Change attendance collection to more accurately reflect absenteeism
I think that DPI needs to be more vigilant in the attendance that they are collecting. If we have students out on a field trip, yes, they are not in the building but they are in an academic status for a particular class. If we enter exempt, field trip, that should not be counted against a district. I believe that only actual excused and unexcused absences should be reported where the child is not in the building, attending a class. Please consider this as I was told that most districts are facing the same issue our district is a large increase in absenteeism for 16-17.
Connie Jastromski
shared this idea
The description you provide is exactly how we expect attendance to be reported. Students on field trips should not have the Actual days of attendance value reduced for the time they are participating in a school sanctioned out of classroom activity.
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Derek Field
commented
See FAQ's at the bottom of DPI's attendance guidance page: https://dpi.wi.gov/wise/data-elements/attendance
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Kristi Feucht
commented
We have IC, and all of our exempt attendance codes do not count toward their calculated days absent. You may want to check your setup and work with your vendor.