We have scheduled Virtual Planned Asynchronous or Synchronous days once a month for the next three or four months for PD. How should my calendar be set up and how should students be marked for attendance?
The calendar date should be reported with the accurate calendar event descriptor; Virtual Planned - Asynchronous or Virtual Planned - Synchronous. Students participating in virtual instruction should be reported with attendance event descriptor virtual. Students not participating in instruction should be reported with an absence per local policy.
Can I set a student's last date (exit date) after the last day of school?
Students cannot have enrollment exit dates after the last day of the school calendar. This will cause AT-1 error message.
PreK student attends our school for the afternoon, but goes to public early learning center for services in the AM three out of five days per week. How do we handle attendance on the days he is at both schools?
Each school reports attendance data for the student. Attendance is considered a full day on the days the student is scheduled and expected. If the student is scheduled for afternoons only 3 days/week and full day 2 days/week then the student would be counted as in attendance for all 5 days. One school is identified as primary ‘true’ and one school is identified as primary ‘false’. Attendance provided from each school does not affect the other school.
Can private schools still have regular e-Learning Days or do they need to be virtual to count as a school day?
Planned 'E-Learning' days where a teacher is engaged less than 50% of the day would be Virtual Planned - Asynchronous and the attendance for students will be Virtual (penalty in statute regarding the synchronous vs asynchronous is for public schools only).
Schools with programs that run outside of the school calendar; how should they report their calendar?
Each Ed Org ID is only allowed to report one calendar. Schools should report a calendar that reflects what the majority of the students are doing. This will allow enrollment dates and attendance to be provided even if the student is actually attending outside of the typical school day.
Regarding early release for instructional days-- could you please let me know the required instructional time that still allows the day to be counted as an "instructional day"?
For a day to contribute to the 180-day requirement for the school year, it must consist of at least 50% in-person instruction, 50% virtual synchronous instruction, or a combination of in-person and virtual synchronous instruction that comprises at least 50% of the overall instruction. The determination of what type of instructional day is provided should be based on the school’s overall planned operations for the majority of students.
I've been told that 180 instructional days is not required for non-public schools, but that we should ensure we have the required instructional minutes-- is this correct? I'm going off of 6 hours for 180 days, so a total of 64,800 minutes.
Although there is no financial penalty, accredited non-public schools are still expected to meet 180 days to remain in compliance. Only Performance Qualified public high schools are allowed to follow instructional minutes. Students in grades K-6 should have at least 5 hours of instructional time per day and students in grades 7-12 should have at least 6 hours of instructional time per day.