Overview
Before Edia can start monitoring attendance and reaching out to families, administrators need to configure a few school-level settings. This guide walks through the key decisions: how attendance is calculated, which codes trigger outreach, which periods to monitor, and how much AI autonomy you want so your setup matches your school's policies from day one.
Need-to-Know
This article covers the configuration steps administrators complete before going live with Edia Attendance. Use this guide for:
Initial school setup and onboarding
Updating attendance codes or calculation methods
Adjusting how often and when the AI sends messages
Configuring review levels for AI-generated messages
Prerequisites
Admin-level Edia account with settings management permission
SIS integration already connected by your IT team
Rostered students, parent contact info, and school calendar data flowing in from your SIS
Step-by-Step: Configuring Attendance Settings
1. Access Attendance Settings
From the left navigation, click Attendance.
Click Configuration.
2. Select Your Attendance Calculation Method
Choose how Edia calculates whether a student is present, absent, or partial for the day.
Method | How It Works |
Daily Attendance | One period counts for the whole day |
AM/PM Attendance | Missing both = absent; missing one = half-day |
Percent of Periods | Based on the % of class periods attended |
Time-Based Cutoff | Present if attending any period before the cutoff |
If no method is configured, Edia defaults to absent if a student misses 3 or more periods.
3. Configure Attendance Codes
Open the Attendance Codes tab.
Mark which codes count as "unexplained" — these are the codes that trigger automatic parent outreach
Choose which codes are AI-enabled — the AI can only apply codes you've approved
New codes default to Staff Use Only
4. Suppress Non-Instructional Periods
Periods like lunch or study hall can be suppressed so they don't trigger outreach or affect chronic absence calculations.
Note: Suppression settings are currently coupled — periods suppressed from outreach are also excluded from chronic absence calculations.
5. Set Your Notification Delay
The default waiting period is 60 minutes between when an unexplained absence is detected and when the AI texts the family. This is configurable per school. This setting can be adjusted by your PLM or CSM.
6. Save Your Changes
Click Save changes at the bottom of the Settings page. If you need to start over, click Revert changes.
Tips & Troubleshooting
I don't see a setting mentioned here Some settings are district-level and may be locked for school admins. Reach out to your Professional Learning Manager or email support@edia.app for help.
Our attendance codes changed mid-year Update them in the Attendance Codes tab and click Save. New codes will only apply going forward — existing records keep their original codes.