Bakersfield City School District 2017/2018 Student Attendance Training

Attendance Reminder Absence/Verification log must be entered by verification date. Request To Change Attendance Form- 30 days from the date of the student’s absence. New contact person for Bell Schedules: Maria Quiroz, ext. 14671 New Fax #: 324-3270

Attendance Reminder: New clerks attendance training call us to schedule at ext. 14657, 14679 and 14690. First day of school: Run your PAR41 report Save and Print Update your MIS list Send your Warm Body Count to Fiscal by 2:00 PM. Middle Schools: MUST clear PAR11- ALL periods. Elementary Schools: MUST run your MyEDIT103 to verify that a child is old enough to be in school or a student is placed in the right grade.

Attendance Reminder: Family Emergencies- please get the verification (initial) from your Principal if you are going to log them as ‘Excused’. Encourage teachers to take attendance in the Teacher Portal. Run and save your PAR41 reports every Monday!!!!

Who to call for specific problems??

Call Fiscal Service for these specific problems Errors on Total Student Count or can’t balance Total Student Count. Student incorrect enter or leave dates. Attendance picture incorrect or missing. Questions on teacher changes, dates to use or teacher lists. Inactivated or enrolled wrong student. Special Education students missing or in wrong class. Class size questions. School Wide Attendance Reports. Attendance for ISP students. Mass Teacher Changes.

Contact Information Technology at Ext. 14848 Program Problems - system does not do what it is supposed to. Printer or computer problems. Questions regarding SAG. Duplicate SID #s. Demographics of homeless children. Dropping or Deleting student data in complete school.  

Contact Student Services at Ext. 14822 Whether an absence is excused or unexcused. ISP contract dates. Expulsion and suspension dates

Contact Maria Quiroz at Ext. 14671 Bell Schedule Updates/Changes

THE ROLE OF ATTENDANCE ACCOUNTING

Student Attendance Why does it matter? It’s the law. Every child between the ages of six and eighteen is required to attend public school full-time, with very limited exceptions. (Education Code 48200) It’s a necessary part of the learning process. Students are more successful in academics when they attend school. K-12 funding is based on Average Daily Attendance (ADA). Student attendance generates over 75% of the district’s general fund operating revenues. (2017/18 estimate = $297.6 million)

Attendance vs Enrollment We are funded based on the number of students we serve, not the number we plan on serving. The costs of setting up the instructional program will be a loss unless the students actually attend.

How Much Money Are We Talking About? ADA is calculated using P-2 attendance (August 16, 2017 through March 23, 2018 = 136 days) 2017/18 estimated revenue per student = $9,919 (approx. $72.93 per day) 100% attendance = $9,919 95% attendance = $9,423 Loss = $496 $496 x 30,371 = $15 million

Why Does it Matter How We Take Attendance? Because anytime money is involved, oversight can be expected! Attendance accounting software, forms and procedures must be reviewed and approved by: California Department of Education District external auditors (Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., LLP) This isn’t the honor system, VTD will verify forms & procedures during our annual audit!

SCHOOL CALENDAR

BCSD’s School calendar BCSD has a single district-wide calendar School Year: 180 days in a School Year July 1 to June 30 School Month: 20 days or four (4) weeks of five days each week School Days: Monday-Friday (Excluding Weekends)

School Calendar cont. ALL schools MUST meet the required annual instructional minutes required by CDE Kindergarten: 36,000 Grades 1-3: 50,400 Grades: 4-8: 54,000 Educational Services Department uses the schools Bell Schedules to calculate the required annual instructional minutes. Bell Schedules are used by attendance in preparing school sites Time Calculator. Time Calculator is used by school sites in verifying minutes missed for partial day absences (L, M, O, V, B, D, I, X)

STUDENT INACTIVATION/ WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFERS

When can you inactivate a student? When Cume Requests are received from another school. When a parent/guardian fill-out and sign the Student Withdrawal Form (see attached form). Inactivating for Unknown Reason: School site MUST exhaust all options in figuring our the students status: Calling all contact numbers in the students emergency contact card Home visit (includes neighbor inquiry) has been done. Student Services department has been contacted to research student in CALPADS. Once everything has been exhausted, clerk/secretary MUST communicate with their Principal and get an approval that they are inactivating the student. Note: Inactivation date is the first day of consecutive absences.

ATTENDANCE ACCOUNTING ABSENCES

Verification of absences Employees verify absences to determine compliance with compulsory attendance law. Only district employees can verify, not volunteers or students. (Compulsory attendance law: pupils ages 6-8 required to attend school full-time with regular and punctual attendance). Any reasonable method which establishes the fact of the absence. Employee should not accept documentation or information that is known to be false.

Method of Verification Tardy Slips Sign-Out & Sign-In Sheets Absence/Call-In/Verification Logs Doctors/Parents/Guardian Notes Religious Waivers Teacher Change Forms/Emails Request to Change Attendance Records. Note: All documents are CDE approved forms. These forms cannot be modified without an approval from CDE.

Complete School Codes: What is ISP? Independent Study (ISP) is a different way of learning. In independent study, a student is guided by a teacher but usually does not take classes with other students every day. The student works independently. Complete School Codes: K (work credited, we get ADA) J (academic credit only, no ADA) Note: School clerks/secretaries MUST send the completed ISP contracts to Johnetta Hampton of Student Services ASAP in order to update Complete School.

MONTHLY RECONCILIATION AND ATTENDANCE REPORTING

Monthly Reconciliations Sites MUST ensure the detailed monthly reports are accurate, as this information is used by the district office staff to prepare the summary reporting to the State. Attendance Reports Post ALL applicable attendance information into Complete School (Tardy Slips, Absence logs, Sign-Out&Sign-In sheets, Doctors/Parents/Guardian notes, Religious waivers, Teacher Attendance Correction forms/emails) Print-out ALL edit checks and reports to verify that there are no errors (Edit Reports and ATT09) Print-out monthly attendance report- ATT05 and ATT20 Clear PAR11 and completed PAR20 daily reports (include signed PAR41 from teachers)

Attendance Reports P-1 Report: Month 1 to Month 4 of attendance months Due to the County office: January 5, 2018 P-2 Report: Month 1 to Month 8 of attendance months Due to the County office: April 20, 2018 P-2 Revised: Month 1 to Month 8 of attendance months Due to the County office: July 5, 2018 Annual: Month 1 to Month 11 of attendance months

Attendance time saving tips

Questions?