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Parent urges board to review school‑choice attendance rule after absences tied to child's medical condition
Summary
At public comment, parent Caroline Donald asked the board to reconsider how the district applies its school-choice attendance rules for students with medical conditions, citing long waits for pediatric gastroenterology and a two‑year denial communicated by school staff.
Caroline Donald told the Oak County School District Board on June 8 that her seven‑year‑old son Kaden has missed school repeatedly because of a gastrointestinal condition she referred to as IBS and associated ADHD challenges. Donald said she submitted medical documentation, including a physician’s note from Dr. Stewart and a 504 plan dated May 20, but was informed by school staff that Kaden did not meet attendance criteria required for renewal of school choice.
"I do not want to lose his team," Donald said, describing Ravvenel (the receiving school she selected) as a small school where Kaden has shown academic improvement. She told trustees she had appealed to Principal Joshua Harrison and that Vice Principal Sheridan Krauss told her an attendance intervention plan could lead to a two‑year denial of school choice.
Why it matters: Donald said the mechanics of the school‑choice attendance rule force some parents to send ill children to school to meet attendance counting rules, which she argued is harmful for medically vulnerable students. She also described difficulty obtaining specialist pediatric gastroenterology appointments—appointments she said are months away in Greenville and farther out in Columbia and Charlotte.
Board response: The Chair acknowledged Donald’s materials and said the board would share the information with Mr. Smith (the superintendent) and district leadership for follow up. No board action or policy change was made at the meeting.
Policy context: The board was simultaneously considering updates to JFAB and the accompanying rule JFAB‑R to align district transfer and school‑choice processes with recent state guidance. Staff told trustees that class‑capacity safeguards in the rule (a 90% class capacity threshold) would limit new transfers when schools are near capacity and that the district must have compliant language in place by August unless the state issues a model policy sooner.
Sources: Public comment from Caroline Donald and staff remarks during the JFAB policy discussion, Oak County School District Board of Trustees meeting, June 8, 2026.
