When Schools Punish Sick Children for Missing School Due to Chronic Illnesses
“My child has an IEP. She also has chronic medical problems, documented by three
specialists, and she has a health plan. Chronic health problems and medical appointments
caused her to miss many school days this year. She made up all her work and has no
incomplete assignments. Her grades are A’s and B’s.
The school told her that if she doesn’t make up the time she missed, she will not get
credit for these classes. Can they do that? She would gladly give up her sick days for
school days.”
The purpose of laws that require children to attend a certain number of school days is to
deter truancy. A law that is intended to deter truancy must include exemptions for
children who are not truant, but who have chronic illnesses or are injured. If she passed
the classes but the school refused to give her credit because she was ill and unable to
attend school, this appears to be a violation of of her rights under Section 504.
Call your State Department of Education. Ask about your state’s attendance requirements
and exemptions for children who have documented illnesses and health plans. Please let
us know what you learn.
“I spoke with the state department of education about the school’s punishment of my
child for truancy when she has a chronic illness. Because the chronic health issues are
noted in her IEP, and because her IEP states she will need special accommodations, her
absences are excused. The representative thought our district is jnot familiar with the
laws that protect students with chronic illnesses.
“The school told my son that he could not take a class off-campus because he had too
many excused absences. His absences related to diabetes. He goes to the school nurse
who monitors his blood sugar. What can we do? It seems that the school is denying him
the opportunity to participate in this class because he is diabetic.”
Does your child have an IEP or 504 Plan? If so, does the IEP or 504 Plan mention his
diabetes and describe strategies to deal with his illness?
Contact your state department of education and ask for all information about the rights of
children with chronic medical problems. See earlier comments about a child with chronic
illness and absences.
My daughter is on the autism spectrum. She also has Type 1 diabetes. She has an IEP and
a Health Plan. Does the Health Plan need to be in her IEP to be legally binding? In the
past, we have had trouble because the school didn’t follow the Health Plan. I want to
make sure that school staff are aware that they have to follow her Health Plan.
My child has a disease that causes severe bone, nerve, and muscle pain. This disease is
known to cause pain equal to that of the pain after surgery. We have been to several pain
specialists who say they have nothing left to try. No medication or treatment had helped.
An IEP was implemented for homebound service. Because she can’t concentrate when in
such pain, there are days when no school can be done. The school believes she just wants
to avoid school and ignores the doctors’ letters describing the severity of her pain. How
can we educate her? What can we do?