• Student Attendance Accounting Handbook 

    Contains the official attendance accounting rules and regulations for all public school districts in Texas, and it is the official standard of required information for all attendance accounting systems, whether manual or automated.  It is the district’s responsibility to ensure that the basis used to record the process of attendance accounting data meets this standard. 19TAC §129.21(e)No school district official (or any other person in your school district) has the authority, either implied or actual, to change or alter any rules, regulations, or reporting requirements specified in this handbook. 

    The Student Attendance Accounting Handbook (SAAH): 

    • Describes the Foundation School Program eligibility requirements of all students;
    • Prescribes the minimum standards for all attendance accounting systems, whether manual or automated;
    • Lists the documentation requirements for attendance audit purposes;
    • Details the responsibilities of all district personnel involved in student attendance accounting.

     

    This manual also covers an array of information concerning the processing of student attendance accounting. Topics will include official attendance time, attendance reconciliation, six weeks attendance verifications, audit documentation and checklists. Material contained in this manual is based on the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook, the PEIMS Data Standards, Clint ISD best practices and district policy.   

    As required by the Texas Education Agency, this procedures manual must include the following information: 

    • How and when teachers are to take official attendance 
    • How attendance is entered into the attendance accounting system  
    • How student membership is to be reconciled between the teacher rosters and the attendance 
    • accounting database  
    • How the district will maintain attendance accounting records (including computerized records, period absence slips, and official calendar) after the completion of the school year. 

     

    General Audit Requirements 

    The district must make available and provide to the Financial Audits Division of the TEA copies of all required attendance records within 20 working days of written request by the agency. Failure to provide all required attendance records (specific program[s] and/or grant[s]) will result in the TEA’s retaining 100% of the district’s Foundation School Program (FSP) allotment for the undocumented attendance for the school year(s) for which records have been requested. 

    Teacher Responsibility 

    Who initially records an absence is responsible for the accuracy of the report and attests to the validity of the data with his or her signature. 

    Attendance Clerk Responsibility  

    Generating absence summaries and transcribing the absences or coding information into the accounting system are responsible for adhering to all laws and regulations pertaining to the student attendance accounting.  Attendance clerk must sign an affidavit attesting that the data he or she has entered are true and correct to the best of his/her knowledge. 

    Principal Responsibility 

    For reviewing his/her respective Campus Summary Reports for completeness and accuracy.  By signing the Campus Summary Report, a principal affirms that he/she has checked, or caused to be checked, the accuracy and authenticity of the attendance data.