PETITION TO PINECREST ACADEMY WESLEY CHAPEL ADMINISTRATION
Request to Revise the Policy of Assigning Zeros for Work Missed During Pre-Planned Family Vacations
To the Administration and Governing Leadership of Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel:

We, the undersigned parents, guardians, and members of the Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel community, respectfully request that the school reconsider its current policy and/or practice regarding academic work missed when students are absent for a pre-planned family vacation.

We fully recognize the importance of regular school attendance. We understand that classroom instruction is valuable, that excessive absences can negatively affect academic achievement, and that families have a responsibility to make school attendance a priority.

However, we believe that automatically assigning zeros, or denying students a reasonable opportunity to complete work missed because of a parent-authorized family vacation, goes beyond promoting good attendance and instead imposes an academic punishment that may not accurately reflect a student's knowledge, effort, or mastery of the subject matter.

Pasco County Recognizes Pre-Planned Family Trips
Pasco County Schools' attendance guidelines specifically recognize “absences for trips or other parental requests” among acceptable reasons for an excused absence when the request is approved in writing by the principal or designee at least one week in advance.

Pasco County's attendance policies also provide meaningful opportunities for students to make up academic work following qualifying absences.

The principle behind these guidelines is reasonable: schools should strongly encourage attendance while also recognizing that legitimate circumstances occasionally require students to miss school.

A family vacation should not mean that a student receives an academic grade that does not represent his or her actual academic ability.

Attendance and Academic Achievement Are Two Different Issues
We agree that schools have the right and responsibility to track attendance and enforce reasonable attendance requirements.

However, we respectfully believe attendance consequences should address attendance, while academic grades should primarily measure academic performance and mastery.

A zero is one of the most severe academic grades a student can receive. Several zeros resulting from a multi-day absence can dramatically lower a student's overall grade, even when that student was performing at an A or B level before the absence.

In that situation, the grade no longer accurately communicates what the student knows. Instead, it becomes a punishment for a decision that, particularly with younger students, was made by the parent rather than the child.

A child should not bear a disproportionate academic penalty for a family scheduling decision over which the child had little or no control.

Families Have Legitimate Reasons for Occasionally Traveling During the School Year
There are many reasons a responsible family may occasionally need to travel while school is in session.

Parents may have work schedules that prevent vacations during traditional school breaks. Families may need to coordinate travel with relatives living in other states or countries. Important family events may occur outside the school calendar. Travel costs during designated school breaks can also be substantially higher, making those periods difficult or impossible for some families.

None of these circumstances means that parents do not value education.

Most parents requesting a few days away from school are not asking the school to excuse weeks of chronic absenteeism. They are asking for reasonable flexibility for occasional, pre-planned family circumstances while accepting responsibility for ensuring their children complete the academic work they missed.

The Current Approach Goes Too Far
We support reasonable consequences for chronic absenteeism, truancy, failure to complete assignments, and students who make no effort to catch up after an absence.

What we do not support is treating a responsible, pre-planned family absence as though a student simply refused to complete his or her schoolwork.

There is a meaningful difference between:

A student who refuses to complete an assignment

and

A student who was not present when an assignment was taught or completed because of a parent-authorized, pre-planned absence and is willing to make up the work.

Those circumstances should not automatically receive the same academic consequence.

This is particularly concerning when students return to school prepared to complete their missed assignments but are denied that opportunity or receive zeros solely because the absence involved a family vacation.

Florida's Approach Supports Academic Make-Up Opportunities
Florida's school-attendance framework distinguishes between attendance enforcement and academic penalties. When an absence qualifies as excused under applicable district policy, Florida law provides that the student should have an opportunity to make up assigned work without an academic penalty, provided the work is completed within a reasonable period.

Pasco County likewise provides procedures for excused absences and recognizes that trips or other parental requests may be approved in advance.

We are not asking Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel to disregard attendance requirements.

We are asking the school to adopt an approach that is proportionate, educationally sound, and consistent with the broader principles reflected in Pasco County's attendance guidelines.

What We Are Asking Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel to Change
We respectfully request that Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel adopt a written policy providing that:

Parents may request a pre-approved family absence in advance, preferably at least one week before the absence, consistent with the approach used by Pasco County Schools.
Students with approved pre-planned absences be permitted to make up missed assignments, quizzes, tests, and other reasonably reproducible academic work for full credit.
Students receive a reasonable deadline for completing missed work, such as one or two school days for each day absent, or another reasonable period established by the teacher.
Teachers retain reasonable discretion regarding activities that genuinely cannot be recreated, such as certain labs, performances, group activities, or participation-based assignments. When practical, an equivalent alternative assignment should be offered.
Zeros should be assigned only when a student fails to complete required make-up work within the established deadline, rather than automatically because the student was absent.
Chronic or excessive absenteeism should continue to be addressed through the school's attendance procedures, rather than through academic grades that may inaccurately represent a student's mastery of the curriculum.
The revised policy should be clearly published in the Parent/Student Handbook so that parents, students, teachers, and administrators have one consistent standard.
This Is Not a Request for Unlimited Vacation Days
We want to be clear about what this petition is not requesting.

We are not asking Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel to encourage students to miss school.

We are not asking teachers to provide private instruction to students who go on vacation.

We are not asking teachers to prepare extensive individualized lesson plans before families travel.

We are not asking the school to overlook chronic absenteeism.

And we are not asking that students be excused from completing their academic responsibilities.

We are simply asking that students be given a reasonable opportunity to demonstrate that they learned the material and complete the work they missed.

That approach teaches responsibility.

A policy that says, “You missed school, so you are responsible for catching up and completing your work by this deadline,” teaches accountability.

A policy that says, “You missed school, so you receive a zero regardless of whether you are willing and able to complete the work,” does not measure academic achievement and can create a punishment disproportionate to the underlying absence.

Families and Schools Should Be Partners
Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel describes itself as a school community built around student achievement and strong family involvement. We believe those goals are best served when school policies recognize both the importance of attendance and the legitimate role parents play in making decisions for their families.

Families should certainly be expected to use good judgment when scheduling travel during the academic year. Likewise, students should be expected to take responsibility for catching up on everything they miss.

But an occasional family trip should not have the power to unnecessarily damage a hardworking student's semester grade when that student is prepared to complete the required academic work.

We therefore respectfully ask the administration and governing leadership of Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel to review the current vacation-absence grading policy, meet with parent representatives, and adopt a more balanced policy that allows students with properly pre-arranged absences a reasonable opportunity to make up missed academic work.

We support attendance. We support accountability. We support academic rigor.

We also support fairness.

A student's grade should reflect what that student has learned and accomplished—not serve primarily as punishment for a family decision.

For these reasons, we respectfully request that Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel revise its current policy and establish a fair, clearly written process for pre-approved family absences and make-up work.

Petition Request
We, the undersigned, request that Pinecrest Academy Wesley Chapel revise its attendance and grading policy so that students participating in properly requested, pre-planned family absences are provided a reasonable opportunity to complete missed academic work for full credit rather than automatically receiving zeros solely because of the absence.

Parent/Guardian Name: ______________________________

Student Grade(s): ______________________________

Signature: ______________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________

Additional Comments: