If you want to travel with your children when school is in session, many school districts across the United States require that you seek approval from school officials to allow these absent days to be “excused”. An excused absence in most cases allocates the missed days differently within the school district’s compulsory attendance policy. The rules, regulations and process varies greatly for each individual school district, so you need to consult your school’s official policy.
In general most school districts require that you either fill in a form or provide them with a letter detailing how the trip you are planning to take meets specific criteria. Some school districts even require that the purpose of the trip be educational from the beginning planning stages, and/or that the activity is time specific and is only happening when school is in session. In general the criteria needed to have a trip excused for educational reasons are:
(1) It must have an educational purpose.
(2) It must have “significant educational value.”
(3) You must show how the activity is directly related to one of the core curriculum subjects of English, science, mathematics, social studies, foreign language or the arts.
You can click here to find a generic letter to help you get started with your Request for Excused Absence for Educational Reasons. With every new blog entry about an Edventure I will provide details on the educational purpose and value, as well as giving you the specific requirements that the Edventure will target.
Good luck and happy planning of your WDW Edventure.
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