| Student management > Taking attendance

Taking attendance

You record attendance in the system by choosing an attendance code that indicates the student's status; for example, Present, Absent Unexcused, or Tardy Unexcused. To save time, each class has a default attendance code which the staff member changes only if necessary. Typically, the default code is "Present" [Figure 64].

When the staff member needs to choose a code other than the default, he or she can select from a preset list of school attendance codes. A School Administrator sets up the attendance codes [>>]. PowerSchool SMS tallies attendance according to methods and schedules set up by a School Administrator [>>].

As a Teacher or School Administrator, you take attendance for a class or homeroom; you can also view past attendance. A School Administrator can assign attendance for a future date and change past attendance, including clearing attendance records [>>]. The frequency at which you take attendance depends on the attendance-taking method in use at the school: one-daily, twice-daily, or by-class see Setting an attendance method [>>].

A class or homeroom may have a time which attendance is due to be submitted. If you are the staff member responsible and attendance is not submitted, you may receive an alert to that effect [>>]. Note: In some circumstances, system processes result in automatic attendance being assigned, such as absences for a suspended student [see Student record: Student Behavior >>].

You can take attendance by:

Assigning attendance on a student roster [>>]

Assigning attendance to one student [>>]

Assigning attendance to various students at once [>>]

Table 19: Permissions pertaining to attendance

To	You need this permission	Set to	Details
View class attendance information	School Setup > Classes	View	[>>]
Edit class attendance information	School Setup > Classes	Edit	[>>]
View homeroom information	School Setup > Homerooms	View	[>>]
Edit homeroom information	School Setup > Homerooms	Edit	[>>]
To change an attendance code set by student behavior action steps	Attendance > Override Student Behavior Attendance	Yes	[>>]

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