#thisll be so embarrassing if op isnt american but im pretty sure its american

[occasionalincorrectquotes]

You know American school systems fucking suck because of this. I live in Malaysia (more British style school system) and I gotta say, this is insane.

Missing a day or skipping extracurriculars(clubs, uniformed units ect) don't do anything but put a bad number on your exam result slip. It's literally just "Attendance 189/191." Nothing is based off attendance, and you can even miss 4/5 days of the school week and still not be failed. If you don't have a doctor's note, your teacher will list you as "without reason" for missing school, but that's just on your track record, once you pass your exams with a 40% you'll pass your subject.

For the exam, you can get redos even without a doctor's note. Miss school because of some family event? Get your parent to write a note and sign it, that's it. Even without a note, teachers will provide you a redo within a week of the exam. Even if you don't get to do your redo, nothing happens, you don't get pulled back a grade (unless you're standard 6 going to form 1) or anything. Maybe you'll be put in the less achieving classes, but that's so you'll be put next to people on the same level as you so teachers can work better with a clearer understanding of where you're at in terms of that subject in particular.

I had a classmate who missed about half the year of school because of respiratory complications, the school offered financial help (well, they asked the students to donate money, but at least in good intention) and did not punish him whatsoever (because that's fucking insane)

By the time he returned, we were already nearing our syllabus' end, but he pulled through with good results because the scoring isn't based off attendance, it's based off 1 exam you do.

When I say “school should be disability accessible”, I don’t just mean we need handicap rails and EAs. Kids should be able to miss a day without failing out of school. You shouldn’t be dismissed from clubs because your attendance record is “spotty” (true story). I once missed an entire week of school because of a terrible, unending migraine. I was expected to keep up with my studies despite the blinding pain that came with working on my computer. When I heard my teachers say that you couldn’t miss exams, I asked what I would have to do to be excused from them. Their response? “Either get a doctor’s note an hour before the exam or death of an immediate family member.”

I cannot express how rigid this expectation was. First of all, with my condition, I wouldn’t have enough warning about my sickness to go to the doctor and request a note. For many people, this is exceptionally difficult, especially with the current shortage of medical professionals. Next, it ignores the fact that my schedule may not line with theirs because of my medical needs. Once, I had to visit a hospital a province away (which I was on the waiting list of for over a year) on the same day as an exam. I begged my mother not to take me because I was so nervous that I would be marked as an automatic fail. I was lucky enough to make it work, but that’s only because of my spectacular support system consisting of family members and wonderful doctors.

Disabilities aren’t always about needing a bus that can accommodate wheelchairs. It’s already difficult enough for many of us to maintain school attendance without the harsh punishments involved for skipping a day. We need to be able to miss school without being punished. Only than can you claim that the school is “accessible”