Attendance/Truancy

All excuse notes must be submitted to the building attendance secretary within three (3) days of the student returning to school. 

• Excuse notes must list the student's full name and briefly explain the reason for the student's absences. Excuse notes can be sent in using one of the following methods:
  • Email:  SHSDELEMattendance@shsd.k12.pa.us, for grades K-6, or SHSDJRSRAttendance@shsd.k12.pa.us, for grades 7-12. 
  • Paper: Handwritten notes can be sent in or given to the building front office. 
  • Text: Respond to the daily attendance text message that is sent from the district. 
• Note: To ensure absences are properly recorded, please note that handwritten excuse notes sent in with students or given directly to teachers may not always reach the school office. While teachers do their best to forward notes, this method is not a guaranteed way to excuse an absence. For this reason, we strongly encourage families to submit excuse notes via email, text, or directly to the school office.
• To excuse an absence, the following conditions or situations are considered are accepted: 
  • Illness, obtaining professional healthcare or therapy related services, quarantine, family emergency, recovery from an accident, required court attendance, and a death in the family. Please see board policy for additional acceptable conditions.

Board Policy 204 Attendance

Parents/Guardians can write ten (10) days of excuse notes for their student for the entire school year. 

• Once a parent/guardian uses all ten (10) excuse notes, they no longer have the ability to write parent notes. A health care provider note must be submitted for any additional absences.
• Three (3) or more consecutive days of sick absences will require an excuse note from a health care provider.

Health Care Provider notes must be submitted to the building attendance secretary within 3 days of the student returning to school.

• Excuse notes must list specific dates the student is to be excused from school.
• Note: Even if your child has a documented medical condition, you are still required to submit a health care provider note every time your student is absent. 

Educational Trip

• Educational Trips are approved by the building Principal of a maximum of five (5) school days for the entire school year.
• Educational Trip forms must be submitted seven (7) days in advance of the trip.
• The trip must be educationally sound. 
• The trip must not be detrimental to the student's progress or success in school.
• The trip may not take place during the last two (2) weeks of school, unless an emergency exists.
• Click here to download the educational trip form: Educational Trip Form

Illegal absences are any unexcused absence for students under 18 years of age.

• If an excuse note is not in writing and submitted to the building attendance secretary within three (3) days of the student returning to school, the excuse will be marked as Illegal.
• Examples of illegal absences may include oversleeping, missing the bus, or taking a trip without prior approval.

School runs from 8:00 am to 2:50 pm. Students are considered tardy at 8:16 am. 

• In order for a tardy or early dismissal to be marked as excused, a parent must submit a written excuse within 3 days of the student returning to school. 
• Note: Oversleeping or missing the bus does not count as an excused tardy. 
• Parents/Guardians should report to the front office and present identification to pick up a student for early dismissal. 

Attendance Notifications

• A letter from the school district will be sent to you when your student has accrued three (3) days of unexcused absences and ten (10) days of total absences. 
• For a detailed listing of illegal absences, excused absences and the dates of absences, please login to your PowerSchool parent portal.
• Parents/Guardians should also receive a Robotext when their student is absent. If you are not receiving these text messages, please call the Department of Student Services at 717-704-3800 ext. 3862. 

To set up access to the PowerSchool Parent Portal, please follow the directions outlined here: PowerSchool Parent/Student Logon Instructions

Student Attendance Improvement Conference (SAIC)

• Once a student has six (6) or more illegal/unlawful absences a SAIC may be scheduled. The attendance officer, a school counselor, parent/guardian and student are all invited to the meeting. This meeting will still be held if the parent or student is not in attendance. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the student’s attendance and any other concerns, offer available supports, and to write a plan, Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) to improve the student’s attendance.
• The SAIP includes the attendance goals that must be met to show an improvement in attendance and a decrease in truancy. The goal of these meetings is to avoid the next step in the process which is truancy court. 

Truancy Court

When a student has not met the goal outlined in the Student Attendance Improvement Plan or accrues ten (10) or more unlawful absences, a truancy citation may be filed. 

• If a petition is filed, a hearing will be scheduled, and consequences are at the discretion of the District Justice.
• Consequences may include being fined:
  • Up to $300 per offense, with court costs, for the first offense.
  • Up to $500 per offense, with court costs, for the second offense.
  • Up to $750 per offense, with court costs, for a third and any and all.

Attendance for full-time Roller Cyber Academy students is recorded weekly and requires logging into the platform and working for at least 120 minutes (2 hours) each school day and until ALL course weekly steps are completed. We recognize that some students may not need to be logged in for 120 minutes daily due to their courseload. As long as the RCA student logs in Monday-Friday and meets their weekly step goals in each course, they will meet the attendance requirements. If a student fails to meet the weekly step completion requirement without an excuse from their parent or guardian, they will receive a full day unexcused absence per course where the weekly step goal was not met for the week. 

• RCA students should follow the same process for submitting excuse notes as listed under Excused Absences. 
• RCA students will receive the same attendance communications from the district as they would if they were attending school in person. 
• RCA students are not expected to attend school remotely on days when the building is closed due to inclement weather or holidays. However, RCA students can use this time to complete missing work. 
• Note: Students in the Roller Cyber Academy are still held to Pennsylvania Attendance Laws. 

Beginning December 12, 2025, new Pennsylvania law (Act 47 of 2025) changes the rules for students who are habitually truant and wishing to transfer to a cyber charter school:

Transfer to a Cyber Charter School
A child who is habitually truant is prohibited from transferring during the school year to a cyber charter school unless a judge determines that the transfer is in the best interest of the child. (24 P.S. § 13-1333(c.1)) This law applies to habitually truant students transferring from any school to a cyber charter school, not only students transferring from brick-and-mortar schools.

What does “habitually truant” mean?
A child is habitually truant if they are subject to compulsory school attendance and have incurred six or more school days of unexcused absences during the current school year. A conviction for violating compulsory attendance laws is not necessary for a child to be habitually truant.

What does this mean for families and schools?
If you attempt to enroll your student in a cyber charter school such as, CCA or Reach Cyber Charter, they will send the district a request for their records. When we receive this request, we will review their attendance records. If the student has accrued 6 or more illegal absences, we will relay this information to the cyber charter school to advise them that they should be denying the enrollment. The student will remain enrolled in our district and be expected to attend. 

If you are in need of resources related to compliant compulsory school attendance, please contact your student’s school counselor. 

If you have questions regarding this change, please contact Dr. Samantha Neidlinger, Director of Student Services at SNeidlinger@shsd.k12.pa.us.