As of today, Jan. 7, 2013, Parkway West began Automated Attendance. This program calls parents at the end of the school day if their child has an unexcused absence in at least one class period that day.

“Automated attendance will force students to take responsibility for their attendance. They must be on top of it,” Attendance Secretary Ann Lehmann said.

Parents and students have had the option to check attendance via Infinite Campus. However, that is not always the most effective option.

“It will help because a lot parents do not check Infinite Campus attendance daily. It is a quick and easy way to contact parents and make them aware of their students’ attendance,” Senior Class Principal Beth Middendorf said.

Obviously there is room for human error in this system. If a teacher accidentally marks a student absent when they are present, the absence will get fixed in the system.

“The student should talk to their teacher to fix the absence; it can easily be fixed,” Middendorf said.