The Attendance Setup screen is used to set up the attendance codes for the school, assign substitute teachers to sections so that they can take attendance, override Class Daily Hours for specific sections (post-secondary), set up rules to automatically assign discipline referrals with detentions to students who have a certain number of tardies, set up rules to send communication based on the number of instances of an attendance code, recalculate daily attendance, recalculate attended hours (post-secondary), set up reason codes for use on the Late Check In/Early Release report, and recalculate attendance minutes.
The Attendance Codes tab is used to set up the attendance codes used by teachers and office staff to take attendance.
Attendance codes are set up per school. Before the school year has begun, you can set up the attendance codes in one school and use the Copy School feature to copy the codes to other schools. If the school year has begun, you should not use the Copy School feature to copy attendance codes, as there has already been attendance associated with students.
1. In the Attendance menu, click Attendance Setup.
The Codes tab and the Attendance sub-tab are automatically displayed. Any existing attendance codes set up for the school are listed in the table.
2. To add a new attendance code, enter the Title in the blank row at the bottom of the table.
3. Enter the Short Name.
The Short Name must be unique.
4. Enter a Sort Order.
This determines where the attendance code appears in lists for selection. Most commonly used codes, such as Present, should be at the top of the list.
5. Select the Type, which determines who can use this attendance code. The options are Office Only (only administrators) and Teacher & Office (both teachers and administrators).
6. Select the Color for the attendance code, if desired.
The color will display on the Attendance Chart, Absence Summary, and Take Attendance screen for the code.
7. Select the State Code to designate that the attendance code is Present, Absent, or Half in accordance with state definitions.
8. Select Default for Teacher if the attendance code will be auto-filled when teachers take attendance.
This means this code will be auto-filled for each student for the period on the teacher's Take Attendance screen. The teacher can change the code for each student as needed. Once the teacher submits the attendance, the default attendance code or the code the teacher entered for each student is saved.
Do not select "Default for Teacher" for an attendance code that is "Office Only."
9. Select Excused, Tardy, or Discipline check boxes to indicate the attendance code is excused, tardy, or a discipline code (e.g. Suspended, In School Suspension).
Attendance codes marked as "Discipline" are available for selection in the Attendance Code field in the Action logging field on discipline referrals. Discipline attendance codes may also be used for state reporting.
10. Select Sub to allow substitute teachers to use this code when taking attendance for their assigned sections.
11. Select Not in Class for the attendance code to indicate the student is present but is not physically in class. This might be used for remote students, students on field trips, etc.
The Not in Class option is only available for selection for attendance codes with "Present" selected as the State Code.
For Texas districts, the "Denies Credit" column is available for selection for absence codes. Absence codes with "Denies Credit" enabled will not be counted in the Absences by Course and Student report in the totals for Periods Excused, Periods Unexcused, Periods Absent, and Percent of Days Absent columns.
12. Press Enter to add the row.
The row will turn yellow to indicate a change has been made.
13. Click Save.
If a code is changed after the school year has begun, you must recalculate attendance for prior days to correct attendance. Changes to attendance codes after the school year has begun are not encouraged.
1. Click the Codes tab and Attendance sub-tab, if not already opened.
2. Click the field and make the edit.
The field will turn yellow to indicate a change has been made.
3. Click Save.
1. Click the Codes tab and Attendance sub-tab, if not already opened.
2. Click the red minus sign to the left of the attendance code.
3. In the confirmation message, click OK.
The row will be grayed-out.
4. Click Save.
In order for substitute teachers to take attendance, the substitute must be assigned to sections. Sections can be mass added to the substitute or assigned one at a time. Substitute teachers must have the Teacher profile in order to be assigned sections for attendance. Substitute teachers can take attendance for their assigned sections in Attendance > Sub Take Attendance during the assigned timeframe. Substitute teachers can only use the attendance codes that have the "Sub" check box selected in the Codes tab.
Substitute teachers can also be assigned to sections in Courses & Sections. Records that have been added, modified, or deleted in the Subs tab in Courses & Sections will be reflected in Attendance > Attendance Setup > Subs, and vice versa.
1. Click the Subs tab.
2. To mass add sections to the substitute, select the Substitute at the top of the screen in the Mass Add Subs section.
In order for a substitute teacher to appear in this list, the substitute teacher must have the teacher profile assigned. Note: Substitute teachers can be selected for any schools when you clear the selected Schools from the corresponding pull-down via Users > User Info > Permissions tab.
3. Select the Sections to assign to the substitute teacher. One or multiple can be selected.
4. Select the Timeframe the substitute will be assigned to the section.
5. Click Mass Add.
The assignments are added to the table at the bottom of the screen.
6. To assign one section to the substitute, select the Substitute in the blank row of the table at the bottom of the screen.
7. Select the Section to assign to the substitute.
8. Enter the Start Date and End Date.
9. Press Enter to add the row.
The row will turn yellow to indicate a change has been made.
10. Click Save.
1. Click the Subs tab if not already opened.
2. In the table at the bottom of the screen, click the field and make the changes as needed.
The field turns yellow to indicate a change has been made.
3. Click Save.
Substitutes should not be deleted if they have already entered attendance.
1. Click the Subs tab if not already opened.
2. In the table at the bottom of the screen, click the red minus sign next to the assignment to delete.
3. In the confirmation message, click OK.
The row will be grayed out.
4. Click Save.
The Hours Override tab is used to override Class Daily Hours set Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab for specific sections on a day at the selected school. For example, if the district/school has a half day, hours for sections will need to be adjusted from 8 hours to 4 hours. The Hours Override feature can also be used for programs like Practical Nursing that have clinicals making the hours differ when students are in field from what is set on the WDIS Start and End times. WDIS Start and End Times for the class may be 8-2 M-F; however, students may go out in the field from 7am to 7 pm for a couple of days. Note: The Meeting Pattern tab can also be used to override the hours via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Meeting Pattern tab.
1. Click the Hours Override tab.
2. To add one section at a time, click the Hours Override tab.
3. Select the applicable Section from the pull-down.
4. Enter the effective Date in the provided text box. The date defaults to the current date.
5. Enter the Post Secondary Start Time and the Post Secondary End Time in the provided text boxes.
6. Enter the number of Override Hours that should replace the Class Daily Hours set via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab.
If an override is added after a student's attendance has been taken, the student's attended hours will not change. If a teacher has already taken attendance and an override is deleted then the hours will not revert back to the scheduled amount
When students click I’m Present from the Student Portal (if enabled via Setup > System Preferences > School Preferences/Default School Preferences > Attendance tab > Display a "Check In" block on the Student Portal that allows students to mark themselves Present for the day's sections), the student is awarded the Class Daily Hours possible set via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab; however, if an Hours Override is set for a Section, the student will be awarded the Override Hours.
7. When all information has been entered, press the Enter key to save the data. The line turns yellow and the delete button (red minus sign) displays. Click Save.
The Hours Override tab is used to override Class Daily Hours set Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab for specific sections on a day at the selected school and can be set up one section at a time or be imported from an Excel spreadsheet.
For example, if the district/school has a half day, hours for sections will need to be adjusted from 8 hours to 4 hours. The Hours Override feature can also be used for programs like Practical Nursing that have clinicals making the hours differ when students are in field from what is set on the WDIS Start and End times. WDIS Start and End Times for the class may be 8-2 M-F; however, students may go out in the field from 7am to 7 pm for a couple of days. Note: The Meeting Pattern tab can also be used to override the hours via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Meeting Pattern tab.
1. Click the Hours Override tab.
2. To import data, click the Hours Override tab.
3. Click the Import button to import data from an Excel spreadsheet that is in Tab-delimited or CSV format.
4. Select the file to be imported from your computer. Note: The file must include the following columns of data: Section, Date, Post Secondary Start Time, Post Secondary End Time, and Override Hours.
5. Focus automatically matches columns with data, which displays along with file information in the Import CSV pop-up. To change or assign a header name to a column, select the applicable column header from the pull-down.
The header of the file imported displays at the top of the data and is used to determine the column header.
6. Click Import CSV when data is ready to be imported. To cancel and close the pop-up, click the X.
7. Imported data displays as shown below. Edit data as needed, then click Save.
If an override is added after a student's attendance has been taken, the student's attended hours will not change. If a teacher has already taken attendance and an override is deleted then the hours will not revert back to the scheduled amount
When students click I’m Present from the Student Portal (if enabled via Setup > System Preferences > School Preferences/Default School Preferences > Attendance tab > Display a "Check In" block on the Student Portal that allows students to mark themselves Present for the day's sections), the student is awarded the Class Daily Hours possible set via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab; however, if an Hours Override is set for a Section, the student will be awarded the Override Hours.
The Hours Override tab is used to override Class Daily Hours set Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab for specific sections on a day at the selected school.
1. Click the Hours Override tab.
2. To add multiple sections at a time, click the Add tab.
3. Select the Sections from the pull-down.
4. Select the date(s) that these changes should take place by clicking the dates on the displayed calendar.
Click the arrows to navigate to other months.
5. Enter the Post Secondary Start Time and the Post Secondary End Time in the provided text boxes.
6. Enter the number of override Hours that should replace the Class Daily Hours set via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab.
If an override is added after a student's attendance has been taken, the student's attended hours will not change. If a teacher has already taken attendance and an override is deleted then the hours will not revert back to the scheduled amount
When students click I’m Present from the Student Portal (if enabled via Setup > System Preferences > School Preferences/Default School Preferences > Attendance tab > Display a "Check In" block on the Student Portal that allows students to mark themselves Present for the day's sections), the student is awarded the Class Daily Hours possible set via Scheduling > Courses & Sections > Vocational/WDIS tab; however, if an Hours Override is set for a Section, the student will be awarded the Override Hours.
7. Click Add when all information has been established.
When hours have been added, they display on the Hours Override tab.
1. Click the Hours Override tab.
2. To edit entries made, click the Hours Override tab.
3. Click the pull-downs to change selections made or click the text boxes to edit data entered.
4. Changes made display in yellow. Click Save to apply changes.
5. To delete an Hours Override entry, click the delete button (red minus sign).
6. In the confirmation message, click OK.
7. Once deleted, the entry displays in gray. Click Save to apply changes.
The Attendance Thresholds tab can be used to set up rules to automatically assign students a detention referral when they receive a certain number of tardies. Before setting up attendance threshold rules, make sure the actions that will be used for these referrals have been marked as "Detention" in Referral Codes & Actions. Students assigned a detention will appear on the Detention List.
Additionally, the Attendance Thresholds tab can be used to generate communications (email) from the Communication module when the student receives a certain number of instances of an attendance code. For those districts who have purchased the Communication expansion, SMS or calls can also be generated. The communication will be sent to the custodial contacts of the student.
1. Click the Attendance Thresholds tab.
2. To add a new rule, enter the Number of Instances that when exceeded will trigger the rule in the blank row.
3. Select the Type.
Selecting Single Instance will create a referral just once when the prescribed number of tardies is met.
Selecting Consecutive will create a referral when the prescribed number of tardies is met and for every tardy thereafter.
Selecting Multiple will create a referral when the prescribed number of tardies is met and when multiples of the prescribed number of tardies is met.
For example, a student will earn a referral after the third tardy, and for every third tardy after that (6, 9, 12, etc.).
If there is another higher threshold that is met, the referral will use the code and action from that higher threshold. If there is no code and action for the higher threshold, then the code and action from the consecutive or multiple threshold will be used again.
For example, if there is a rule where the student earns a referral for every 3 tardies, and there is another rule where the student earns a referral that has a different code and action for having 9 tardies, then the rule for the 9 tardies will be applied to the student instead of the rule for the 3 tardies when the student hits 9 tardies. If there is no code and action set on the 9 tardies rule, then the code and action from the 3 tardies rule will be applied.
4. Select Per Class if the rule will look at the sum of tardies by section. Leave the check box unselected for the rule to look at the sum of tardies across all sections.
5. Select the Timeframe the rule will consider when summing tardies.
Options are Year to Date, Semester to Date, Quarter to Date, and Custom Days. When Custom Days is selected, define the Timeframe Days.
6. Enter the number of school days the student has to serve the detention in the Deadline (School Days) field.
7. Enter or select the Start Date. Today's date is populated by default. Once the student receives the prescribed number of tardies after the start date, the referral will be added to the student.
Setting the Start Date is important if implementing tardy thresholds rules during the school year. You may not want to make the rule retroactive to the first day of school.
8. To inactivate a tardy threshold rule as of a specific date, enter or select an End Date.
9. Select the Attendance Codes that will be considered.
10. Select the School Periods that will be considered.
By default, all school periods are considered. If only specific school periods should be considered, select those school periods. If the Per Class option was selected for the rule, sections meeting during periods that are not selected in the School Periods pull-down will not be considered.
To generate communication based on this rule, you may select a Communication Template. See Generating Communication Based on Attendance for more information.
11. Select the Discipline Code that will be included on the referral.
All active discipline codes set up in the Codes tab of Referral Codes & Actions are available for selection.
12. Select the Action that will be included on the referral that will be automatically assigned to the student.
The actions marked as "Detention" in Referral Codes & Actions will be available for selection.
13. To replace the default "Detention" text that displays on the tardy slip when marking students tardy using the kiosk/handheld device, enter the custom Text, or leave the Text column blank.
14. Enter the description that will print on the tardy slip when marking students tardy using the kiosk/handheld device in the Tardy Slip Description of Action field.
15. If the referral will be an administrative referral, but the office should not have to review and process it, select Process Referral Automatically. This will automatically select the "Reviewed by Administrator" check box on the referral once it has been submitted. Administrators will not be alerted to these referrals.
16. If the referral should be flagged as a minor infraction, select Minor Infraction.
If the "Minor Infraction" check box is selected, the "Process Referral Automatically" check box is disabled and cannot be selected, and vice versa.
17. Press Enter to add the row.
The row will turn yellow to indicate a change has been made.
18. Click Save.
When the referral is generated based on the tardy threshold rule, the referral will be an administrative or minor infraction referral based upon whether the "Minor Infraction" check box is selected on the rule. If "Process Referral Automatically" is selected on the rule, the referral will automatically have the "Reviewed by Administrator" check box selected and the referral will not need to be reviewed. The action on the referral will be the Action selected in the tardy threshold rule. The Date Decided on the action will be the date the tardy triggered the detention. The Date Ends will be the Date Decided plus the number of days in the Deadline (School Days) field on the rule. The Length of Action will default to 1.
1. Click the Attendance Thresholds tab.
2. To add a new rule, enter the Number of Instances that when exceeded will trigger the communication in the blank row.
3. Select the Type.
Selecting Single Instance will create the communication just once when the prescribed number of instances is met.
Selecting Consecutive will create the communication when the prescribed number of instances is met and for every instance thereafter.
Selecting Multiple will create the communication when the prescribed number of instances is met and when multiples of the prescribed number of instances is met.
For example, the communication will generate after the third instance, and for every third instance after that (6, 9, 12, etc.).
4. Select Per Class if the rule will look at the sum of instances by section. Leave the check box unselected for the rule to look at the sum of instances across all sections.
5. Select the Timeframe the rule will consider when summing instances.
Options are Year to Date, Semester to Date, Quarter to Date, and Custom Days. When Custom Days is selected, define the Timeframe Days.
6. Enter or select the Start Date. Today's date is populated by default. Once the student receives the prescribed number of instances after the start date, the communication will be generated for the student.
Setting the Start Date is important if implementing attendance thresholds rules during the school year. You may not want to make the rule retroactive to the first day of school.
7. To inactivate an attendance thresholds rule as of a specific date, enter or select an End Date.
8. Select the Attendance Codes that will be considered.
9. Select the School Periods that will be considered.
By default, all school periods are considered. If only specific school periods should be considered, select those school periods. If the Per Class option was selected for the rule, sections meeting during periods that are not selected in the School Periods pull-down will not be considered.
10. Select the Communication Template for the email to be generated in the Communication module (for districts that have purchased the Communication expansion, SMS or calls can also be generated).
If you would also like to generate a detention based on this rule as well as the communication, you may define the Deadline (School Days), Discipline Code, Action, Text, Tardy Slip Description of Action, Process Referral Automatically, and Minor Infraction fields as needed. See Generating a Detention Referral Based on Tardies for more information.
11. Press Enter to add the row.
The row will turn yellow to indicate a change has been made.
12. Click Save.
Use caution when editing a threshold rule that is in use, as it will affect student detentions or communications.
1. Click the Attendance Thresholds tab if not already opened.
2. Click the field and make the changes as needed.
The field turns yellow to indicate a change has been made.
3. Click Save.
If attempting to delete a tardy threshold rule that is associated with discipline referral records, an alert message will display indicating the number of associated referrals, prompting you to confirm deletion. Deleting the tardy threshold rule will delete the associated referrals.
1. Click the Attendance Thresholds tab if not already opened.
2. Click the red minus sign next to the attendance threshold rule to delete.
3. In the confirmation message, click OK.
The row will be grayed out.
4. Click Save.
At times, the daily attendance may need to be recalculated due to changes in rotation days, dates on the school calendar, attendance codes, etc. Daily attendance can be recalculated for one school or all schools in the district, for a particular student, and can be done for a custom timeframe or a particular marking period.
The Recalculate Daily Attendance scheduled job can be configured in Setup > Scheduled Jobs to recalculate daily attendance on a scheduled basis.
1. Click the Recalculate Daily Attendance tab.
2. In the Recalculate by pull-down, select School or Student.
3. If recalculating by school, select Run for all schools to recalculate daily attendance for all schools in the district, or leave it unselected to recalculate daily attendance for the school you are currently logged in to. If you are in a large school district, do not try to recalculate attendance for all schools for a large time frame.
4. If recalculating by student, select the applicable Student.
5. In the Recalculate for pull-down, select Custom Timeframe to define the start date and end date, or select a particular marking period.
When a marking period is selected, the Timeframe fields will populate with the start and end dates of the marking period as defined in Setup > Marking Periods.
6. Define the Timeframe if using a custom timeframe.
7. Click Recalculate.
It may take several minutes to complete the process.
The Recalculate Hours tab is used by post-secondary schools to update attended hours; this function completes the same process as the "Update Attended Hours" scheduled job.
1. Click the Recalculate Hours tab.
2. Click Calculate Attended Hours.
The Reasons tab allows users to create, edit, and delete reasons that will display on the Late Check In / Early Release report for selection when manual entries are created for students.
In order to access the Reasons tab, you must permission to View and Edit Reason Codes via Users > Profiles > Attendance tab.
1. In the Attendance menu, click Attendance Setup.
2. Click the Reasons tab.
3. Enter the new Reason in the provided text box.
4a. Press the Enter key, then click Save.
4b. You can also click Save without adding the line first.
1. In the Attendance menu, click Attendance Setup.
2. Click the Reasons tab.
3. Click the Reason text box for the applicable code that needs editing. Make the necessary changes.
4. Changes display in yellow. Click Save to apply changes.
1. In the Attendance menu, click Attendance Setup.
2. Click the Reasons tab.
3. Click the delete button (red minus sign) to delete the reason.
4. In the confirmation pop-up window, click OK.
5. The deleted reason is grayed out. Click Save to complete the deletion.
The Recalculate Minutes tab is used to recalculate the attendance present and absence minutes for each attendance period record, considering kiosk check-ins and check-outs. The cumulative attendance present and absence minutes are also calculated for the attendance day. Lunch minutes are deducted from the attendane minutes. This function completes the same process as the "Calculate Attendance Minutes from Check In/Out" scheduled job. For Missouri districts, attendance hours can be viewed in the Average Daily Attendance report.
1. In the Attendance menu, click Attendance Setup.
2. Click the Recalculate Minutes tab.
3. Select the Schools to incude in the process. One or multiple can be selected.
4. Select the Start Date and End Date.
5. Click Recalculate.
