Attendance

Parents are expected to call the office in the early morning to inform the school of their child’s absence.

Calling Procedure

You may leave a message on this line 24 hrs. a day/7 days a week

• Dial the Intermediate School phone number 610-775-5083
• Press "1" to report your child‘s absence
• You will then be asked to state the following
  • Your child’s first and last name
  • Grade
  • Homebase teacher
  • Your relationship to the child
  • Reason for the absence or tardiness
  • Date of the absence or tardiness.
• You may also wish to request homework at this time.

School begins at 8:45 a.m. Any student arriving after 8:45 a.m. must report directly to the office upon their arrival at
school and be signed in before proceeding to their homebase class. Repeated tardiness will result in disciplinary action and will be considered unlawful.

A student entering or leaving the school building for any special reasons during regular school hours is required to sign in/sign out in the office. A written request from the student’s parent or guardian stating the exact time and reason for leaving early or arriving late must be presented to the office. A parent or guardian is required to come into the school office to sign out their child. Please have photo ID with you for identification purposes.

Regular medical and dental care appointments should be scheduled so that they do not conflict with school hours. However, because we know this is not always possible, we require parental requests the day before or the morning of the appointment. Parents/Guardians must physically sign out the student in the office. Students are not permitted to leave the building without a parent or guardian. Please note: Any absence of this nature of 90 minutes or more will be counted as a half-day excused absence.

An excuse is needed for all absences. When a student is absent from school for less than three days, the district requires that a written excuse be given to their teacher upon their return to school. State law requires a written excuse within three days of an absence. 

Notes/excuses can also be emailed to:
jessica.bingaman@gmsd.org
The email must come from the parent/guardian email account.

All absences are recorded as unlawful until a note is received. The excuse should contain the following information:

• The date the note is written
• Student’s name
• Date(s) of absence
•  Reason for absence
• Parent/Guardian signature

When a student is absent for three or more consecutive days, a doctor’s note is required when the student returns to school. Please forward a doctor’s note to school within three days in order for an absence to be excused. Your physician may fax a note to the school; if so, please fax using your school’s fax number listed on page 1 of this document. If a doctor’s note is not received, the absence will remain unlawful. Please refer to Board Policy 204 for acceptable excuses, available online at bit.ly/BoardPolicy204.

Under Pennsylvania Law, students are allowed three days of unlawful absence before any legal action is taken by the school district. After the third day, the district is required to file a “First Notice of Unlawful Absence” which officially notifies the parent that subsequent unlawful absences could subject them to legal action and a possible fine. The examples below will be classified as unlawful:

Oversleeping and failing to arrive at school; missing the bus; running errands; getting haircuts; doing homework; babysitting younger children in the family; accompanying other family members to medical appointments; parent/guardian or other family members oversleeping/being ill; having car trouble; student being absent and no written excuse not by a parent/guardian was received within three days of the student’s absence; an excuse note was received, but no reason was stated for the absence; educational family trips (with no prior approval); early start for a weekend trip; absences for recreational activities (hunting, fishing, skiing, and other trips that are recreation oriented); failure to provide a doctor’s excuse, when required.

An accumulation of absences regardless of excuse could result in a violation of the compulsory attendance laws and result in a citation at the district justice level. Doctors’ notes may be required for all absences if a student is excessively absent from school. A letter will be sent home and doctor excuses will be required once a student misses ten days of school with a parent excuse notes.

A parental/guardian request for excused absence due to a pre-planned trip must be submitted to the building principal for consideration at least ten days prior to the date of the trip.
This form is available in any school office or the Education Center. This form can also be downloaded by clicking the button below.

DOWNLOAD THE PRE-PLANNED EDUCATIONAL TRIP FORM

The School District will approve trips up to a maximum of five (5) school days per student per school year. Any days beyond five (5) will be considered unlawful absences. Any planned trip during scheduled PSSA testing dates will not be excused.