Family Trips/Non-School Educational Tours

Regulations of the state of Pennsylvania provide that, upon written request from the parents/guardians of the student involved, a student may be excused from school attendance to participate in an educational tour or trip not sponsored by the school when the trip is evaluated by the superintendent as educational, and if the adult supervision is acceptable to both the superintendent and the student’s parents/guardians.

The building principal has been designated by the superintendent to make the initial decision, based on the information provided.

In order to provide guidance to parents/guardians, the following procedure for non-school educational tours, trips, or college visits has been established:

•  The Educational Trip Request Form must be submitted to the principal a minimum of ten (10) school days prior to the trip (except in an emergency). Parents/Guardians will be notified in any case in which the request is denied. 
• Requests will be approved only if it can be determined that the trip, tour or college visit is of educational value to the student. 
• If more than one child in a family will be taking the trip/tour, a separate request for each child shall be made to each child's principal if the children attend separate schools. 
• No more than five (5) school days per student will be approved for educational trip/tour/college visit requests in any school year. (Special requests with unusual circumstances or exceptional opportunities for learning should be discussed personally with the building principal well in advance of the requested dates for absence.) 
• Unless there are unusual or emergency circumstances, such requests will NOT be approved for the first ten (10) school days of the year, during periods of standardized assessments, when a student has accumulated an excessive number of unexcused absences, or when a student is in academic jeopardy. Please consult the district website, school calendar, or contact your building principal for specific assessment dates. All schoolwork missed during the trip/tour must be made up at the initiation of the student immediately upon returning to school. Teachers are not expected to provide work prior to the trip. 
• Days that are not approved for an educational trip are unexcused and may therefore result in any or all of the following actions: 
• First legal notice
• School Attendance Improvement and Truancy plan (SAIP)
• Citation from district court 

Note: If the family trip combined with the total number of absences to date exceeds 10 days, you will be required to provide a doctor’s note for each subsequent absence.