Sick Days and Other No School Days

No school days, such as teacher workshops, holidays, and school breaks, along with sick days or snow days, can present logistical challenges for divorced parents. These days require thoughtful planning to ensure that children are well cared for and that both parents can manage their work and personal responsibilities effectively. Addressing these days in your parenting plan helps prevent last-minute conflicts and ensures a consistent approach to handling unexpected changes in your children’s schedules. Keep in mind that parents may have different feelings about these days.  Sometimes, a sick day or no school day causes challenges because it is seen as a difficult accommodation to make and is seen as a burden. Alternatively, parents may believe a no school day is an extra opportunity to have time with the children. Understanding each of your feelings up front could be helpful.

No School Days (Scheduled)

No school days often require adjustments to the regular parenting schedule. Including provisions for advance planning and notification of no school days in your parenting plan can help avoid conflict. Parents can agree to work together and determine parenting time for upcoming no school days at the beginning of each school term or as soon as the school calendar is available. This ensures both parents are aware of upcoming no school days and can make necessary arrangements.

There are a number of typical ways of dealing with no school days:

• Regular Parenting Schedule: Align no school days with the existing parenting time schedule. This approach simplifies planning by following the established routine but can lead to unfairness of one parent ends up with more no school days than the other.

Example: If a no school day falls on a Monday and the regular schedule has one parent responsible for Mondays, that parent will also handle the no school day.

• Alternate Arrangements: Specify alternate arrangements for no school days to ensure both parents share the responsibility in a predictable manner up front. This can involve alternating no school days or dividing them based on the overall parenting time distribution.

Example: One parent might handle no school days during the first half of the school year, while the other handles them in the second half.

Sick Days or Snow Days (Unscheduled)

Unlike no school days, sick days require immediate attention and flexibility, as they cannot be predicted in advance. It is important to remain flexible and have open communication when dealing with sick days. Parents may need to be willing to adjust their schedules and cooperate to ensure the child receives the necessary care.

Here are some of the more common ways for addressing sick days in your parenting plan:

• Primary Sick Day Parent: Designate a primary care parent responsible for handling sick days. This parent would be the first point of contact when a child falls ill and needs to stay home from school.  This arrangement can provide consistency and ensure that the child receives prompt care. It can also be convenient for schools to know that only one parent is the primary contact for these situations.

• On-Duty Parent Responsibility: Coverage of sick days falls with the scheduled on-duty parent. This can be a straightforward manner of dealing with sick days but can lead to imbalance if the child is sick more on one parent’s time.

Example: If the child falls ill during a parent’s Monday-Tuesday parenting time, that parent handles the sick days. If the child is still sick on Wednesday when parenting time has shifted to the other parent, then that parent takes over.

• ‍Alternating Responsibility: Create a plan for alternating responsibility for sick days. This can involve taking turns on a daily, weekly, monthly, or other agreed-upon basis. This can be a separate schedule distinct from regular parenting time.

Example: If the child falls ill during one parent’s scheduled “sick day” week, that parent handles the sick day. If the child is still sick the following week, the other on duty “sick day” parent takes over.

Include guidelines for informing the other parent about the child’s illness and any required medical attention is helpful in avoiding conflict around these challenging times. Be sure to consider backup plans for situations where the designated parent is unavailable due to work or other commitments. This can involve identifying trusted family members or caregivers who can step in as needed. Having a reliable backup plan ensures that the child’s needs are met even if both parents are unable to provide care. By thoughtfully incorporating provisions for no school days and sick days into your parenting plan, you can create a structured yet flexible approach that prioritizes your children’s well-being and minimizes potential conflicts.