Attendance Procedures Manual

Why a Procedures Manual How and When Official Attendance is to be taken by Teachers Roles and Responsibilities How attendance is entered into the accounting system How will the District maintain attendance records, absence slips, and official calendar after the end of the school year Backup systems in place 2

Roles and Responsibilities Teachers Accurate attendance begins with classroom teachers. Attendance Clerks The person assigned the responsibility of verifying the submission of attendance each period it is required on the campus. Special Program Directors Staff that is accountable for eligibility and membership in various special programs. 3

Roles and Responsibilities At no time the Attendance Clerk is responsible for decisions concerning program eligibility. Campus Administrator The campus administrator must review and attest to the accuracy and completeness of attendance data for the campus Superintendent Ultimate responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of all attendance records. 4

Daily Procedures - Checklist 5

Remove absences for students absent during the ADA period due to a medical appointment who provide an excuse from the medical practitioner and are present sometime during the day. Reprint the daily attendance reports if you remove absences from a prior date. At the end of the day, retain all sign in / sign out sheets and student absence notes. 6

Daily Procedures - Checklist Print and Review Daily Attendance Reports Daily Absences DA Daily Attendance Control DA Daily Attendance Transactions DA

Daily Procedures - Checklist Daily Absences Report The report provides a list of all students entered into Daily Attendance as absent at the attendance accounting snapshot time. Use this report to confirm that all ADA absences have been entered into the Tyler / EDP UNIX system. 8

Daily Procedures - Checklist Daily Attendance Control Report * The report displays various totals by grade level and campus. Included on this report are the number of enrolled students from the previous day. Any students who have enrolled, withdrawn, or transferred prior to the ADA snapshot time are included as additions to or subtractions from those prior day totals. * The report shows the total number of students present for the day and the percentage of attendance for the day 9

Daily Procedures - Checklist Daily Attendance Transactions Report * The report displays the names of every student who was either absent, enrolled, withdrawn, or transferred by the snapshot time on the current day. The names provide a complete list of all the numbers indicating absences, entries, withdrawals, and transfers from the Daily Attendance Control Report. * The Attendance Clerk can use this report to track down students who are missing from or inadvertently added to the control report totals 10

Weekly Procedures - Checklist Print Excessive Absence Report to identify any potential attendance problems DA Print Weekly Attendance Verification Report for teacher review and signature to be retained for 5 years DA

Six Week Procedures - Checklist After attendance transactions and corrections have been completed for the prior six week attendance period, print, review, correct (if needed), and sign: * Demographic Register DA * Six Week Register DA * Daily Register of Pupil Attendance DA

Six Week Procedures - Checklist After attendance transactions and corrections have been completed for the prior six week attendance period, print, review, correct (if needed), and sign: * Principal’s Period Report – 6 Weeks DA * Reconcile Teachers Rosters with Daily Attendance Control Report. The Department of I.T. will collect all 6 weeks reports and retain for future audits 13

Withdrawal Reason Processing Received a withdrawal verification form from parent/guardian Print a withdrawal form on system with scheduling and grade reporting DG Student is withdrawn in DA If Student is present at normal ADA collection time, student is withdrawn the following school day 14

Withdrawal Reason Processing If Student is NOT present at normal ADA collection time, the student is withdrawn as of the current date. Student’s Reason for Withdrawal Code is identified based on the documentation received from the parent/guardian or other legitimate source. Secondary Schools: The withdrawal form contains the leaver codes. Important to keep documentation for possible audit 15

Daily Attendance Students are present or absent for ADA reporting purposes. Tardies do not exist in Daily Attendance. Attendance is taken on the second period. When a Teacher is absent, the substitute teacher will enter attendance on a printed roster. The Attendance Clerk will enter attendance in LYNX. 16

Daily Attendance Students not in their classrooms during the attendance accounting time may be counted present if: They are present sometime during that school day, attended a medical appointment, and return documentation from their medical office as to their presence there. 17

Daily Attendance Students not in their classrooms during the attendance accounting time may be counted present if: They are present in another part of the school building such as the clinic, principal’s office, etc. This must be documented by a written record indicating the date and the time in and out. 18

Daily Attendance Students not in their classrooms during the attendance accounting time may be counted present if: They are participating on a field trip or other school- related activity (UIL) under the direct supervision of school personnel. A written record of this activity must also be maintained. 19

Daily Attendance Students not in their classrooms during the attendance accounting time may be counted present if: They are participating in a Mentorship program at the high school level as part of the Distinguished Achievement graduation plan. 20

Daily Attendance Students not in their classrooms during the attendance accounting time may be counted present if: They are participating in recognized religious holy days including up to one day of travel going to and coming from such activities. 21

Daily Attendance Students not in their classrooms during the attendance accounting time may be counted present if: They are Medicaid-eligible children participating in the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Programs (EPSDT) up to one day at a time. 22

Removing Absences All corrections to attendance data must be documented and signed / initialed by the individual making the correction. Always have documentation from the Teacher that justifies the removal of an absence. Use Attendance Change Form. 23

Strategies for Validating Attendance Use a checklist to verify that every Teacher with students during ADA snapshot time has submitted attendance. Maintain a centralized sign-in / sign-out sheet to document all student movement. Print and verify daily reports in: * Daily Absences DA * Daily Attendance Control DA * Daily Attendance Transactions DA

Strategies for Validating Attendance Balance your enrollment data matching totals from the previous day with current day totals. Every increase should be reflected in identified students who have enrolled or transferred in to the campus. Every decrease should be reflected in identified students who have withdrawn from the campus. Documentation must be kept at school for 5 years. 25

Strategies for Validating Attendance Keep all documentation necessary for attendance audits on a daily basis: Parent notes, notes from medical personnel, field trip lists, absentee slips if used, documentation from teachers requiring a change to absence information, the daily sign-in/sign-out sheets and any other justification documents. 26

Entering Attendance Pre-Marking Absences The Attendance Clerk has the ability to pre-mark students absent in advance of the absence. Situations where this can occur are: field trips, UIL activities, students serving time in out-of-school or in- school suspension, and homebound or home-based instruction students. Students are out of class but not out of school for ADA purposes. 27

More on Pre-Marking Absences You can Pre-Mark a student absent by: * Individual Student * Based on an Activity Code such as band, football, golf, etc.. * Based on a Class and Section This could be a class that will be gone on a field trip or UIL event such as the band going on a marching contest. 28

Compulsory Attendance Law Ninety percent attendance rule that can affect a student’s ability to gain credit or to be promoted. It can cause parents or guardians of a student to experience fines and other legal remedies for failing to make their students attend school. Use Excessive Absence Reports to identify any potential attendance problems. 29

Documentation Needed for Audits Schedule Changes Counselors should be diligent in maintaining a complete, organized file of all schedules beginning with a student’s original schedule. Doctor’s Notes Field Trip Rosters Sign In / Sign Out Sheets 30

Recommendations to Reduce PID Errors Any SSN number changes, DOB changes, Name changes need to be submitted to the I.T. Department Check if the student already has a state assigned number, either by calling I.T. Department or by contacting someone at your campus that might have access to TEA information. For State Assigned numbers, I.T. Department needs a copy of the student’s Birth Certificate. Please state if the student is coming from Mexico and/or if he/she is coming from another District. 31

Recommendations to Reduce PID Errors PID Error report is a TEA report that shows discrepancies on SSN, DOB, or Student Name. MAKE GOOD COPIES, preferably use the photo option on the school’s copier. You need to know that in a copy “if you can’t see it, nobody will see it either”. Information that needs to be legible: Student Name, DOB, SSN. When the SSN is not clear compare the number with the student data form. 32

Recommendations to Reduce PID Errors In the case of birth certificates from Mexico, when entering the date of birth, the date appears in the format of DD/MM/YY. This is different from the US standard format of MM/DD/YY. Example: 06/10/1993, Mexican DOB is: October 6, If US birth certificate is presented, you must use exactly the same name as it appears in the document. If two last names are shown then you must use exactly the 2 last names. DO NOT WRITE OVER the copy of the SSN card. 33

Recommendations to Reduce PID Errors A duplicate enrollment error could occur if a student is active at more than one school district. This usually is discovered at the end of the school year, or at any time when the student is not coming to school yet. Example: John Doe was registered on (CSBS) but in lynx there was no attendance, this means the student was not present that day. This was causing a duplicate enrollment record error with LISD where the student was registered at. Neighborhood codes must be correct and updated for your campus. 34

Recommendations to Reduce PID Errors Ethnicity issues: TEA has been asked to provide clarification on the requirements for collecting the new federal ethnicity and race information for New Students Enrolling in Schools must give parents an opportunity to provide the new federal ethnicity and race data for new students who are enrolling in the school for the first time since the school year by responding to the 2 part question on ethnicity and race. Parents are not required to provide this information or to sign any form indicating their refusal. If the parent declines to provide the information, the USDE requires that the LEA employ observer identification as a last resort to provide the information for federal reporting. 35

Recommendations to Reduce PID Errors Returning Students Previously Enrolled in If the student was enrolled in the school in and the school has already collected the new ethnicity and race information or used observer identification to collect the data, the school may display the existing information for ethnicity and race(s) on the pre-printed registration cards provided to parents as a means for them to update any information. 36

Attendance Procedures Day 1 Step 1 Attendance Clerks will provide Teachers with their weekly attendance collection report / class rosters that include the student’s name and student ID and the first week’s attendance dates. Step 2 Teachers will mark students that are “No Shows” with an “X” on the weekly attendance collection report / class. Teachers will submit roster (with signature) to Attendance Clerk for processing It is important that attendance marks are accurate for accountability. 37

Attendance Procedures Day 1 Step 3 Attendance Clerks will deactivate students that are marked with an “x” from EDP as soon as possible but definitely before leaving for the day. This will impact the Daily Enrollment Count that is submitted to the Superintendents Office. 1) Deactivate Student DA Campus-03-Y-01-N-Y Enter Student ID 2) Remove Student Schedule SS * It is important to remember to keep a copy of all student schedules in the event the student returns to campus a few days later. Step 4 Conduct the Collect and Post Process DA * Remember to make sure that all Teachers have submitted attendance. 38

Attendance Procedures Day 1 Step 5 Submit the list of “No Show” students “Inactive Student List” to Attendance Officers and other office staff to assist in looking for “No Show” students. DA Step 6 Attendance Clerks will fill out the Daily Enrollment Count Sheet (Warm Body Count) for their campus and submit it to the Department of Technology. This will only be done the first day of classes. The enrollment count report for the Superintendent’s report will be generated using the student enrollment counts that are in the Tyler Technologies System. It is important that all campuses deactivate “no show” students on a daily basis so that the Superintendent’s enrollment count report is accurate. 39

Attendance Procedures Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday Step 1 The LINX system will be available for teachers to report attendance. Teachers must accurately report all attendance from this date on. Accountability and accuracy is important, therefore all staff responsible for students in their classroom instruction must report accurate information using the LINX system. Any student marked the previous day as “No Show” – with an X- will be deactivated by the Attendance Clerk and he/she will not appear on the teachers LYNX roster. 40

Attendance Procedures Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday Step 2 Any student returning to your campus after the first day of class must be re- activated/re-enrolled in the Tyler Technologies system. Two things need to be addressed: Entry Date must reflect the date the student is being enrolled Previous schedule must be re-inputted by Registrar/Attendance Clerk as per pre-printed schedule if deleted by deactivation. Step 3 Follow LINX/Tyler collect and post procedures to account for all attendance at campus. Conduct the collect and post process: DA * Remember to make sure that all Teachers have submitted attendance. 41