FAQ: Calendars

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.

Students cannot have enrollment exit dates after the last day of the school calendar. This will cause AT-1 error message.

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.

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).

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.

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.

For any instructional day that is less than 360 minutes (secondary) or less than 300 minutes (elementary), that calendar date must be given a calendar event of Delay/Early Dismissal- Other or Delay/Early Dismissal- Weather. To verify accuracy of calendar dates, calendar event descriptors and event minutes: Once in Data Exchange, navigate to the Review page and select “Calendar Date” from the list of resources and review/export those dates to ensure each date with Event Minutes less than the minutes requirement for each school type has a Calendar Event Descriptor of Delay/Early Dismissal – Other or Delay/Early Dismissal – Weather. If an instructional day is listed with a Calendar Event Descriptor of “Student Calendar" but does not meet the minimum minute requirements, that date will not count as an instructional day until the calendar event descriptor is updated to one of the delay/early dismissal calendar event descriptors. Days when two-hour delays or two hour early dismissals occur for reasons unrelated to staff and student safety, such as staff trainings and in-services, are not considered to meet the minimum instructional time requirements and therefore do not contribute to the 180 instructional day total

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.