Pennsylvania Senator Tracy Pennycuick (R-24) has introduced Senate Bill 984, a measure aimed at tackling the growing issue of school truancy and chronic absenteeism in the state. The legislation comes as attendance rates have dropped from 85% in the 2018-19 academic year to 78.1% in 2023-24, with some districts reporting even lower numbers.
“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, regardless of whether they attend school in person or virtually.”
The proposed bill mandates that the Department of Education monitor and make public truancy statistics while encouraging early intervention programs designed to link families with local support services. These interventions are intended to help families develop routines that encourage consistent student attendance.
Support measures for at-risk students are also included in Senate Bill 984. The Departments of Education and Human Services would be tasked with creating protocols to identify those likely to become chronically absent before patterns are established.
The legislation also seeks changes in how cases involving truant students are handled by allowing them to continue into subsequent school years so that student progress can be tracked over time. Habitual truancy could be classified as a third-degree misdemeanor under this bill, enabling involvement from courts, probation officers, and Children and Youth Services (CYS) when addressing ongoing absenteeism.
