"If your gut tells you, 'I don't want to put my kid on the road today,' absolutely – always, always do what your gut and your heart tells you," Roth said.

I feel for Roth. 

But when I chose to wait out an unforecasted Small Craft Advisory in Resurrection Bay one Sunday last fall (instead of motoring in under suicidal conditions, when nobody else was on the water), my school would not excuse the absence the next day. The ASD needs to stop being so committed to this newer draconian attendance policy and excuse parents who believe it to be too dangerous for the kids to get to school. We live here, we know the conditions, and ultimately we are responsible for our children's safety - so don't let unexcused absences.become a factor in our risk assessments. 

In my case, I took it up the chain and won, but it shouldn't have had to rise that far. How many parents chose to come in today because their local school administrators have been hard-asses in the past about parental judgement calls?