Attendance Status & Rules Reference
Goal: Understand every attendance status, the 2-tardy rule, absence limits, and how the system calculates totals.
Attendance Statuses
| Status | Code | Counts Toward Absences? |
|---|---|---|
| Present | Present | No |
| Absent | Absent | Yes — +1 absence |
| Absent Excused | Absent_Excused | No |
| Tardy | Tardy | Indirectly — 2 tardies = 1 absence |
| Tardy Excused | Tardy_Excused | No |
The 2-Tardy Rule
Every 2 unexcused tardies are automatically converted to 1 absence.
This conversion is computed by VoTech, not manually entered. The system counts all unexcused "Tardy" marks for a student in a given cohort and divides by 2 (rounded down).
Example:
- A student has 5 unexcused tardies and 0 direct absences
- Computed absences from tardies: 5 ÷ 2 = 2 (rounded down)
- Total absence count: 2
Only unexcused tardies count. "Tardy Excused" marks are excluded from this calculation.
Absence Limits
VoTech enforces a maximum 2 absences per cohort:
| Absences | Status | Action Required |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Good standing | None |
| 1 | Needs make-up | Schedule and complete 1 make-up session |
| 2 | At limit | One more absence triggers rollover advisory |
| 3+ | Must rollover | Student may need to move to the next cohort |
Make-Up Sessions
A make-up session offsets 1 absence. When recorded:
- The student's effective absence count decreases by 1
- The make-up is logged with date, notes, and who recorded it
Policy Overrides
Special circumstances (medical, family emergency) can override the standard rules. Overrides are:
- Logged in the audit trail
- Visible on the student's detail page
- Tracked for grant reporting accuracy
Correction Window
| Role | Can Correct Within |
|---|---|
| Case Manager | 72 hours of the session |
| Director | 72 hours of the session |
| Coordinator | 72 hours of the session |
| Asst. Coordinator | 72 hours of the session |
| Volunteer | 72 hours (own records only) |
| Super Admin | Any time (no restriction) |
All corrections are logged with the old value, new value, who made the change, and when.
How Totals Are Calculated
For a given student in a given cohort:
Direct absences = count of "Absent" marks
Tardy absences = floor(count of "Tardy" marks ÷ 2)
Make-up credits = count of completed make-up sessions
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Effective absences = Direct absences + Tardy absences − Make-up credits"Absent Excused" and "Tardy Excused" marks do not appear in this calculation.