Tennessee School Stops Accepting Doctor's Notes For Absences To Teach Kids Work Ethic — 'We've All Gone To Work Sick'
Forcing children to go to school sick isn't "work ethic," it's abuse.
Suzi Media Production | Getty Images | Canva Pro It's no secret that America's school systems are crumbling before our eyes, and one Tennessee school district seems to think the problem lies in children who simply aren't tough enough to go to school with a fever.
That may sound absurd, but that's the approach the Lawrence County school district in the state has decided to take in order to combat what they say is a "chronic" problem with absenteeism. The policy has generated staggering outcry, because it is as dangerous as it is absurd.
The Tennessee school district will no longer accept doctors' notes for absences.
The new policy was announced at a Jun 26, 2025, school board meeting in which Director of Schools Michael Adkins called out the district's problems with excessive excused absences. Previously, it was the district's policy to excuse an absence so long as the student had a note from their doctor. Not anymore.
"We have high, chronic absenteeism because of excused absences," Adkins told The Tennessean. "This policy says, 'You're either at school or you're not. And if you're not, you're absent.' And we're not going to waive that with a doctor's note… You can bring all the doctor's notes you want, but it's still unexcused."
School officials say the policy will teach kids responsibility and work ethic.
The new policy, of course, endangers both kids' grades and safety. Imagine if this policy had been in place during the pandemic, for instance. But Adkins and his supporters say it's necessary not just to get the absenteeism problem under control but to teach kids responsibility.
“If you have the sniffles, that is fine," Adkins said during the meeting where the rule was announced. "You are going to have them when you go to work one day. We have all gone to work sick and hurt and beat up. As a society, we’re losing that sense of reliability, and opportunity begins at the schoolhouse."
That's certainly true. This is America, after all. But we aren't talking about a 35-year-old accountant, we're talking about children. We also just went through a global pandemic where rules like this would have gotten untold children killed.
Nevertheless, Adkins has stood by the rule. In a July 21 letter addressing the outcry, he explained that in the 2024-2025 academic year, the school district had more than 1,100 students who were chronically absent, missing at least 18 days of school. Parents, Adkins said, are often unaware that the problem has accumulated, and the new rule was meant to keep them on task before things spin out of control.
Parents are furious with the change, which also opens them up to legal liability for truancy.
To say the reception to Adkins' new rule has been irate would be an understatement. The absence problem is surely very real. Teachers all over the country have reported high absenteeism in recent years. But forcing children to school when sick hardly tackles the problem. In fact, it's likely to make it worse.
It is also likely to land parents in legal trouble for truancy. One parent posted about a child who missed nine days of school last year, all of them for serious and highly contagious illnesses like strep throat and influenza, which kills more than 200 kids each year. The post explained that Adkins' new policy would have landed that child's parents in truancy court as well as subjecting them to fines and a Department of Child Services investigation.
Danielle Lindberg | Facebook
Parents are so furious about the policy that some, like Chuck Braden, administrator of the Facebook Group "We're Not Truant! Parents Against the Absentee Policy!," are calling for school board members to be ousted if they will not listen to reason at an upcoming August meeting.
"We must be prepared to remove the board members if they will not hear us on Aug 21st," Braden wrote in a post. "We must not ask them to change the policy, we must demand it…. We should all begin researching what it would take to remove the board members in Lawrence County."
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
