Attendance Information

The school district cooperates with parents in implementing its School Absence Procedure. Under Act 29, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all district parents, students and community members should be aware that there are monetary fines levied on the parents of school-age children who have unlawful absences from school. Under the Compulsory School Attendance Laws, three (3) unexcused absences per year, per student, are permitted, but the district must file a citation with a district magistrate against the parents of any student for the fourth (4th) and all subsequent offenses, with penalties of up to $300 per unlawful absence. Once cited for unlawful absences, at the magistrate's discretion, the offending student may have his or her driver's license suspended. If the student is under the age of 16, the magistrate may delay the student's ability to apply for a driver's license.

Parents are asked to enter absences or call the school as soon as the absence is known. Parents also are encouraged to enter a late arrival in Skyward Family Access and/or call and leave a message if your child will be tardy. 

• Excused Absences: Sickness, impassable roads, quarantine, death in the immediate family, approved educational trips or weather so inclement as to endanger the health or welfare of a child.*
• Unexcused Absences: Under Pennsylvania School Law, an unlawful absence refers to circumstances such as parental neglect, illegal employment or truancy of a student of compulsory attendance age.
• Tardiness: Students are considered tardy if they are not at their assigned "student stations" when the bell rings. Principals may assign students after-school detention to make up for such tardiness. Students who are excessively tardy without valid excuses may be suspended. If you know your child will be tardy due to a medical or dental appointment, please call the automated attendance operator to report it.

*Educational Trips & Tours may not be entered through the Attendance/Absence option of Skyward Family Access Center. An Educational Trip and/or Tour Form MUST be completed and submitted to the school principal in addition to any information that is entered into Skyward Family Access Center. 

Please Note: A certificate of recovery from a physician is necessary for readmission to school when a student has been absent because of infectious diseases such as: measles, whooping cough, respiratory infections, scarlet fever, impetigo, scabies, and ringworm.

Students absent for five (5) or more consecutive days should have a certificate from a physician. Students who miss more than ten (10) school days per year may be required to have a physician's certificate for each absence thereafter.

The parent or guardian is legally responsible for a student to attend school. School is a requirement for students ages 6-18. 

Truancy means having three or more unexcused absences in the current school year, and habitual truancy means six or more absenses. These absenses do not need to be in a row. 

Per District policy:

Compulsory school age shall mean the period of a child's life from the time the child's person in parental relation elects to have the child enter school, and which shall be no later than six (6) years of age until the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age. The term does not include a child who holds a certificate of graduation from a regularly accredited, licensed, registered or approved high school.

Habitually truant shall mean six (6) or more school days of unexcused absences during the current school year by a child subject to compulsory school attendance.

Truant shall mean having incurred three (3) or more school days of unexcused absences during the current school year by a child subject to compulsory school attendance.

View the complete Board Policy 204 Attendance here.

Once your child is considered truant, the school must send you a written notice within 10 days of your child’s third unexcused absence. Your child’s school must hold a “school attendance improvement conference” to discuss the reasons for your child’s absences and create a Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) to address and remove attendance barriers.