Dismissal Tracker — The Guardian Experience

Overview

Parents and guardians have their own view of the Dismissal Tracker. Rather than seeing the full school dashboard, they see a focused page for their child that shows the active dismissal plan and lets them make updates. This article explains how the guardian experience works, both from the parent’s perspective and from the perspective of school staff who support parents.

Is the Guardian View Enabled at Your School?

The ability for parents to view and edit their child’s dismissal plan is controlled by a school-level setting: Allow Parents to Update Dismissal.

• If this setting is on, parents can log in and set or change their child’s dismissal plan
• If this setting is off, parents can view their child’s dismissal information but cannot make changes — only staff can edit

This setting is configured by your school administrator. If you are a parent and you cannot edit your child’s plan, contact the school directly.

How Parents Access the Dismissal Tracker

1. Through the Main Navigation

When a parent is logged in, the Dismissal Tracker appears in the main navigation (if the school has it enabled). Clicking it takes them directly to their child’s page.

2. Via a “Missing Plan” Message from the School

When a student has no dismissal plan on file, school staff can send an automated message to the parent. That message contains a direct link to the Dismissal Tracker for the specific child. The parent does not need to navigate — they click the link and land directly on the setup page.

When a parent arrives this way for the first time, they will see a guided setup prompt that walks them through setting a default dismissal plan. This onboarding prompt only appears once.

What Parents See

Active Default Summary

At the top of the page is a summary of the child’s current long-term default — the standing plan that applies on a typical school day. This might say something like “Bus (Route 14)” or “Pickup.”

If no default is set, a red alert banner appears prompting the parent to set one. This banner makes it easy for parents to act quickly when the school sends them a missing-plan notification.

Monthly Calendar

Below the default summary is a monthly calendar that shows the child’s dismissal for each school day in the month. Key features:

• Weekends are skipped — only school days appear
• Each day is color-coded by dismissal type (Bus, Pickup, Walk, etc.)
• Days with no plan set are shown as empty/missing
• The parent can navigate forward and backward by month using the arrows

Editing a Day

Parents can click on any day in the calendar to open an edit sheet for that date. From there they can:

• Set a long-term default that applies going forward from that date
• Set a temporary override for specific dates

Note: Parents cannot enroll students in programs. Program enrollment is managed by school staff only.

How Parents Set a Long-Term Default

1. Click on a date in the calendar (or use the red alert banner if no default is set)
2. In the edit sheet, select Long-Term
3. Choose the dismissal type (Bus, Pickup, Walk, Bike, Other, Early Dismissal)
4. Optionally add a note (e.g., a bus number or a contact name)
5. Tap Save

When a new long-term default is saved, the previous one is automatically closed out. There is always only one active open-ended default per student — parents do not need to manually delete the old one first.

How Parents Set a Temporary Change

Temporary changes let parents communicate a one-time or short-term shift in their child’s plan without changing the long-term default.

1. Click on the specific date in the calendar
2. In the edit sheet, select Temporary
3. Choose the dismissal type
4. Select the date(s) the change applies to:
   • A single date
   • A range of dates
   • A repeating pattern (e.g., every Wednesday for 3 weeks)
5. Tap Save

After the temporary period ends, the long-term default automatically resumes. No additional action is needed.

What Parents Cannot Do

For Staff: Supporting Parents with the Dismissal Tracker

Sending a “Missing Plan” Notification

If a student has no dismissal plan on file, you can notify the parent via the Message Missing feature. This sends the parent a message with a direct link to their child’s Dismissal Tracker page. The system tracks who has been messaged, so you can see which parents have already been contacted and avoid sending duplicate messages.

Setting a Plan on Behalf of a Parent

If a parent contacts the school by phone or in person and asks you to update their child’s plan, staff can do this from the Students tab. Edit the student’s dismissal and choose the appropriate save mode. The History tab will log the change with your name so there is a clear record.

What Happens When Both Staff and a Guardian Set a Default?

The most recently saved long-term default takes effect. There is no conflict — the system always uses the current active default regardless of whether it was set by staff or a guardian. Changes made by either party are visible in the History tab.

For Staff: The Guardian Onboarding Prompt

When a guardian arrives at the Dismissal Tracker for the first time via a “missing plan” message link, they see a special onboarding prompt that:

1. Explains why they received the message
2. Shows them their child’s current dismissal status (which is “not set”)
3. Prompts them to set a long-term default right away
4. Walks them through the available types

This prompt only appears once per guardian per student. After they dismiss it or save a plan, it does not appear again.

Troubleshooting Common Parent Questions

“I can’t find the Dismissal Tracker”

• Make sure the parent is logged in to their account
• Confirm the school has the Dismissal Tracker feature enabled
• If they received a link via message, direct them to click that link directly

“I see my child’s plan but can’t change it”

• Check whether Allow Parents to Update is enabled in the school settings
• If it is turned off, staff will need to make changes on the parent’s behalf

“I set a default but it still shows as missing”

• Ask the parent to refresh the page — the summary at the top should update immediately after saving
• Confirm the save was successful (the app should show a success message after saving)
• If the issue persists, staff can verify whether a default exists by checking the student’s History in the staff dashboard

“The calendar shows ‘missing’ for today even though I set a plan”

• If the student is marked absent in the attendance system, the dismissal will show as Absent regardless of what the plan says — this is expected behavior and does not mean the plan was lost
• The plan will resume on the next non-absent school day