not. Most children in Janesville walk to school and so busing isn't an issue. Due to the fact that most of our children do walk to school, when the wind chills are -30 degrees below zero and it is not safe to be outdoors our superintendent will call in a snow day. It all comes down to the safety of our children, not the conveniences of their parents or the teachers. Fortunately for everyone this has not really been an issue in Janesville unitl recently. I guess we will just have to wait until next years winter to see how that goes, because unfortunately, one bad winter is not going to get the number of snow days higher.

You are feeling sleepy...

i assume that if students would not have had a snow day, they would have been taught biology, math, spanish -- their regular class schedule.

TODAY, during this important make up day, Craig students watched a hypnotist for two hours.

NOW, THANKFULLY, my daughter is prepared for Harvard!

That sounds judgmental.

You know it is every parents decision to either make them go or not to go....who are we to judge! People spend too much time worrying about what everyone is else is doing and not enough time worrying about themselves!!

greenst: and the drama queen award goes to....you!

I think they all should be expelled for life!! This was very important learning that went on for nearly 2 full hours for our High Schoolers. This will probably cost anyone who missed today a scholarship to Harvard. This type of truancy can not be tolerated.

O.K. so I am sarcastic about it. All today was about was jumping through the hoops to keep the state happy. Lighten up folks, it was a waste of time and money all the way around. If you are going to have it for education, then Dr. Tom Everet should have it be a regular day and not just a couple of hours.

Wow, Im glad to see the numbers that high, If it were my child there is now way I would have sent her, It was a SNOW DAY! we live in wisconsin, the state needs to allow more than 3 of them.

I THINK THEY SHOULD FINE THEM (THE PARENTS)FOR TRUANCY AND SUSPEND OR REMOVE THEM FROM SCHOOL IF THEY (THE PARENTS KEPT THEM HOME FOR NO GOOD REASON...OH WAIT .. IT IS BREAK IN THE WEATHER IN NEWVILLE TODAY....I'M 'M SORRY

It looks like the 25.6% of parents that choose not to send their kids to school don't care about their kids education. Maybe they can give me some of my money back that I am forced to pay to educate their kids. It looks like the don't appreciate how hard I have to work to pay my property tax. They could atleast give me the $300 per kid that they are going to get with the stimulus money that people with out kids will not get.

My kid goes to Parker and said that students were only docked one hour if they didn't attend school today.

I would like to have a comparison of elementary attendance versus high school attendance. I teach at an elementary school and our attendance was over the 74%. In my classroom alone I had only 1 student absent. In fact in our grade unit, we had a total of 5 students out of 4 classrooms absent.

I think this number although fantastic, is not an accurate representation of the number of kids in the classroom. If a child was on a sports team that had a conflicting game today - they were excused, but were they included in this percentage even though they were not in the school building. The students taking the ACTs were considered in attendance. What is the true number of students in the classroom today.

Way more than I expected, I guess though if we took it as seriously as mr. "primer" down below, it would of been 100% attendance..hahah

Why should the kids go to school if its going to be treated as a 'special non education' day. I would have kept my high schooler home today too if I had one and they were in Janesville schools.

However, I have a 5th grader who goes to Evansville even though we live in Janesville.

I knew I forgot something this morning.

And here with the weather, I was expecting a snow day ....

Kids who were taking the ACT were accounted for.

How do you know that the parents kept the students home? They could have had other commitments such as the ACT test, joint custody issues, etc.

I wonder if the wonderful "spring" weather we are having played a part in the attendance?

I'll bet that it didn't kill any of these kids or their parents to comply with the law. I hope that the parents who kept their kids home are very proud of themselves and the the example that they set. Ain't nobody gonna be tellin' me what to do.

Hey, even 74 percent is way more than I expected after reading complaints from parents that were posted in these forums.