The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook

The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook

August 25, 2023 | PEIMS & Data Management

As a Charter School District, our number one goal is to offer students a safe, happy and healthy place to learn and grow as individuals. All students are different, and it is important that each district meets their individual needs, often by offering different special programs and learning opportunities. Each special program offered by your district has unique eligibility criteria, documentation requirements and enrollment and withdrawal procedures. The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook is the best recourse available to districts in the State of Texas regarding Attendance Rules and Regulations, Special Programs, and Audit Requirements.

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The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook is the Law

The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook has been adopted by reference under TAC rule §129.1025. This document is updated annually and can be found here. The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook describes the FSP eligibility for all students, prescribes the minimum standards for all attendance accounting systems, lists the documents required for attendance audit purposes and details the responsibilities for all district personnel involved in student attendance accounting. The 2023-24 Proposed Student Attendance Accounting Handbook has already been published. This is the version of the SAAH that your district must begin referring to for the 2023-24 school year, until the finalized version is published. This is the first document you will want to refer to if you have any questions regarding student attendance. The TEA website has many prior years published versions of The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook available as well. A previous version may need to be accessed in the case of a TEA audit. In this situation you would need to refer to rules and regulations found in The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook that was published the year the auditors are investigating.

When is a student considered “present” for funding purposes?

Everyone knows that if a student is in their scheduled class during the official attendance snapshot time determined by your district, they are considered present and eligible for ADA funding for that day. Did you know that there are other circumstances in which a student can be considered present for ADA funding, even if they are not in class at the official attendance snapshot time? In order to change a student’s attendance posting and claim funding, you must ensure that you have the proper documentation collected and retained to support the student’s new attendance posting code. For example, you may have a student that is on campus during the official attendance snapshot time but is with a professional staff member such as the Counselor, AP, or Nurse. If this case, the student’s teacher of record should still count them absent, because they are not in their class, and the attendance clerk can change the student’s attendance code to a present funded code. The documentation needed to support this coding changes is an official roster signed by the professional staff member that clearly shows that the student was with them during the official attendance snapshot time. That situation may be familiar to you, but did you know that you can actually claim funding for a student that is not on campus at all in some situations?

What is required for a student to be counted “present” for funding purposes?

A student that is “absent” but can be considered “present” for funding purposes must meet all requirements as outlined in The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook. Proper documentation to support the code must be kept on file for audit purposes. Below are some of the situations in which a student may be counted “present” for funding and the documentation requirements associated with that particular type of absence. For additional details please refer to the most current version of the Student Attendance Handbook that can be found  here. Your school district should establish a local policy describing what constitutes acceptable documentation for each of the listed absences if it is not specified specifically in the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook. The documentation for each absence listed below can be used as a guideline for your district to establish their own documentation requirements. Below are some of the fundable absences outlined in the SAAH!

  1. A student “is participating in an activity that is approved by your local school board and is under the direction of a professional staff member, an adjunct staff member, or a paraprofessional staff member of your school district.”
    • Documentation- A student roster signed and dated in ink by the professional staff member that is accompanying the students.
  2. A student “misses school for the purpose of observing religious holy days, including traveling for that purpose. Travel days for which the student is considered in attendance are limited to not more than 1 day for travel to and 1 day for travel from the site where the student will observe the holy days.”
    • Documentation- A note from the parent stating that this absence was for observance of a holy day recognized by their religion. Some districts have a template form available for the parents to fill out for this type of absence. “Your school district is responsible for determining what constitutes a religious holy day for purposes of excusing absences. The agency does not maintain a list of days that qualify as religious holy days for purposes of being considered in attendance for FSP purposes. Church retreats, camps, and mission trips and individual religious rites (baptisms, christenings, bar mitzvahs, etc.) are not considered holy days.”
  3. A student “is in grades 6 through 12 and misses school for the purpose of sounding “Taps” at a military honors funeral held in Texas for a deceased veteran.”
    • Documentation- Written documentation from the parent (or funeral personnel) that state that the student was performing Taps not just attending a funeral held with military honors.
  4.  A student “misses school for the purpose of attending a required court appearance, including traveling for that purpose. Travel days for which the student is considered in attendance are limited to not more than 1 day for travel to and 1 day for travel from the site where the student is required to appear in court.”
    • Documentation- “Acceptable forms of documentation include a copy of a pleading or other document filed with the court, a notice from the court clerk regarding a hearing or trial date, a jury summons, a subpoena, etc.” These documents must show the student’s name and the date of the required court appearance.
  5. A student “misses school for the purpose of serving as a student early voting clerk, if your school district has a policy allowing for this type of excused absence, or misses school for the purpose of serving as an election clerk or student election clerk. Your school district may excuse a student’s absence for this purpose for a maximum of 2 days in a school year.”
    • Documentation- Certain requirements must be met for a student to be eligible for this type of absence, please refer to the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook for specifics. Documentation from the voter registration center with the student’s name and date of service should be required.
  6. A student “misses school for the purpose of appearing at a governmental office to complete paperwork required in connection with the student’s application for US citizenship, including traveling for that purpose. Travel days for which the student is considered in attendance are limited to not more than 1 day for travel to and 1 day for travel from the site of the governmental office.”
    • Documentation- Documentation from the governmental office with the student’s name and date of appearance. This type of absence can only be used for the student’s own citizenship application, not for the parents or siblings’ appointments.
  7. A student “is temporarily absent because of a documented appointment for the student or the student’s child that is with a health care professional licensed, certified, or registered to practice in the United States. A documented appointment with a health care professional includes an appointment of a student diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with a health care practitioner to receive a generally recognized service for persons with that disorder. To be considered temporarily absent, the student must begin classes or return to class on the same day of the appointment. The appointment must be supported by a document, such as a note, from the health care professional. A consultation over the phone or via video (telemedicine) is considered an appointment with a health care professional. An appointment with a school nurse will not count for FSP funding as an appointment with a health care professional.”
    • Documentation- A note from the healthcare provider with the student’s name and date of the appointment. A note from the parent can NOT count for funding purposes. Nor can a student that missed school ALL day, even with a doctor’s note, be counted “present” for funding.
  8. A student who “is absent as the result of a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment that makes the student’s attendance infeasible.”
    • Documentation from a health care professional licensed, certified, or registered to practice in Texas must be provided that specifies the student’s illness and the anticipated period of the student’s absence relating to the illness or related treatment.
  9. A student who “is in his or her junior or senior year of high school and misses school for the purpose of visiting an institution of higher education. Your district 1) must not excuse for this purpose more than 2 days during a student’s junior year and 2 days during a student’s senior year and 2) must adopt a) a policy stating when an absence will be excused for this purpose and b) a procedure for verifying students’ visits to institutions of higher education.”
    • Documentation- A letter from the college/university, or a letter from the parents (if the district determines that this acceptable documentation) with the student’s name and the date of the school visit.
  10. A student who “is 17 years of age or older and pursuing enlistment in a branch of the United States Armed Services or the National Guard. Your district 1) must not excuse the student for this purpose for more than four days of school during the period the student is enrolled in high school and 2) must adopt a) a policy stating when an absence will be excused for this purpose and b) a policy that verifies the student’s activities related to pursuing enlistment in a branch of the Armed Services or the Texas National Guard.”
    • Documentation- A letter from the US Armed Services Branch, or a letter from the parents (if the district determines that this acceptable documentation) with the student’s name and the date of the visit.
  11. A student “is absent to visit with a parent, stepparent, or legal guardian who is an active duty member of the uniformed services and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or is immediately returned from continuous deployment of at least four months outside the locality where the parent, stepparent, or guardian regularly resides. Your district is required to excuse up to 5 days for this purpose in a school year. An excused absence for this purpose must be taken no earlier than 60 days before the date of deployment or no later than 30 days after the date of return from deployment.”
    • Documentation- Must indicate the dates of the parent’s deployment to ensure the dates of the absence fall within the approved timeline.
  12. A student “misses school for the purpose of visiting a driver’s license office to obtain a driver’s license or learner permit. The student must be enrolled in high school and 15 years of age or older. Your district may not excuse the student for more than one day of school during the period the student is enrolled in high school for each purpose (obtaining a driver’s license and obtaining a learner license).”
    • Documentation- Your district must verify the student’s visit to the driver’s license office in accordance with the procedures adopted by your district.

A student that meets the criteria for a “funded” absence may not be penalized for that absence. The district will get funded for the student for that day, and the student should have a reasonable amount of time to make up any missed school work. It is very important that you are correctly mapping your local attendance codes to the correct PEIMS code. Internally, you will want to be accurately tracking these absences, but when it comes to your PEIMS submission, it should appear that these students were “present” for that day, even if they actually are receiving a “funded” absence.

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