Recognizing that student absences can have different reasons and implications, it is important to handle them accordingly. In jmc Office, you have the ability to add or modify reasons for student absences, such as illness or field trip, and decide whether they should be considered as part of a conversation that affects the student's attendance record. You can review the pre-defined reasons, make necessary edits, and expand the list with reasons specific to your school, allowing you to create a customized and comprehensive list of common absences.

Let's add or edit absence reasons to fit your school. Log in to jmc Office and click Period Attendance > Data > Edit Reasons and Cutoffs.

Step One: Click the "Edit" link next to an empty row to add an attendance reason or click the "Edit" link next to a predefined row to edit an existing reason.

Helpful Tip: We suggest using "Unknown" as the reason name for number "0" in order to account for absences that have not yet been determined.

Step Two: Place a checkmark in the "Include in Conversion" checkbox to count selected absences toward the student's half-day and full-day absence calculation.

Helpful Tip: Remove the checkmark from the "Include in Conversion" checkbox to define reasons such as field trips, extra curricular activities or other school events that should not count against a student's attendance record.

Step Three: Enter the name of the absence reason in the "Reason" field to describe the absence.

Step Four: Click the "Update" link to save your changes to the attendance reason or click the "Cancel" link to discard your changes.

Step Five: Click the "Print" button to print a list of your period attendance reasons and attendance conversion cutoffs for future reference.

Helpful Tip: Click the "Retroactive" button to apply changes made to your cutoff numbers and/or reasons to prior attendance records from the start of the current school year.