A parent sent in the following question:
Why do early dismissals show as absences on PowerSchool?
A: For those of you who have children who leave school earlier than dismissal time, for example, leaving at lunch time, the child has not completed a full school day. Attendance records are important documents and must reflect the child's absence for part of that day. Our system is set at this time to show attendance on reports as either present or absent. With this in mind, since the absences must be recorded per state regulations, the half absence is reported as an absence. For those parents who can view their child's absent and tardy records on the system you will see the code either ED, or E, or LE to show your child did not complete the entire 6 hour day. It is considered a half day absent. We are looking into future revisions on printed reports to show the distinction between a full day absence and a half day absence.
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2 comments:
Recording attendance accurately is a very important tool. I must add to the 1/2 day question one on how illness is reported in PowerSchool. ALL absences are now recorded as UNEXCUSED even though parents call the school to report the absence and write a note upon the child's return. This is not accurante reporting in my book. Powerschool has a designation for just "absent" why don't we use it?
Rhonda,
Thank you for your comment. It is hard to understand the use of the term "unexcused" for an absence that is reported by the parents. The term "unexcused" is used in the context that the day is counted as a day not in school regarding perfect attendance. "Excused" is for specific times that do not count against perfect attendance. Those days are special circumstances, one of which is "Take Your Child to Work Day" in which a parent sends a note in advance of the day. We no longer use the "absent" term because it does not identify easily which days are excused or unexcused. The absent code was used ineffectively earlier in the year. Since it was in the system for this school year it can not be removed until the next school year begins. I hope this addresses your concerns.
Adele Ellis
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