When you have kids in school, sometimes you have to make hard decisions. One of those is: to skip or not to skip? Parents decide what warrants an absence that has nothing to do with illness or an emergency.

I’ve done it and you’ve probably done it too. Every so often it happens – you let your kids sit out for a day or more. Special events like graduations, weddings, or family vacations take priority. Shoot, there are times when your kid just needs a mental health break. Dad of twins Michael Rossi wanted to take his children’s education on the road.

When he did, he ended up taking their school district’s attendance policy to task. The Pennsylvania father trained hard to qualify for the Boston Marathon while his family watched every step of the way. After enduring a hip injury, Mr. Rossi wasn’t sure he would be able to make it, and neither was his family. He did it, and eagerly planned a trip to Boston that included his children’s presence.

In an interview with the Today Show, he said his wife notified their children’s school in advance that they would not be in attendance for three days. The Rossi family took their trip, turning it into a family vacation. Not only did they watch Michael complete the marathon, but they also toured the city and visited a number of historical sites.

Upon returning, the parents received a note from the principal regarding their twins’ absence:

What stuck out the most to the parents was the line that read, “The school district is not in the position of overseeing family vacations or evaluating the educational nature of a family trip.” After posting the letter on Facebook, Michael Rossi penned his intended response to the principal on the social media site and it went viral (it was never formally sent):

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.

Rossi later said that he wasn’t upset at the school or principal, as she was just stating its blanket policy. It was the policy itself that he took issue with, as he found fault with them having no exceptions for family trips that could be considered educational. Racking up unexcused absences for something like this seemed silly to him.

From experience, we know that each school district has its own policy on attendance, and in some cases non-compliance can result in criminal charges. But every so often, parents make the call to take their kids out for events and vacations and deal with whatever aftermath comes.
 
What do you think about the Rossis’ decision? Have you ever let your children skip school for family events? Did you or the school make a big fuss about it? Tell us in the comments!