There are one hundred and eighty days in a school year: that’s one hundred and eighty chances. Chances to be late, chances to be sick, fake being sick or chances to outright skip your classes. In Virginia, five or more days of unexcused absences is considered a problem, and is labeled as truancy.
As much as missing a few days of school may not seem like a big deal, the School Board has decided that it has become one. Any chronically truant student over the age of 14 can be sentenced to a Juvenile Detention center for as much as ten days per day missed. Therefore, if you skipped two weeks of school to hang around with friends, you could possibly be looking at 140 days spent in Juvenile Detention.
Additional information about truancy at Harrisonburg High School can be found in brochures in the guidance office, or by talking to an administrator.