DATE:
December 10, 2020
TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
Administrative Assistants
Attendance Secretaries
FROM:
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
SUBJECT:
Changes to Marking Attendance for COVID-19
This information supersedes the information given in the August 13, 2020 memo “Marking Attendance for Quarantining or Isolating Students 2020-21”
In most schools this year, there are as many as three instructional models in use:
- In-Person Classes
- Virtual Classes
- Hybrid / Blended Classes (at student discretion, meaning the student is able to decide, on any given day, if they attend class in-person or virtually. A hybrid/blended class may also have mandatory instruction days.)
A student, particularly at the secondary level, may have a combination of in-person or virtual classes throughout the day. The way attendance should be marked will change based on the instructional model of the class the student is participating in at any given moment.
Attendance is a legal requirement to indicate a student’s compliance with compulsory education laws, and it may not be used to determine a student’s academic grade (attendance may impact participation in a course, which can in turn impact a grade, but the attendance marking by itself may not directly influence a grade).
Four attendance codes (E, G, H, and P) come into play when considering the impact of COVID-19 isolation and quarantines on the three instructional models. Other attendance codes continue to be used as warranted based on a student’s attendance and activity. Their usage and meaning is unchanged.
In general, remember the following when marking attendance for COVID-19 related absences:
- E is an EXCUSED ABSENCE. It does not “count against” a student for average daily membership or for 10-day accounting. Work has – and should continue to be – provided to students marked with an E as requested by the parent. The school determines the process and timetable for gathering and providing work. This code will begin to be used effective December 14, 2020 to indicate certain parent-directed COVID absences (family-related quarantines and confirmed cases).
- G is a GUARDIAN-EXCUSED ABSENCE. It does “count against” a student for average daily membership and excessive consecutive totals of G absences may result in a 10-day drop. Work has been – and should continue to be – provided to students marked with an G as requested by the parent. The school determines the process and timetable for gathering and providing work. This code will begin to be used effective December 14, 2020 to indicate certain times when a parent is opting their child out of participation in school that are not the direct consequence of a COVID illness or quarantine.
- H is for HOME AND HOSPTIAL INSTRUCTION. It indicates – as it has always done – that the District is maintaining its obligation to provide instruction to this student. For quarantines at the direction of the Salt Lake County Health Department, this obligation can be met through packets of prepared work, work prepared and available in a digital platform, or synchronous learning activities.
- P can be used to mean two things, depending on the context and date it is used, as outlined in the table included with this memo.
