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Board hears plans to curb chronic absenteeism, emphasizes incentives and data tracking
Summary
District presenters framed attendance as a top priority in the Future Ready Comprehensive Plan, defining chronic absenteeism (missing more than 18 days in a 180-day year), explaining excused/unexcused rules and parent-note limits, and outlining building-level incentives and expanded tracking for cyber students.
The McGuffey Area School Board heard a detailed presentation on student attendance on Nov. 20 as the district rolled out the first of four priority challenges in its Future Ready Comprehensive Plan.
Dr. Dan Gautran, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, and Kelly Painter, the district's attendance officer and transition coordinator, told the board that chronic absenteeism is counted when a student misses more than 18 days in a 180-day school year — "10 percent, more than 10% of the school year," Gautran said — and that the category includes excused and unexcused absences for reporting purposes.
The presenters distinguished chronic absenteeism from truancy, which applies to unexcused absences and triggers formal truancy proceedings after a student accumulates three or more unexcused days. Painter explained the district's absence classifications: parents may submit up to 10 parent-excuse notes per school year (counted by date), doctor-verified medical absences are not limited, and court or legal documentation and approved educational trips are recorded in their own categories.
Painter described a mix of disciplinary and positive approaches used locally: letters, phone calls and magistrate referrals when required, paired with incentives and recognition programs. "We started with doing a king or queen or superhero for a day at the elementary," Painter said, and principals are now coordinating building-wide incentives, including donated events and prizes for students with improved attendance.
Board members pressed presenters on how cyber (remote) students are included in the district's reporting. Gautran and Painter said cyber students are attributed to the building they would otherwise attend for reporting and that an online attendance form ("I am present today") is required; if a student submits work but fails to sign the attendance form they remain absent for that day in district records. The presenters agreed to add cyber-specific tracking to semester reports so the board can identify how many remote learners are on track to be chronically absent.
Presenters also noted a reporting lag from the state: Pennsylvania's Department of Education provides final attendance-reported numbers on a full-year delay, so 2023-24 figures only recently arrived and district targets are set with that lag in mind. Gautran said the three-year targets in the plan will be revisited and adjusted as new state data arrive.
The board did not take formal action on attendance policy at the meeting; presenters asked the board to continue focusing on data-driven, building-level solutions and to support efforts to refine incentives and communication with families.
