Compulsory Attendance Requirements
- Compulsory school age refers to the period of a child’s life from the time the child’s parents elect to have the child enter school, which shall not be later than the age of six (6) years, until the age of eighteen (18) years. The term shall not include any child who holds a certificate of graduation from a regularly accredited senior high school. Board Policy/Administrative Regulation 207 governs attendance in LMSD and should be reviewed for further details not contained in this summary document.
- A student will be considered in attendance if present at any place where school is in session by authority of the Board; the student is receiving approved tutorial instruction, or health or therapeutic services; the student is engaged in authorized school activities such as a field trip or competition; the student is engaged in an approved and properly supervised independent study, work-study or career education program; or the student is receiving approved homebound instruction.
- State law requires that all students be in school for 180 days each year during the hours and operations that school is in session. The Board of School Directors sets the calendar for these days.
- Pennsylvania School Code section 1330 states that a 16-year-old student who is regularly engaged in any useful and lawful employment or service during the time the public schools are in session, and who holds an employment certificate issued according to the law is exempt from compulsory attendance. A student who is 16 years of age or older to be exempt from compulsory education must be engaged in useful and lawful employment or service for 40 hours per week or more.