Training Outline – Attendance Clerks

1. Training Outline – Attendance Clerks • Introductions • Importance of security in Infinite Campus • “Discussion Points” Power Point • Tools • Board policies on attendance • Attendance types • Check in/out • Code of Conduct excerpts • Attendance Tab overview • How is daily attendance marked? • Teachers take attendance from the classroom • Attendance clerk posts attendance for substitute teachers • Attendance Clerk contacts teachers who have not taken attendance. • Print a list of “Unknown” absences to make phone calls • The Attendance Clerk “reconciles” Unknown attendance. This makes it official! • Attendance Months • Attendance Codes • Student Schedules • Walk through procedures in Attendance Manual • Data Entry • Daily Attendance Reports • Error Reports • Checklists • Daily • Monthly • Beginning of Year Procedures Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

2. Checklist • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ • _________________________ Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

3. Important Tools • Attendance Manual • Student Code of Conduct • Access to the FCPS DPP Support Site • Login / password to Infinite Campus Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

4. We are funded based on how many students are in attendance for each school day. We are required by law to accurately report which students are present and absent each day. • An attendance event is any educational time missed that is one minute or more. • Even if a staff member knows where a child is, if the child is not present in school they MUST be marked absent. Please be sure teachers understand this. • Work with administration to determine: • At what time should all teachers have attendance posted? Recommendation: within 10 minutes of the tardy bell. • If a teacher has not posted attendance, how will they be contacted? Phone, page, etc. • Administrators need to decide how staff will be addressed if they are not consistent in taking attendance. • A student may have three different types of attendance events: • Tardy – An event less than 36% of the instructional day. Counts as one event. • Half Day Absence – An event between 36 – 84% of the instructional day. Counts as 50% of the day missed. • Full Day Absence – An event more than 84% of the instructional day. Counts as 100% of the day missed. The user does not have to calculate the percentage of the day missed. Infinite Campus will do that for you. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

5. A student’s attendance event is always Unexcused until a note is returned to the Attendance Office. (09.123) • An excuse note must be turned in within three school days of the student’s return. (09.123) • Notes should be date stamped when they are received. • After the tardy bell rings, any student coming to school late or leaving school early must use the Check In / Out Logs (702 KAR 7:125) • Best Practice – Keep the log off of the counter. Hand the parent the log when they come to check their child in or out. This prevents them from writing on the visitor log when they should have signed the Check In/Out log, or vice versa. • Even Better Practice – Fill out the log for the parent, with the exception of the signature. Elementary schools – signatures are required on ALL check outs. • Signatures are required on check outs, not check ins. • Each school shall require proof of identification from individuals checking a student out early. (09.1231) • If using separate check in / check out logs, it can be helpful to print them on different colored paper to easily tell them apart. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

6. Check In / Out Logs The district check in / out log can be downloaded online: Index > FCPS DPP Support Site > Manuals > Full Day / Half Day Calculations Spreadsheet Check In / Out on same log: Check In on separate log: Check Out on separate log: Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

7. Important Info from the Student Code of Conduct • If a student is sent home for illness by the school, the student will be excused for that day. If the student is absent for subsequent days the note requirements apply. • A parent may request an extension of parent notes by contacting the DPP office. • Staff at IAKSS will use Infinite Campus to send letters at the following thresholds: • Three Unexcused Absences • Six Unexcused Absences and Tardies • Nine Unexcused Absences and Tardies • Twelve Unexcused Tardies • Six Parent Note Absences and Tardies • Ten Parent Note Absences and Tardies • Fifteen Unexcused Tardies • For Fayette County Public Schools, a student is considered “Truant” at 12 Unexcused Absences or 15 Unexcused Tardies. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

8. Infinite Campus assumes a student is present unless otherwise indicated. On the “Attendance” tab for a student, you will only see a date listed if an attendance event occurred on that date. If a date is not listed and the student was enrolled on that date, he/she was present in school. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

9. Attendance Tab – Important Things to Note • There are four attendance types: • Unknown – yellow background • This event was added by a classroom teacher. It does NOT calculate into the number of days absent. • Excused – green background • This event was excused per board policy or by the principal. • Unexcused – red background • This is the default code assigned when a note has not yet been received • Exempt – gray background • This code has very specific uses. It does not count against the district for funding, and does not count against the student for perfect attendance. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

10. Attendance Tab – Important Things to Note Secondary Schools: For the event on 1/18/2012, all but the first period teacher marked the student absent. Because each of the period absences has a yellow background, the student is NOT being counted absent. It is likely that the first period teacher neglected to mark the student absent. To fix this type of issue, the first period teacher should be contacted to verify if the student was present or not. If the student was not present, he should be marked Unexcused Absent for the entire day on 1/18/12. If the student was present, please determine if the student checked out of school. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

11. Attendance Tab – Important Things to Note On the left you will see summary information for the student. If the “Enrolled Days” and “Scheduled Days” do not have the same number, please contact 2000.fcps for help. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

12. How is daily attendance marked? #1 Teachers take attendance from the classroom • Expectations: • Each school should have clearly defined rules on posting attendance. For example, all attendance should be posted within 10 minutes of the bell. • Elementary Schools – Teachers must keep hard copy attendance to compare with monthly reports • Elementary Schools – Teachers should never mark tardies from the classroom. Teachers should only mark “Present or “Absent”. • Secondary Schools – Teachers should only mark “Present” or “Absent” first period. Not “Tardy”. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

13. How is daily attendance marked? #1 Teachers take attendance from the classroom • Results: • This creates an “Unknown” attendance event on the student’s attendance screen. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

14. How is daily attendance marked? #2 The Attendance Clerk posts attendance for substitute teachers • Expectations: • Infinite Campus should show that all teachers have posted attendance. This includes substitute teacher classrooms. Short term subs are not given access to Infinite Campus. Attendance for these classrooms must be posted by the Attendance Clerk. • Attendance should be posted for substitutes prior to “Reconciling” and printing the caller report. • Results: • All students not present in school show an absence from the teacher’s Attendance module. The absence is not considered “official” yet. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

15. How is daily attendance marked? The Attendance Clerk contacts teachers who have not taken attendance. #3 • Expectations: • Elementary Schools – Teachers are required to take attendance once each day (702 KAR 7:125). • Secondary Schools – Teachers are required to take attendance each class period (702 KAR 7:125). • Work with your administrators to decide how teachers will be contacted/addressed when attendance is not being taken in a timely manner. (Phone call, email, conference) • Results: • The Classroom Monitor will turn GREENfor those teachers who have taken attendance and stay PINK for those who have not. GREEN = “Good” PINK = “Problem” Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

16. How is daily attendance marked? #4 Print a list of “Unknown” absences to make phone calls This typically is done at the elementary level only, but can be done for secondary schools as well. If this is printed at the secondary level, it is important to do so prior to second period. • Expectations: • It helps the school to stay informed about why a student is absent and reminds parents/guardians to turn in excuse notes within three school days. • Results: • Our attendance records are more accurate because mistakes can be corrected the very same day rather than waiting until the end of the month when attendance reports are reconciled • Parents/guardians have one more reminder to turn in notes. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

17. How is daily attendance marked? The Attendance Clerk “reconciles” Unknown attendance. This makes it official! #5 • Expectations: • This process must be done in a timely manner for many reasons: • Parents can see attendance online through “Parent Portal”. We want the records to be as accurate and current as possible. • Attendance reports are pulled daily from Central Office to monitor attendance rates. • Truancy data is pulled nightly and must contain current data. • All teachers must post first hour attendance prior to the “Reconcile” process. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

18. How is daily attendance marked? The Attendance Clerk “reconciles” Unknown attendance. This makes it official! #5 • Results: • This process takes all “Unknown” absences and makes them an All-Day Unexcused Absence. An Unknown absence does not officially count the student absent. The Reconcile process makes the absence official. • After reconciling, a teacher no longer has access to change that student’s attendance for the day. Before reconciling, the student’s attendance shows “Unknown”: After reconciling, the student’s attendance shows All Day Unexcused: Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

19. Recap - How is daily attendance marked? Using 5/3/2012 as example; Jim is absent. Jim shows no attendance event for 5/3/12 YET. At this point he is still considered “Present”. Teachers take attendance from the classroom. Jim is not present, so his teacher marks him Absent. This creates an “Unknown” absence. He still is NOT officially absent. Attendance Clerk posts attendance for substitute teachers Attendance Clerk contacts teachers who have not taken attendance Attendance Clerk prints a list of “Unknown” absences. Jim will show on the report because he was marked absent from the classroom. His “Attendance” tab shows an Unknown absence. Attendance Clerk “Reconciles” the Unknown absences. Jim is now “officially” absent. Attendance Clerk Discussion Points

20. Attendance Months See page ______ of the Attendance Manual Attendance Codes See page ______ of the Attendance Manual Student Schedules Before attendance can be entered, the following must be done: Student must be enrolled Student must have a complete schedule Attendance Clerk Discussion Points