Adding Absence Requests in Family Access

You can add absence requests for your child to indicate a day or range of days your student will not be in school. This is helpful so you can add absence requests for your child via Family Access instead of being required to call the school to enter an absence request on your behalf. For example, if your child will be out sick for the day, or if your child will be gone due to a family vacation, you can enter an absence request to indicate these details.

Note: Skyward does not have access to your information. The various areas you have access to within the software are based on configurations set by your system administrator; please contact your child's school with questions.

Scroll past the video to access the step-by-step instructions.

Before you begin

  • Absence requests must be enabled administratively.

Audio Transcript

Entering absence requests through Family Access enables you to alert your child's school of an absence without waiting for the office to answer a call. This can be done for a specific day in case your child is sick or for a range of days such as if they'll be gone for a family vacation. Within Family Access, we'll select the Attendance tile. Let's verify that we're on the Absence Requests tab. We'll add an absence request now. The Start Date and End Date fields can be used to identify the date or dates that this student will be absent. Both fields default to today's date but can be modified if needed. Since Henry has a doctor's appointment today, we'll leave them as they are. The All Day box defaults as checked but can be unchecked if this student will only be absent for a certain period of time for the day. If they'll be gone for the entire day, we can leave this box checked. Let's select Doctor/Dentist Visit as the Attendance Reason to define why Henry will be absent. It's important to note that this field only displays if Attendance Reason codes have been administratively selected. The options available for selection are also based on administrative configuration. A comment can be entered into the Guardian Comment box to provide further information about this absence. For this example, we'll note that Henry has a doctor's appointment. If we'd like to add an attachment relating to this absence request, we could do so now. Since we won't be adding any attachments, we'll leave it as is. The Copy Absence Request to checkboxes allow us to copy this absence request to any of Henry's siblings if they'll also be absent. For example, if we'll be going on a family vacation and would like to copy this attendance to all our children, we could check the box next to each student as needed. It's important to note that this field only displays if we have more than one child and absence requests are configured administratively for each entity each child is enrolled in. Since only Henry will be absent, we'll leave them unchecked. Once everything looks correct, we can save this request. On this screen, we can see the absence request we just submitted display. Successfully entering absence requests through Family Access can alert the office of when your children will not be in school without you needing to call.

Entering absence requests through Family Access enables you to alert your child's school of an absence without waiting for the office to answer a call. This can be done for a specific day in case your child is sick or for a range of days such as if they'll be gone for a family vacation. Within Family Access, we'll select the Attendance tile. Let's verify that we're on the Absence Requests tab. We'll add an absence request now. The Start Date and End Date fields can be used to identify the date or dates that this student will be absent. Both fields default to today's date but can be modified if needed. Since Henry has a doctor's appointment today, we'll leave them as they are. The All Day box defaults as checked but can be unchecked if this student will only be absent for a certain period of time for the day. If they'll be gone for the entire day, we can leave this box checked. Let's select Doctor/Dentist Visit as the Attendance Reason to define why Henry will be absent. It's important to note that this field only displays if Attendance Reason codes have been administratively selected. The options available for selection are also based on administrative configuration. A comment can be entered into the Guardian Comment box to provide further information about this absence. For this example, we'll note that Henry has a doctor's appointment. If we'd like to add an attachment relating to this absence request, we could do so now. Since we won't be adding any attachments, we'll leave it as is. The Copy Absence Request to checkboxes allow us to copy this absence request to any of Henry's siblings if they'll also be absent. For example, if we'll be going on a family vacation and would like to copy this attendance to all our children, we could check the box next to each student as needed. It's important to note that this field only displays if we have more than one child and absence requests are configured administratively for each entity each child is enrolled in. Since only Henry will be absent, we'll leave them unchecked. Once everything looks correct, we can save this request. On this screen, we can see the absence request we just submitted display. Successfully entering absence requests through Family Access can alert the office of when your children will not be in school without you needing to call.


  1. Sign in to the software using your assigned username and password.
    Step Information

    If you have access to more than one portal, you may need to click the Down Arrow icon next to the House icon and select Family Access from the Home drop-down menu.

    Expected Result

    You see the Family Access tile screen, where you can view tiles for all of your children.

  2. Select the Attendance tile.
    Step Information

    You can select a tile under a specific child’s name or under the View All Students heading. If you wish to view a different child’s information, you can do so by selecting that child’s name at the top left of the screen.

    Alternatively, you can navigate to Menu > Family Access > Attendance, and then select Current Attendance under Features.

    Expected Result

    You see the Student Attendance screen.

  3. Select the Absence Requests tab near the top left of the screen.
    Expected Result

    You see existing absence requests for your child.

  4. Under the Year to Date Absence Requests heading, click Add Absence Request near the right of the screen.
    Expected Result

    You see the Add Absence Request screen.

    The image below displays an example absence request record for a student absence due to illness.

  5. Complete the appropriate fields.
    Step Information

    You must complete required fields before you can save your work. Fields marked as Optional in the documentation are not required to complete.

    1. Verify the Start Date or enter the correct date if necessary.
      Step Information

      This defaults to the current date, but can be modified as needed.

    2. Verify the End Date or enter the correct date if necessary.
      Step Information

      This defaults to the current date, but can be modified as needed.

    3. Optional: Verify the box for All Day is checked or unchecked.
      Step Information

      This box defaults to checked, but can be unchecked if necessary.

      Expected Result

      If you left the box checked, skip to sub-step f.

      If you unchecked the box, the Start Time and End Time fields display. Continue to the next sub-step.

    4. Enter the Start Time or click the Clock icon to enter the current time.
    5. Enter the End Time or click the Clock icon to enter the current time.
    6. Enter an Attendance Reason or click the Down Arrow icon to choose from the drop-down list.
      Step Information

      This field only displays if Attendance Reason codes have been selected administratively.

    7. Enter a Guardian Comment.
      Step Information

      For example, if you wish to indicate that this request is due to vacation, you could enter Family Vacation.

      This field may be required depending on administrative configuration.

      If you wish to add an attachment, continue to the next sub-step.

      If you do not wish to add an attachment, skip to sub-step i.

    8. Optional: Click Add Attachments and select the file you wish to attach to the absence request.
      Step Information

      You can also drag and drop files instead of using the Choose Files icon if you wish.

      Expected Result

      You see a checkmark indicating the upload was successful.

    9. Check the box for Copy Absence Request to for each child who should also have the absence request added.
      Step Information
      This field only displays if you have more than one child and absence requests are configured administratively for each Entity your children are enrolled in.

      You can use the Select checkbox if you wish to check or uncheck all options.

      For example, if you are going on vacation and would like to copy the attendance to all of your children, you would check the Select box. Alternatively, if one of your children is sick and the other is not, you would leave the box unchecked.

  6. Click Save near the top left of the screen to save your work.
    Expected Result

    You return to the Absence Requests tab of the Student Attendance screen.

    You can make modifications to the absence request using the Edit option if necessary. If the absence request is no longer needed, you can click Delete. Both options are located to the left of each absence request you entered.

    You can make modifications to or delete the absence request until it is processed administratively. If you submitted an absence request for a future date that has been processed administratively, you can update the values in the Attendance Reason and Guardian Comment fields, or delete the request. If you submitted an absence request for a past date that has been processed administratively, you can update the values in the Attendance Reason and Guardian Comment fields, but you can no longer delete the request.

Result(s)

You have successfully added an absence request to your child in Family Access.