Parents are asked to inform the school each time that their student will be absent. Please call your student’s school between 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. to place a message on the answering machine. Your message should include the following information:

Numbers to call for each school:

If you do not call, the school will notify you. You must keep in mind that such calls will not be made until after morning attendance is taken and the answering machine messages have been reviewed. This program operates so we know every student who left for school in the morning arrived at school safely. 

 

After you have called the school to report your student as absent for the day you must drop off a paper note to the office or submit an electronic absence note. To submit your note online, follow these steps.

This policy outlines procedures for students to extend the learning experience begun in the classroom, develop judgment and self-reliance in the conduct of their own learning experience, and relate the school world to the world of work. Specific procedures and requirements address students participating in experiences outside the school and beyond the school day to include participation in the Capital Area School for the Arts.

Doors are opened to elementary students at approximately 8:30 a.m. Middle School and High School students should enter after 7:25 a.m. unless prior arrangements have been made with staff and/or when participating in the school breakfast program. Prior to these designated times, teachers are not responsible for students, as they are busy preparing for the day. Parents should not drop off students before doors are opened.

 

There are times when students will be late arriving at school due to an appointment. Please let us know about these appointments via a note or phone call a day prior to the appointment. Upon returning to school, a note from the appointment is required. All students arriving late for school should report to the office, accompanied by parent or guardian, for an admittance slip to class and to be sure they are included in the lunch count. 

 

If a student must be excused from school prior to the end of the school day, a note from the parent should be presented to the office before school begins. It is understood that early dismissals should seldom be requested and should be restricted to circumstances that are otherwise unavoidable. All work missed due to the dismissal must be completed. A student leaving school property must check at the office before departing and an excuse from the physician/dentist must be submitted to the office upon the student’s return. 

 

Students will not be released to the custody of a person other than the parent or guardian unless written permission is granted by the parent. Permission for an early dismissal will generally not be granted in order for a student to attend counseling, tutoring, or private instructional lessons. 

Any student being picked up from school must bring a note from home designating specifically that he/she will be picked up on a regular basis or on a specific day. Homeroom teachers will forward the note to the office to ensure the student is sent to the proper location. All parents picking up a student must follow the school’s dismissal procedures. 

 

Any student who reports to a teacher or the office that he/she will be picked up after school and has not brought a note from a parent will be sent home via their regular form of transportation. We understand there are cases of emergencies. However, we ask parents not make a habit of calling the office to arrange pick-ups, due to the possibility of oversights. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Any changes in afternoon dismissal arrangements must be communicated to the office no later than 30 minutes before the end of the school day.

 

High School students entering the building after 7:37 a.m. or leaving the school building before 2:45 p.m. must utilize the Swipe Kiosk system located in the front office. Students will swipe in and out at the kiosk with their school issued I.D. Card. This includes students who regularly arrive late and/or leave school early for open campus, co-op, pathway internships, part-time ExCEL Virtual Learning Academy, etc. Additional kiosk stations may be added during the school year and at which time may also be utilized. 

 

It is preferred that dental and medical appointments be scheduled during non-school hours; however, if a medical or dental appointment must be made during the school day, a note requesting that the student be excused from school should be presented by the parent. This note should be in the teacher’s hands one day before the appointment. Building principals may require parents/guardians to submit written verification from the doctor’s office that the appointment was kept. Failure to do so within three days may result in the absence being considered unlawful.

 

Photocopies of notes will not be accepted; an original must be submitted to the school. An electronic signature or other authorized facsimile signature directly from the physician’s, physician assistant’s, or nurse practitioner’s office is acceptable. Parents are asked to refrain from making appointments during testing periods.

Students shall not leave the school premises without consent of the administration. Students who willfully leave the school campus during the regular school hours will be disciplined accordingly.

The school law of Pennsylvania requires the regular attendance of all students from six to 18 years of age. It is not mandatory for a parent to enroll their student in kindergarten. However, once a student is enrolled and has begun classes, they must follow the same attendance guidelines as all other students. 

 

The following reasons constitute a legal absence: illness of the student, death in the immediate family, exceptionally urgent reasons affecting the student as determined by the administration, impassable roads as determined by the administration, and educational trip experiences pre-approved by the parent and principal. With prior approval, a maximum of two days in any given school year during a student’s freshman and sophomore years and a maximum of six cumulative days over the junior and senior years will be excused for college visitations. All other absences are considered unlawful.

 

Upon returning to school following an absence, the student shall bring a note signed by the parent or guardian giving the date of the absence and the reason for the absence. Absence excuses and doctor’s notes may also be submitted electronically. Visit the school website for a link to the Electronic Absence Submission form.

 

If an excuse is not furnished within three days after the absence, the building secretary will record the absence as unlawful. After a student has been unlawfully absent for a total of three days during the school year, they are considered truant and an official notice of absence will be mailed to the parents. 

 

A student having six or more unlawful absences during the school year is considered habitually truant under definitions set forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Parents who fail to comply with the provisions of the compulsory attendance law may be taken to court and upon summary conviction thereof, be required to pay a fine plus court costs.

 

In the case of excused absences, the student will be expected to make up assignments or tests that may have been missed and for this purpose will be granted a period of time equal to the length of the absence. As a general policy, students with unexcused/unlawful absences will not be permitted make-up privileges; however, the building principal may give consideration to extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control. Accumulated tardiness to school and classes, as well as class cuts, are considered unlawful absence time.

 

Elementary students need to be in attendance prior to 10:45 a.m. in order to be considered present for the morning session. Students who arrive after this time will be considered absent for one-half day. Students who arrive after 1:30 p.m. will be considered absent for the entire day. Students who have early dismissals need to be in attendance until 10:45 a.m. in order to be considered present for the morning session. They will also need to be in attendance until 1:30 p.m. in order to be considered present for the afternoon session. 

 

Secondary students who arrive late to school but before 9:37 a.m. will be marked as tardy, and students arriving after 9:37 a.m. will be marked absent one-half day (morning). If a student leaves school before 12:45 p.m., he or she will be marked absent one-half day (afternoon). Students arriving after 12:45 p.m. will be marked absent for the full day. Students who wish to participate in an athletic event must arrive to school by 11:00 a.m. that day.

 

Attendance information is detailed in Board Policy 204. A copy of that policy may be obtained on the District website.

 

Penalties for violation of compulsory attendance requirements are set forth in Public School Code and are: 

 

“Every parent, guardian or person in parental control or charge of any student or students of compulsory school age who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this act regarding compulsory attendance shall, on summary conviction by the local District Magistrate, be sentenced to pay a fine, not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) for the first offense, five hundred dollars ($500) for the second and seven hundred fifty ($750) for the third and subsequent offenses. Parents in default of the payment of such be sentenced to the county jail, perform community service, or any combination thereof.”

 

It may be necessary to present an original written statement or doctor’s certificate from an attending physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner to the office for three or more consecutive days of absence. Such certification must be presented to the school within three days of the student’s return and shall indicate that the student was seen by the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner; indicate the date of the visit; and include the date the student may return to school. Such certification may be required for every absence if/when a student’s absences exceed ten percent of the number of days school has been in session. 

 

Failure to present validation may result in the day(s) being declared unlawful. An electronic signature or other authorized facsimile signature directly from the physician’s, physician assistant’s, or nurse practitioner’s office is acceptable. The building principal has the discretion to review each student’s absences and base his/her decision on the student’s attendance history.

Truancy is the unlawful absence of compulsory age students from when they begin school or from six to 18 years of age. It is not mandatory for a parent to enroll their student in kindergarten. However, once a student begins kindergarten, he/she will fall under the attendance rules of all other students. 

 

The Pennsylvania School Code mandates that when a student reaches three unlawful absences, they be deemed truant. It is then the responsibility of the school where the student attends to send an official notice to the parent or legal guardian outlining the days of unlawful absences. 

 

The official notice will outline the penalties which may be imposed by the District Magistrate if there are more unlawful absences. After three unlawful absences, a school administrator or counselor must also schedule an Attendance Improvement Conference with the student and parent or legal guardian to discuss why the student is missing school and a course of action if absences continue to occur.

 

A high school student planning to withdraw from school should discuss the matter with a counselor so the implications of this decision can be carefully reviewed. If a decision to withdraw is ultimately made, the counselor or principal, in consultation with the student’s parent, will issue detailed instructions concerning the procedure for withdrawal. It is mandatory for all students who withdraw from school to pay any outstanding financial obligations to the District and return school materials.

The Board recognizes the value of educational trips which enhance and enrich the school experience for the students of this School District. Therefore, students may be allowed to be absent from school during the designated school year for such educational trips/experiences at the expense of the parents or guardians provided that parents/guardians submit the appropriate form (available in school offices and on the Parents tab of the District website) no less than five school days in advance of the proposed trip.