ATTENDANCE LAW AND POLICY Chancellor’s Regulation A-210

2. ATTENDANCE LAW AND POLICYChancellor’s Regulation A-210 • ATTENDANCE LAW • Children between the ages of 6 through 21 have the right to a free public • education. • Children between the ages of 6 through the completion of the school year in which they turn 17 are required to attend school. • ATTENDANCE POLICY • Studentattendance must be recorded and tracked daily. • Student absences must be followed up with telephone calls, letters/postcards or home visits. Schools must make every effort to ensure the regular attendance of students and to address any problems or issues that inhibit regular attendance. Students who are being discharged or transferred to programs that will not result in a regular high school diploma must be provided with counseling about their educational options and must be informed of their right to return to school through the school year in which they turn 21.

3. Analysis of an 80% Attendance Rate • 185 School Days • 80 % present • Days Present (80% of 185) = 148 days • # of Days Absent = 37 days • Average Monthly School Days 19 • Translates to about 2 months of school

4. Staff Roles and Responsibilities inthe Attendance Program Principal • Ensures that the school has a functioning attendance program and monitors its effectiveness • Ensures that the school complies with all regulations regarding attendance • Establishes an attendance committee and holds regular attendance team meetings • Sets goals and monitors attendance trends • Attendance Coordinator • Supervises the day-to-day activities of the members of the attendance team • Makes sure that processes are in place for daily tracking of attendance and follow-up on all open 407’s • Develops incentive programs for the school • Reviews all attendance data and meets with the attendance team members and the principal to discuss attendance issues. • Ensures that all cases of educational neglect are reported and are appropriately followed-up

5. Staff Roles and Responsibilities inthe Attendance Program • Meets with the attendance teacher to review the outcome of investigations and resolution of any open 407’s • Attendance Teacher • Monitors student attendance and follows-up on cases of non attendance • Makes home visits and assists in resolving cases that cannot be resolved at the school level • Acts as a resource to schools on attendance matters • Meets with the attendance coordinator to review status of open cases and attendance data • Meets with students regarding attendance • Reports cases of educational neglect • Participates in school attendance committee meetings • Conducts all “address unknown” investigations • Assists in training school staff on attendance procedures

6. Staff Roles and Responsibilities inthe Attendance Program Guidance Counselor • Meets with students regarding attendance issues • Conducts planning interviews • Participates in the school’s attendance committee meetings • May function as the attendance coordinatorunder the principal’s direction Family Assistant • Conducts the initial investigation on all open 407’s • Visits the homes of students who are absent • Updates ATS School Aide • Makes initial telephone calls • Sends letters to homes of absentee students • Generates ATS reports Parent Coordinator • Works with the attendance team in contacting parents

7. ELEMENTS OF ATTENDANCE ADMITTING CLASS ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULING DATA ENTRY/ REPORTING REPORT ANALYSIS ▪ Principal ▪ A P’s ▪ Attendance Committee • Teachers • Guidance Counselors • Attendance Coordinator • School Aides • Outreach Staff • Attendance Teacher • - Guidance Counselors • - Program Chair • Pupil Accounting Sec.

8. COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL ATTENDANCE PROGRAM • Identify absent students on a daily basis and make home contact • Clear registers in September • Ensure accuracy of telephone numbers and contact information • Establish a working attendance committee • Monitor school attendance rate daily • Compare attendance rates with attendance rates of previous year • Set attendance goals • Make attendance a priority • Get the school staff involved in attendance improvement

9. BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO YOUR ATTENDANCE PROGRAM • MAKE ATTENDANCE A PRIORITY HOW’S ATTENDANCE?! WHERE’S MY RSAL REPORT?! HOW MANY CLASSES HAD 100% ATTENDANCE? IS SCANNING COMPLETED?!! ATTENDANCE COMMITTEE MEETING AT 8 O’CLOCK WERE ABSENTEE STUDENTS CALLED TODAY?!

10. SET GOALS AND FOCUS ON SPECIFIC TARGETS CONSTANTLY REVIEW AND RE-ASSESS THE ATTENDANCE PROGRAM IS IT WORKING? WHY OR WHY NOT? IS ATTENDANCE IMPROVING? WHAT NEEDS CHANGING?

11. BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO YOUR ATTENDANCE PROGRAM PROVIDE INCENTIVES FOR EXCELLENT AND IMPROVED ATTENDANCE • Make improving attendance fun!! • Have competitions. • Display pictures of students with excellent and improved attendance. • Announce names of students with good attendance. • Give out certificates; discuss good attendance at assemblies. • Create a nurturing environment (even in large schools). • Make it personal, ask students why they were absent.

12. BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO YOUR ATTENDANCE PROGRAM • Raise consciousness of staff and students • Discuss attendance improvement approaches on a regular basis • Share attendance data and percentages with staff

13. IMPLEMENT ALL DISCHARGES IMMEDIATELY STUDENTS WHO ARE TO BE DISCHARGED REMAIN ON THE SCHOOL REGISTER UNTIL THE PUPIL ACCOUNTING SECRETARY IMPLEMENTS THE DISCHARGE SCHEDULE MEETINGS OF THE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TEAM ONCE A WEEK OR MORE • ASSIGN AN ATTENDANCE COORDINATOR TO EFFECTIVELY OVERSEE THE PROGRAM. • COMMUNICATE AND DOCUMENT ALL INFORMATION.

14. 407 PROCEDURES

15. ATTENDANCE REFERRAL TRAIL

16. Generation of Form 407 and Attendance Procedures

17. FORM 407 A Form 407 Attendance Follow-up and Outreach Referral automatically generates at the school under the following conditions: a) When a student has been absent for: · 10 consecutive days · 20 aggregate days (over a 4 month period) · 8 consecutive days (if there has been a prior 407) b) 30 days after a student has been discharged as “Address Unknown” (Code 12), a second Form 407 generates in order to re-investigate the status of the discharge to ensure that no new information concerning the student or family has become available. c) In September of the new school year, any student who was discharged during the previous year as “Under 6 Years Old” (Code 04), who will turn 6 years of age in the current year (by December 31) and does not appear as active on a school register, requires the generation of a 407 to ensure investigation of his/her status.

18. WHEN TO ISSUE A 407 • The Form 407 Attendance Follow-up and Outreach Referral may be manually issued when a home visit or investigation is required, under the following circumstances: • a) When a suspended student does not return after the period of • the suspension has ended or when the suspended student does • not appear at a new school placement. • b) When a special education student authorized to begin attendance • in a new site does not report to the new placement within five (5) days. • c) When a student has been excluded from school for the failure to • obtain required immunizations or tuberculosis testing. • d) When it is necessary to conduct an address investigation in order to • confirm the residence of a student.

19. MONITOR YOUR ATTENDANCE REPORTS

20. ATTENDANCE DATA There are several management tools available to administrators to assist in monitoring the school’s attendance program. These tools include: ATS – A variety of summary attendance reports to assist schools in monitoring school’s attendance DSS– Provides current information on student enrollment, attendance and student performance. http://dss.nycenet.edu COGNOS – Provides current and previous attendance percentages and enrollment information on individual schools. http://edw.nycboe.net/par DOE – WIKI- Dashboard – ATS and other school related data for administrators. Use outlook ID and password to sign-in. https://wiki.nycenet.edu/login.action Resource for ATS information: http://www.nycboe.net/adminorg/Divisions/diit/doclib/catalog.asp?Focus=ATS

21. ATS ATTENDANCE REPORTS TO GENERATE Clearance of Register Report (RCR1)- lists all students absent the first five days of school. No Show Report (RSNS)- lists all students who have not attended school since the beginning of the school year. Non-compliance Report (RNOC)- shows unscanned classes an the dates classes were not scanned. School Attendance List Report (RSAL)- prints the school’s register, number of students marked present/release, percentage of students marked present within a date range. 407 Register Report (R4RR)- lists all students for whom a Form 407 was generated and their status. Cumulative Absence Report (RCUA)- lists all students who were absent for the number of days specified by the user. Daily Attendance List (RDAL)- lists students who were absent and late for the day.

22. School Absence Alert Updated 5-28-08 22 22

23. School Absence Alert Every Monday, schools automatically receive a “School Absence Alert” that provides a list of names of students in grades pre-k through 8 who have 407s open for over 10 days.

24. Revised 407 Procedures for Students in Grades Pre-K through 8 Schools are to complete the attendance investigations for pre-k through grade 8 within 10 days after issuance of a 407. Complete investigation of all Pre-K – 8 cases within 10 days

25. Student Intervention Screen ILOG

26. NEW STUDENT INTERVENTION SCREEN (ILOG) ON THE ATS SYSTEM A new function on ATS is being provided that will allow schools to enter on a screen, the outreach and interventions that have been undertaken by school staff to return students to school. Outreach events to be recorded include; telephone calls, mailings, home visits, and counseling. The school will also be able to enter notations regarding the outreach. Principals, assistant principals, guidance counselors, attendance coordinators, pupil accounting secretaries, attendance office staff, attendance teachers, and borough center staff will have access to this function.

27. ILOG REPORTS RSIV – Printout of individual student intervention. RSSL – School Log Report – Schools can print ILOG entries for the school year or for individual months. RSIO – Open 407 ILOG Entry Report – Can be sorted by User ID number ATS – Automatically makes ILOG entries for students receiving promotion in doubt letters.

28. PLANNING INTERVIEW PROCESS

29. PLANNING INTERVIEWRefer to the Planning Interview Process and Procedures in the Principal’s Weekly, Attendance Memo, 09-09-2008 It is our goal to ensure that all students who are discharged and/or transferred prior to attainment of a regular high school diploma are provided with appropriate intervention services, counseling and support to encourage them to remain in school or to facilitate their return to school at a future date. • A planning interview must be provided to all students who leave school without having attained a diploma. • Each school with students 16 years of age or older must designate an assistant principal or identify guidance counselors to conduct the planning interviews and to be responsible for discharges. • The principal is responsible for ensuring that all planning interviews are conducted according to requirements. • All planning interviews must be approved by the borough Senior Youth Development Director prior to discharge.

30. Discharge/ Transfer Codes Requiring a Planning Interview

31. COMPLETION OF THE PLANNING INTERVIEW After the completion of the planning interview, the parent and student receives the completed Planning Interview Form, the Planning Interview Packet, the student’s transcript and Letter #2 if appropriate. The Senior Youth Development Director receives copies of the Planning Interview Form, student’s transcript, Letter #1 and Letter #2 if appropriate. Planning Interview Form _________________________ Name of School _____________________________ School Address _________________________ This form is required for codes: 02,34,35,36,37,38,39,41,43,70 STUDENT INFORMATION ________________________________ GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS _______________________________ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ________________________________ ATTENDANCE HISTORY OUTREACH SERVICES______________________ SUPPORT SERVICES/ PROVIDED______________________ STUDENT TRANSCRIPT SUBJ CRSE SECT DESCRIPTION SCHL YEAR TERM SCHOOL SCORE P/F CRED EARND ----------------------------------------------- 5 FS2+ SPAN YR 1 2002-2003 A 72X470 080 P 2.00 2.00 6 BB1T 03 ENTRPSH1 2002-2003 1 72X470 075 P 1.00 1.00 1 E1T 03 ENG 1 2002-2003 1 72X470 070 P 1.00 1.00 9 GG2 01 GRP GUID 2 2002-2003 1 72X470 075 P 1.00 1.00 2 H5$T 03 AM HIST 1 2002-2003 1 72X470 070 P 1.00 1.00 3 ME1T 03 COLLMTH1 2002-20031 72X470 075 P 1.00 1.00 Letter #2 for either General Education or Special Education Students School Letter Head Date To: Parent/ Student Re: ________________ Name of Student Dear _________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

32. PLANNING INTERVIEW REPORTS AND UPDATE FILES ON ATS The ISC has two reports and one update file. The school has two reports and two update files. REIR-ISC Planning Interview Report: Shows the status of the planning interview (awaiting approval, approved, not approved, cancelled, remained in school, transferred, plan is missing). Summary by code may also be selected. This is a statistical report. REID- Planning Interview Detail Report: Shows all students that had a planning interview. A select by status or code is possible. UPRD- Planning Interview Update File: Allows the ISC to approve or disapprove the planning interviews. DPRD- School Display Planning Interview: Shows the students planning interview status on screen. REIS- Planning Interview Status Report: List all students that had a planning interview. A select by status or code is possible. PIES- Planning Interview Entry Screen: Allows the school to enter all students transferring to another DOE school, GED program or evening high school. DISC- Discharge function: Allows the school to preliminarily discharge a student that had a planning interview. Once approval is obtained from the ISC, the student will be removed from the school’s register.

33. Summary Set goals for improving attendance Raise consciousness of all staff members Conduct regular attendance committee meetings Provide incentives Process discharges in a timely manner Review attendance reports regularly Complete investigations on time Conduct planning interviews Keep accurate attendance MAKE ATTENDANCE A PRIORITY!

34. INTERGRATED SERVICE CENTERS • Queens - ISC • Districts 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 • Tracey Collins,Senior Youth Development Director • Vincent Dioguardi, Content Area Expert • Bronx ISC • Districts 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 • Andaye De La Cruz, Senior Youth Development Director • Antonio Guerrero, Content Area Expert • Manhattan ISC • Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 • Dr. Brian Kaplan, Senior Youth Development Director • Kenneth Lowenstein, Content Area Expert

35. INTEGRATED SERVICE CENTERS • Brooklyn ISC • Districts 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 31 • Clarence Ellis, Senior Youth Development Director • Kampta Persaud, Content Area Expert • Brooklyn – Staten Island ISC • Districts 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 32 • Diane Costagliola, Senior Youth Development Director • Kevin O’Hanlon, Content Area Expert