Pennsylvania high school gives nearly 500 students suspension notices

(FOX NEWS) - More than 500 students at a Pennsylvania high school have been given suspension notices for skipping at least a week's worth of classes.

Officials at Harrisburg High School gave the notices to the students on Monday for accumulating too many unexcused absences. It's all part of a crackdown by the school's new principal, Fox 43 reported.

"Many parents send their child to school and think they're going to class," Principal Lisa Love told reporters on Wednesday. "I need to reach out because of the enormous number of students not going to class."

She said students often go to school but then skip class and are loitering in hallways and other parts of the large school. The principal said she needed to do something "radical" to get students' attention.

At least 100 students served one-day suspensions on Tuesday. School officials are working with parents of other students and many parents have provided documentation to explain the absences.