Parents must lie or kids pay the price for historical visits

I took my daughter to New York for her 16th birthday. I planned it over Conejo Valley Unified School District's four-day Presidents Day weekend to minimize the days of school she would miss. I called the Thousand Oaks High attendance line on Feb. 12 to report her absent for Feb. 13 and 14.

In New York we saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the New York courts and a Broadway show. It was a fantastic learning experience.

According to the T.O. High School office, it was truancy, one for each period she missed for two days. The new CVUSD policy is that any family vacation is considered an unexcused absence, for which there's only one CVUSD code--truant.

Truant is defined as being "absent without permission." At what point did the CVUSD become the only entity capable of giving my student permission to be absent? At what point did we surrender our rights as parents to decide?

With 12 truancies on her record, my daughter is now ineligible for an off-campus pass. Despite her excellent grades and citizenship and the fact that she's not missed school for a family trip in years, she is considered a truant. After years of honors and AP classes, her record now reflects a different type of student.

I realize these are trying times financially for the school district, and this new policy is clearly intended to cut down on lost revenue due to students not in their seats.

But at what price?

The district claims to educate with core character traits such as honesty and integrity, but this new policy clearly forces parents and students to do what I should have done in the first place.

In fact, I should have done exactly what my CVUSD student told me to do: I should have lied and reported that she was sick. Dia Marik Thousand Oaks