Reporting student absences just got a little easier for parents/guardians of students at an east end elementary school. If deemed successful, the tool will be used throughout the board beginning in September.
A pilot project launched Monday at Holy Trinity Catholic School involving the SafeArrival app from School Messenger, intended to reduce the time it takes to report absences, as well as for the school to verify absences and for staff to respond to unexplained absences.
“Currently, parents are able to call the school and leave a message to report an absence. School staff retrieve this information and follow up with any unconfirmed absences. This is a manual process,” explained Tracey McLennan, Wellington Catholic School Board’s associate director of corporate services, in an email.
The app allows parents/guardians to alert the school of an upcoming absence, be it due to a short-term sickness or a planned family vacation, etc. Upon submitting the notice, an email confirmation is automatically sent to the submitter and others registered to the account.
In addition to the app, adults reporting a student absence can also use the School Messenger website or call an automated phone system.
“These advanced notices are matched electronically with the absence taken in the classroom and these are automatically confirmed,” said McLennan. “If there are still unconfirmed absences, the system simultaneously contacts all parents of the absent students using the parent’s preferred method of communication (home number, cell number, app, etc.).
“This rapid communication allows the school to identify unconfirmed absent students very quickly and concentrate on ensuring the safety of all students.”
While officials at the Upper Grand District School Board will be watching the results, they’re not currently considering implementing an absence-reporting app, said spokesperson Heather Loney.
