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The Department of Education would be required to track and publicly report truancy rates in schools while offering schools assistance to get kids to show up for class under legislation introduced in the state Senate last week.
The federal government estimated that 23% of students in Pennsylvania were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year, the most recent data available.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 18 or more days of school, excused or unexcused. Pennsylvania is far from alone in struggling with an increased number of truant students. While the state is seeing more truancy than it has in the past, most states are dealing with more serious truancy problems. Only seven states had lower rates of chronically absent students -- Idaho, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Louisiana, Missouri and North Dakota, according to the federal data.
Senate Bill 984 would also set new rules for cyber school teachers to check to ensure that students are actively engaged in class and would bar students identified as being truant from transferring from a traditional public school to a cyber school unless a judge approves the transfer.
The Department of Education's Future Ready Index defines regular attendance as being present at school more than half of the time. The data used for that index is based on the 2022-23 school year -- three school years ago.
Eleven schools -- all charter schools, cyber charter schools or career and vocational schools -- had less than 20% of their students regularly attending school in 2022-23. More than 2,300 schools had more than 90% of their students regularly attending class that year.
Of the more than 2,900 schools listed, 170 had less than 50% of their students regularly attending class.
The legislation, prime-sponsored by Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Bucks, was referred to the Education Committee.
The legislation comes as state officials say attendance rates have not recovered after dropping precipitously during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"With the new school year starting, we need to increase accountability of parents, students, and schools; coordinate supports for students; and provide additional tools for the courts in the truancy process," said Pennycuick. "To emphasize the responsibility for regular school attendance to parents and students, my legislation will reform the mid-year transfers for truant students from school districts to cyber schools. In addition, it will require cyber charter schools to share real-time attendance and academic data with the sending school district. All students will follow the same uniform truancy process."
Pennycuick said the Department of Education would be required to compile truancy data from schools and to publish the information online on a quarterly basis. The department will also be tasked with promoting intervention services to help connect families with assistance as they try to get their children to class.
The legislation would also allow for truancy cases to carry over from one school year to the next so school officials can respond before students begin missing school days.
"Truancy is not just a legal issue, it's an educational crisis with long-term consequences for student achievement, family well-being, and community safety," noted Pennycuick.