Lehighton Area School District is taking a closer look at teacher absences and the strain they place on a substitute pool that administrators say remains limited.

The discussion unfolded at Tuesday’s workshop meeting, where officials shared early-year attendance data and concerns about day-to-day staffing.

The district has logged 336 teacher sick days so far this school year. Administrators noted the year is only about one-quarter complete, and they highlighted the uneven distribution of missed days.

“Ninety of them are on Monday, and 74.5 of them are on Friday,” Superintendent Jason Moser said.

Personal leave was separated from the sick-day totals. Officials emphasized that those days are not viewed as problematic.

“Personal days are personal days,” Moser said. “There’s no question of abuse in personal days. They are contractual.”

While the number of absences drew attention, substitute availability became an equally pressing topic. The district currently has “roughly 12” substitutes on its list, a figure that has prompted questions about whether it’s enough to cover surges.

Conversation then moved to how current leave rules may force teachers to use full-day absences even when they require only part of the day.

Teachers frequently approach administrators with schedule conflicts such as, “I have an appointment at 11:30,” Moser said, making it difficult to classify the absence under existing guidelines. Because the district does not permit partial-day leave, even an absence that spans only late morning and early afternoon must be marked as a full day.

Other districts, he added, have benefited from more flexible leave options.

“Allowing staff to use quarter-day increments reduces the number of full-day absences and lightens the load on substitute coverage,” Moser said. “In previous settings, this was a win because schools often have to find coverage for one or two periods of the teacher’s schedule, as opposed to six or seven.”

Parents at the meeting described how these gaps can reach students directly. Autumn Abelovsky said her daughter reached out during a school day to share how many classes lacked a teacher.

“She said, ‘Mom, I have study hall fifth, sixth, seventh,’ ” Abelovsky recalled.

Moser said the data shared with the board is intended to support planning and transparency as the school year unfolds. Additional reports will be forthcoming.

“We wanted to get out to provide the information,” he said.