How to report my Child's absence

How to report an absence:

In some instances, students may need to be away from school for illness, appointments or other events. Parents and guardians can now use the new SafeArrival system to report daily and extended student absences in one of three ways:

School Messenger App

1. Use your mobile device to download and install the free SchoolMessenger blue app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, the SchoolMessenger website portal, or from within the LDSB mobile app.

2. The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.

3. Select Attendance, then select Report an Absence and follow the prompts.

SchoolMessenger SafeArrival Website Portal

1. Visit the SchoolMessenger website portal.

2. The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.

3. Select Attendance, then Report an Absence and follow the prompts

Toll-free telephone

1. Call 1-855-257-9349 toll-free to report an absence using the automated phone system.

2. Follow the prompts.

These options are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time using any one of these methods.

Please do not call the school directly to report your student's absence.

If your student is marked absent and the absence hasn’t been reported in advance, our new SafeArrival system will attempt to reach the student’s priority contact by telephone to confirm the absence. You can enter the reason for the absence during this call. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, school office staff will follow up.

Reporting lates: Parents/guardians are instructed to report late arrivals as a full-day absence. When a student arrives, they are expected to sign in at office and staff make the amendment in our student information system. When a student leaves early, again they are expected to sign out (with parental permission) and again the amendment is made in our system. This method allows us to best track student attendance to ensure safety.

The new SafeArrival system makes it easier for you to report your student’s absence, reduces the time it takes for our school staff to verify student attendance, and responds to unexpected or unplanned student absences. This time savings makes it faster and more efficient to account for all students and their safety.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation as you learn this new system.