Indian Prairie School District 204 rolled out a new procedure for student attendance, sending an email to IPSD families that includes information about new changes that have now begun.
Parents can easily notify the school about the student’s absence along with a valid reason, without needing to call the school’s phone line and go through the automated menu options. Reporting the student’s absence on ParentVUE makes informing the school more convenient. These changes aim to make reporting an absence simpler and faster.
Superintendent of IPSD 204, Adrian Talley sent out an email that mentioned a list of reasons why students can be absent from school and which reasons would be considered valid or invalid according to Section 26-2a of the school code. Parents can select valid reasons for absence, such as illness, religious holidays, mental health days, family matters, or other circumstances.
Assistant Superintendent of Elementary and Early Childhood, Laura Rosenblum further explained that this also helps parents stay informed about the procedure of reporting absences.
“It’s just helping out our parents become informed, so that they understand what is considered a valid cause of absence according to the state,” Rosenblum said.
With the increased use of technology, IPSD 204 wants to make it as simple as possible for parents to navigate. In ParentVUE, guardians can navigate through attendance, select the dropdown menu options, and choose the reason for the student’s cause of absence.
“It’s a little bit faster and easier when parents use ParentVUE, just because then it’s already in there, versus like they have to listen to the whole recording on the phone line,” Rosenblum said.
Although this procedure is mainly meant to make reporting absence easier for parents, IPSD 204 still encourages students to come to school whenever they can, as being present consistently is important to their learning growth. Nicole Howard, the Assistant Superintendent for high schools, emphasizes the importance of consistent attendance so students don’t miss crucial information provided in class.
“Attendance is really important, and when you miss, you can get your work off of Google Classroom,” Howard said.
