Correcting Attendance Records

Learn how to add, edit, or delete attendance records using the Attendance & Check-in features on the web and mobile app.

Sabrina avatar
Written by Sabrina
Updated over a week ago

Use brightwheel's Attendance and Check-in features to make sure that current and historical attendance data is accurate, even if an attendance action is forgotten or missed.

ℹ️ If you require parent signatures during check-in for licensing purposes and need to retroactively collect these, please see the Correct Attendance Records that need a Signature section below for steps on how to do this.


Add Historical Attendance Records

With busy mornings, we know that parents or staff may occasionally forget to complete check-in, or check-out for students.

If just adding missing check-outs, proceed to Add Missing Check-Outs steps below. If an entire day of check-in and check-out records are missing, staff or administrators can add the historical data using Attendance mode by taking the steps below under Add Entire Day of Missing Check-in and Out Records.

Add Missing Check-Outs

If a parent or staff forgets to check a child out, we recommend you use the Daily Attendance Summary report to add this missing record. This option allows admins to find and add missing check-outs in bulk. It also ensures parents are not notified that their child has been checked out.

To find out more about how to do this, check out our Daily Attendance Summary Report help center resource.

Add Entire Day of Missing Attendance

On the App

  1. Log into a staff or administrator account on the brightwheel app

  2. Select the Room where the check-in should have occurred

  3. Tap Attendance

  4. Tap on the student or students' profile(s), and then tap Check in at the bottom

  5. Tap on the student or students' profile(s) again, and then tap Check out at the bottom

  6. Exit Attendance mode by tapping Close

  7. Tap on the student's profile

  8. Scroll through the activity list to find the newly added check-in and check-out activity records

  9. Tap on the check-in record, and select Change Time

  10. Update the dates/times accordingly > Tap Update Time to save

  11. Tap on the check-out record, and select Change Time

  12. Update the dates/times accordingly > Tap Update Time to save
    Please Note: Check-in/out records cannot be logged for a future time or date

  13. Tap Update Time to save changes on the record

On the Web:

  1. Under My School navigate to the Students tab OR the Rooms tab from the purple dashboard menu

    • If on the Student tab, optionally filter for students by Attendance Status, Room, Student Name, or Enrollment Status

    • If on the Rooms tab, click into the desired room and optionally filter by Student or Enrollment Status

  2. If adding a check-in, or check-out record

    • Click Check-in in the desired room

    • Click Check-out in the same room

  3. If marking absent, click Absent next to the student in the desired room

  4. Navigate to the student's activity Feed

  5. Locate the applicable attendance record

  6. Click Edit and update the date, time, and Staff Only option (as needed)

  7. Add any applicable notes

  8. Click Save

Please note: Adding attendance records on the web will notify parents of a new check-in/out record logged. If you do not wish to notify parents, you'll want toLog Attendance on the Mobile App and ensure the Share with Parents setting is disabled.


Edit & Delete Existing Attendance Records

If you need to delete or adjust the date/time of a check-in or out record, staff and administrators can quickly do this through their brightwheel account on the app, or web.

Please note: If a student is currently checked in and you are adjusting a check out record by changing the date and time to match a missing, historical attendance record, you will receive an error if you try to adjust the check-out record for the child to the previous date. You will need to delete the check-in record logged that day BEFORE you add & adjust the check-out record. Please refer to the Add Missing Check-Outs section if you are adding a historial, missing check-out record.

On the Web

Administrators, managers, and staff can edit the date and time of Attendance actions at any time through the student's activity Feed on the web. Additionally, if a student is accidentally checked in or out, that incorrect record can be deleted

  1. Log in to your brightwheel account on the web

  2. Navigate to the student's activity Feed

  3. Locate the applicable attendance record

  4. Click Edit

    • If editing - update the date, time, and Staff Only option (as needed)

    • If deleting - click the Delete Activity option in the bottom left corner to immediately delete the record

  5. Add any applicable notes

  6. Click Save

Administrators can also edit and delete errors in attendance records all in one spot by using the Daily Attendance Summary Report on the web instead!

On the App

Administrators and staff can edit the date and time of Attendance actions at any time on the mobile app. Additionally, if a student is accidentally checked in or out, that incorrect record can be deleted on the mobile app.

  1. Log in to brightwheel on the app

  2. Navigate to the student's activity Feed

  3. Tap on the Attendance record that needs to be corrected

    • If editing - click Edit Drop Off Form or Change Time to update accordingly

    • If deleting - click the red Delete option to immediately delete the record

Click Cancel to exit the popup and make no changes


Correct Attendance Records that need a Signature

If you need a parent signature for a missing check-in or out record, you will need to work with one of the parents or guardians in order to log a bunch of check-ins/outs with signatures. Then, you can adjust the date/time of those records.

In order to determine how many check-in or out signatures are missing from the student's attendance record, you will first run a Check-in Report.

  1. Navigate to the Reports tab from the purple dashboard menu

  2. Under the Room Reports section, select Check-in

  3. Select the desired Date Range

  4. Apply the filter for the Student's name if needed

  5. Click Apply

  6. You will now see the missing signatures on the report

  7. Calculate the number of missing signatures needed under the check-in and check-out columns

Once you have run the Check-in Report and have determined the number of missing signatures, request time with the parent or guardian of the student to complete the process by following these steps:

  1. Have the parent or guardian repeatedly check the child in and out the number of times you found on the report (with a signature each time) via Kiosk Mode or with the QR Code.

Once you have the number of signatures that were missing on the report, you will edit these new times through the Student's Feed by following these steps:

  1. Click into the student's Feed under their Student Profile, and tap on the new Check-in/out Records that you've just recorded

  2. Tap Edit, and select the correct date and time for the day that was missed according to the Check-in Report

  3. Remove any duplicate attendance records of check-ins or outs recorded by a Staff Member

This will mean that the student's check-in records for that day will show the updated times that you've recorded, as will your check-in report, attendance report, and ratio report. We recommend running a new Check-in report to ensure all dates are now covered with a signature.


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