A Northern Ontario newspaper writes about its local school district modernizing how it’s taking attendance and managing parent-generated planned absences.

Edsby customer Algoma District School Board (ADSB) is now beginning to take and manage attendance from within the Edsby digital learning platform for K-12, writes the Sault Star newspaper.

The 10,000-student district centered around Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in Northern Ontario was previously using the Trillium student information system for attendance.

Parents in the district are being shown how they can now use Edsby to let school staff know their child won’t be going to school on a given day, and to tell whether their child has been marked present or late for any of their classes.

“Every week I have more parents joining.”

-Carol Lucio, principal of Anna McCrea Public School in Sault Ste. Marie

In an article in the Sault Star newspaper, ADSB superintendent of business Joe Santa Maria said the district was “taking it slowly so that we can build and grow that engagement piece within schools, but understand that different people will be at different stages of the implementation process.” He said his goal is to ensure use of Edsby is “slow and steady as opposed to rushed and rammed through the system.”

In a meeting with board trustees, Carol Lucio, principal of Anna McCrea Public School in Sault Ste. Marie, praised Edsby as improving communication with the parents of the nearly 200 students at her school.

“Every week I have more parents joining,” she told trustees.

Read the whole article here.