Attendance is its own module within Synergy and requires you to enter a record for each day of instruction for each student.
Attendance reporting is completed each quarter with a certification of the data in NEO by the Superintendent:
• (Q1) Quarter 1: First Day of School through 9/30
• (Q2) Quarter 2: 10/1 through 12/31
• (Q3) Quarter 3: 1/1 through 3/31
• (Q4) Quarter 4: 4/1 through Last Day of School
The proper format of upload files can always be found on the Synergy Instructions Page of The MEDMS Helpdesk website: https://www.maine.gov/doe/data-reporting/collection/helpdesk/resources/synergy_instructions
Date : YYYMMDD
Field sets the date the attendance record is for. A student will need a record for each day of instruction they are supposed to attend.
Attendance Status: Present , ExcusedAbsence, or Unexcused Absence.
- A student is Present if they attend 50% or more of their instructional day.
Chapter 209, Part 3, Section 4801
Excusable absences: A student’s absence can be excused by a school administrator for the following reasons:
- Personal health, including the person's physical, mental and behavioral health;
- An appointment with a health professional that must be made during the regular school day;
- Observance of a recognized religious holiday when the observance is required during the regular school day;
- A family emergency;
- A planned absence for a personal or educational purpose that has been approved; or
- Education disruption resulting from homelessness, unplanned psychiatric hospitalization, unplanned hospitalization for a medical emergency, foster care placement, youth development center placement or some other out-of-district placement that is not otherwise authorized by either an individualized education plan or other education plan or a superintendent's agreement developed in accordance with section 5205, subsection 2. This paragraph does not apply to a student who is out of school for 10 or more consecutive school days as a result of a planned absence for a reason such as a family event or a medical absence for planned hospitalization or recovery.
Please note that granting these excused absences are at the discretion of the local administrator.
Link to Compulsory attendance statute:
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Asec5001-A.html
Modality: FacetoFace or Remote
Indicates whether that particular day for the student was either classified as an in person instruction day, or a remote instruction day. If a student was exactly 50% Remote and In-Person, the school will want to choose Remote.
Chronic Absenteeism
Maine is now required to report Chronic Absenteeism. This information will also be used by our Every Student Succeeds Act team (ESSA). A student is considered absent if that student is present for less than 50% of his or her instructional day. A student is either considered absent or present for any given day. Less than half is counted as zero; half or more are counted as one. A student is considered chronically absent if a student is absent 10% or more of the days enrolled and is enrolled for a minimum of ten days.
Most students have an instructional day that is defined by the school’s daily schedule, but there may be students for whom this is not the case. For example, a high school senior taking only two classes might have a full instructional day of 3 hours. That student would be absent if present for fewer than 1.5 hours. Your schools may also have specific attendance policies that address the completion of instructional activities off-campus (e.g., distance education, community projects).
Chronic Absenteeism is one of the areas which determines school accountability. A student is defined as being chronically absent if the student is enrolled a minimum of 10 days (60 days for correctional facilities) and absent 10% or more of the days enrolled. All absences (excused and unexcused) are used to make this determination. Excused absences are only used to determine if the student should also be deemed truant.
Reporting Attendance Data
Schools are encouraged to upload their attendance data to the MDOE as frequently as possible. At a minimum, please upload this data quarterly:
- As of Oct 1 (to include July, August, September) – due Oct 15 (Extended to 10/30 for 2021)
- As of Jan 1 (to include October through December) – due Jan 15
- As of April 1 (to include January through March) – due April 15
- As of July 1 (to include April through June) – due July 7 (end-of-year data)
Please note that each quarterly attendance report needs to be certified by the superintendent.
Student Daily Attendance Webinar (recorded 2/28/2022)
Student Daily Attendance Webinar Q&A
NEO Student Daily Attendance Training Video (recorded 2/11/2022)
Daily Attendance Details Report Instructions
Daily Attendance Student Lookup Instructions
Daily Attendance Summary Report Instructions