HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Nearly half the students at a high school in Pennsylvania's capital city have been given suspension notices for missing too much class time.

Pennlive.com reports that officials at Harrisburg High School gave the notices to 500 students on Monday as part of a crackdown by the school's new principal. Officials say the students accumulated too many unexcused absences.

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

Principal Lisa Love says students often come to school but then skip class, instead loitering in hallways and other parts of the large school. She says she needed to do something "radical" to get students' attention.