Attendance¶

What are some good reference materials on how to conduct attendance at our schools?¶

We would recommend the following from NCES:

• The Forum Guide to Collecting and Using Attendance Data - Covers why attendance data is important, defines a standard vocabulary/taxonomy and defines the roles of those in your organization.
• Forum Guide to Attendance, Participation, and Engagement Data in Virtual and Hybrid Learning Models is meant to supplement the above, and was published in 2021 due to the events of Covid-19.

Here's a helpful resource with Vermont focused legal advice.

Can we do virtual Snow or Inclement Weather Days? How does attendance work for this?¶

See this memo released: Clarification on Hybrid Learning Guidance for Inclement Weather Days

When are students considered absent?¶

The definition of absent from the U.S. Department of Education:

Students are absent when not physically on school grounds and were not participating in instruction or instruction-related activities at an approved off-grounds location for at least half the school day

How many session days are required each year?¶

Per 16 V.S.A. § 1071 (1):

(1) At least 175 student attendance days in each school year. For purposes of this section, a majority of students enrolled in a school must be recorded on the school roll as in attendance on any day counted as a student attendance day.

How are Excused Absences Defined?¶

An absence is considered excusable when it is the result of:

• Personal illness;
• Appointments with health professionals that cannot be made outside of the regular school day;
• Observance of recognized religious holidays when the observance is required during a regular school day;
• Emergency family situations such as a death in the family;
• Planned absences for personal or educational purposes which have been approved.
• Absences due to suspension or expulsion

How would I report attendance for a student who is serving an out of school suspension?¶

Please mark their attendance event type as "Excused Absence", do not use "Student Not Expected".

COVID-19 Specific¶

What Counts as an attendance event during virtual learning?¶

On each day for which attendance is recorded, an educator makes contact with the student by video chat or telephone or the student logs into a Learning Management System (LMS) and engages in learning activities (e.g., completes asynchronous assignments, assessments, etc.);

How should attendance be recorded during periods affected by COVID 19?​¶

Please refer to the official memos on this topic: ​

Memo: Continuation of Learning, School Calendars; Attendance (4/6)​

Student Attendance Policies and Procedures (5/28)​