Revision 10/13/03
Chapter 8C: Attendance Letters
8C.1 Preliminary Procedures
P170 – Control Parameters for Absence Letters
This parameter is used to define the information to be printed on each absence letter generated by R320 – Student Half/Full Day Absence Letter. Multiple versions of this parameter may be defined.
Example 8C-1 P170 Screen
· Version Number Enter a version number. Up to 99 versions may be defined.
· P412 Enter a version number, as defined in P412 – Generic Text for
Letters, to indicate the text to be printed on the absence letter.
Leave this field blank if you do not wish to print text on the letter.
· Lines to Skip Enter a number to indicate the number of lines to skip between
the parent address printed on the letter and the P412 text above.
· Print Address on
Letter (Y/N) Enter “Y” or “N” to indicate whether or not the parent address
should be printed on the absence letter.
· Row/Column Valid positions for Row are 6-74 and valid positions for COL are
1-85. This field is used to position the address for use with
windowed envelopes.
· Print on Letter
Quality (Y/N) Enter “Y” or “N” to indicate whether or not the absence letter
should be printed in letter quality print instead of regular print.
· Print Address
Labels (Y/N) Enter “Y” or “N” to indicate whether or not address labels are to
be generated.
· Use Student or
Parent Address(S/P) Enter “S” or “P”. If “S” is specified, the student’s name and
address from STUD will be printed. If “P” is specified, parent/
guardian address information will be printed in the format
defined on P154 – Parent Label Heading. Address labels will
be generated based on the mailing codes in PADR – Parent/
Guardian Address.
· Print Absence
Data (Y/N) Enter a “Y” or “N” to indicate whether or not absence data is
to be printed on the absence letter.
· Print Course ID or
Abbreviation-R803
(I/A) (R803) does not apply, just leave blank.
· Print Reason/Note
(Y/N) If you are generating absence letters via R320, enter “Y” or “N”
to indicate whether or not the absence reason and note
corresponding to each absence record is to be printed.
 | Print Students’ |
Schedule (Y/N) Enter “Y” or “N” to indicate whether or not the students’
schedule is to be printed on the absence letter.
| Term From/To Enter a term range, as defined in P105 – School Terms, to |
indicate the range of terms the schedule is to be produced for.
| Date of Letter Enter the date that should appear on the letter. If this field |
is left blank then the current date will be used. The date that
is printed on the letter is the same date that will be entered in
SALF record, which will indicate the date the letter was sent.
| Row Valid positions for ROW are 6 – 74. |
| Column Valid positions for COLUMN are 1-85. |
Note:
The fields “ROW:” and “COL:” just below “Date of Letter:” must be
Filled in with some value, or your R320 and R317 will error.
| Suppress Headings Enter a “Y” to suppress the heading information that is |
normally printed on the letter. This is so the letter can be
printed on letterhead paper. If “N” is entered then the
normal heading information will be printed.
P314 – Absence Letter Control Flags
P314 is used in conjunction with the R320 (Student Half/Full Day Absence Letter) to generate absence letters. Control values are used to indicate the number of absences that must be reached or exceeded before an absence letter will be generated. You may use SALF (Student Absence Letter Flags) to display the control values and dates letters were generated for individual students. Once entered, control values MUST NOT BE CHANGED until the B124 (Absence Letter Control Flag Reset) is run to reset all flags. This ensures the dates displayed for letters generated on the SALF correspond to the correct control values.
Example 8C-2 P314 Screen
| Condition: Enter one of the following condition codes. |
C Calculated Days Absent
P Absences in Same Period
S Sum of Absence Types
| Sequence: Enter a sequence number between one and thirteen for the order the records should be kept in. |
| Number of Absences: Enter the number of absences that a student must have before receiving a letter based on the following categories. |
NOTE:
The number of absences must be kept in numerical ascending order.
| Calculated Days Absent: Enter a value from 0 to 99.5 for each of the 13 absence letter flags that have been defined to indicate the number of calculated days a student must be absent before an absent letter is generated by R320 or R317. |
| Absences in the Same Period: Enter a value from 0 to 99 for up to 13 absence letter flags to indicate the number of times a student must be absent in the same period for an absence letter to be generated by R317. |
| Sum of Absence Types: Enter a value from 0 to 99 for up to 13 absence letter flags to indicate the total number of times a student must be absent before an absence letter is generated by the R317 or R320. |
| Absent Types: Enter one to four absent types from P126 (Student Absent Types). The absent types will be matched against the absent types that are entered on the R320 and R317 submission screens. You can have the same number of days absent with different absent types, e.g., you might have two records like the following: |
For Example:
Number Absence Reset for
Seq: Absences: Types: B124:
1. 1 1.0 A U N
2. 2 5.0 A U N
3. 3 5.0 S N
In this case, you could run the R320 once for absence types “A” and “U” and another time for absence type “S”. The flags would be set based on the number of days being in the range and the absence types matching. The order the absences types are entered in P314 does not have to be the same order that they are entered on the R320 and R317 submission screens.
| Reset for B124: Enter “Y” if you want to individually reset absence letter flags when you execute the B124 (Absence Letter Control Flag Reset). When you run the B124 and have set individual flags in P314, then answer the question “Use P314 or Reset All Flags (U/A)” with a “U”. |
P314 Examples:
Example P314 Condition C
Example P314 Condition S
SALF – Student Absence Letter Flags
If a letter from R320 was generated for a student based on the values in P314, all applicable flags are set to “Y” and the date the letter was generated is displayed next to each relevant flag. This screen works in DISPLAY and CHANGE mode.
Example 8C-3 SALF Screen
| Student ID: Enter the ID of the Student whose absence letter flags are to be displayed. |
| Condition: Enter one of the following conditions. |
C Calculated Days Absent
P Absences in Same Period
S Sum of Absence Types
| Number of Absences: The numbers of absences are displayed from P314. This is a display only field. |
| Absence Types: The absence types are displayed from P314. This is a display only field. |
| Letter Sent: A “Y” is placed in this field by R320 or R317 when a letter has been sent for a student. If you change this field to an “N”, the letter Date field will be blanked out. |
| Letter Date: R320 or R317 places the date that the letter was sent in this field. If you blank this field, then an “N” is placed in the corresponding Letter Sent Field. |
B124 – Absence Letter Control Flag Reset
Important Note regarding Attendance Letters: Be sure to run B124 before school starts using last year's date range. The B124 resets flags for the new school year for existing students.
This Batch job is used in connection with SALF (Student Absence Letter Flags) to delete absence letter information corresponding to the previous term or school year. Additionally, it can be used to delete absence letter information for absence letters in a specific date range or to reset (SALF) if a letter was generated in error and there’s a need to rerun the R320/R317.
Example 8C-4 B124 Screen
| Date From: Enter the starting date that letter flags will be reset to “N” on SALF. |
| Date To: Enter the ending date that letter flags will be reset to “N” on SALF. |
| P149 Version: Enter a version number, as defined in P149, if you wish to delete absence letter information for a specific group of students. |
| Use P314 or Reset All Flags (U/A): Enter “U” to use the P314 (Absence Letter Control Flags) to individually reset the absence letter control flags. Make sure you have set the individual flags in P314 before you answer with a “U” of those flags that should be reset. If you enter an “A”, then all of the flags will be reset in SALF no matter how the flags are set in P314. |
P412 – Generic Text for Letters
You may store various versions of text to be used in conjunction with the R320. You might want a letter for excessive absences, one for perfect attendance, etc.
Example 8C-5 P412 screen
Sample Letter created by the R320:
Roll Call High School
06/05/01
THE PARENT/GUARDIAN OF
JOHN DOE
2121 YOURSTREET AVE.
DAYTON OH 45414
Dear Parent/Guardian:
This letter is to notify you of the above student's absences.
Roll Call High School's attendance procedures are explained in
the Student Tracker received by all students during the first few
days of school.
Any student that is absent from class more than 9 times per semester
may receive no credit in those classes missed. Only under excep-
tional circumstances, and those absences excused by the Principal,
will a student be able to receive credit in a class missed more than
9 times per semester.
Below you will find a record detailing your child's absences.
Please discuss the attendance problem with your child. We appreciate your
co-operation. If you have any questions please call Mr. Smith, Ms.
Teacher or Mr. Principal at 123-4567.
Absences Recorded From: 08/28/00 To: 05/31/01
Period
Date: Type Text Am/Pm From To Time
09/19/00 A AUTHORIZED P 12:35
09/25/00 A AUTHORIZED A 10:46
10/17/00 A AUTHORIZED
11/08/00 U UNAUTHORIZ
11/10/00 A AUTHORIZED
11/13/00 A AUTHORIZED
11/27/00 X UN TARDY A 10:20
11/28/00 U UNAUTHORIZ
12/07/00 U UNAUTHORIZ