School administrators and teachers are often implicated, when the topic of dropouts and low graduation rates arises, for their alleged failure to make schools effectively engaging for students and their families. However, this may be simplifying a situation that is comprised of many complexities. Even an amply inspiring school program may not succeed when a family has logistical, psychological, health, and emotional factors pulling a child in the opposite direction. Multiple student absences from school characteristically precede failure to graduate--and these absences do not typically begin in secondary school. Parents usually attribute school absences to illness. There are reasons to believe that chronic illnesses are not a primary driver of poor attendance problems and certainly not a major factor in the dropout crisis. This article describes the thinking behind why some students have multiple sick-days during school-age years, the frustration it induces in educators, and how schools can best address the problem of illness-related absences and ensure that sick days don't lead to school failure. (Contains 7 resources.)