When you utilize the Parent Portal, you can allow parents to schedule absences through their portals. This option is available regardless of whether you track absences or track attendance in Jackrabbit.
If you track absences, you'll have the option of offering makeups for missed classes. If you do offer makeups, you can also allow parents to schedule makeups in the Parent Portal.
There are several settings throughout Jackrabbit that control a parent's ability to schedule absences and makeups in the Parent Portal; review the various settings.
In this article we'll specifically cover the Parent Portal Absence & Makeup Settings, located in the Organization Defaults, from Tools (menu) > Edit Settings.
Expand each section to learn about the related settings.
Parent Portal Absence Settings
These settings control how absences display in the Parent Portal on the Absences (or Attendance) tab in the student record and on the Absences & Makeups page (from the hamburger menu). They define whether or not you will allow parents to record absences in their portals and control when they can be scheduled.
| Absences display rules | |
 | What Absences Would You Like Your Parents to See? Select which absences you want to display in the Parent Portal:
An absence is displayed for each class a student missed; if several classes were missed on one day, each class counts as an absence. |
| Allow parents to record absences? | |
 | Allow Parents to Record Absences via the Parent Portal Control whether or not parents can schedule absences for their students through their portals. When you allow parents to record absences in the Parent Portal, access to an Absences & Makeups page is added to the hamburger menu in their portals. This page summarizes all absences for all students in the family and a button opens a modal for the parent to schedule absences. |
 | Scheduling Window for Absences If you are allowing your parents to record absences in their portals, do you require advance notice?
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Parent Portal Makeup Settings
If you offer makeups (when tracking absences), these settings define whether or not your parents can schedule makeups in their portals, outline the rules for which classes will be available for makeup, determine when makeups can be scheduled, and specify if parents can cancel makeups they've scheduled.
These settings are dependent on the selections made in your Makeup Settings; if they are set to "Never Allow Makeups", the settings covered below are hidden.
| Allow parents to schedule makeups? | |
 | Allow Parents to Schedule Makeups via the Parent Portal Control whether or not parents can schedule absences for their students through their portals. |
 | Only Allow Makeups in Classes with at Least One Student Enrolled Set this to yes to avoid a makeup being booked in a private lesson that has an opening. |
| Makeup class similarity rules | |
 | These rules control which classes will display when a parent is scheduling a makeup in their portal. When these are all set to No, all classes with adjusted openings will display. Each setting asks the question "Does the makeup class have to have the same xxx as the class that my student was absent from?" Example: If a student was absent from a class with a Category 1 = "Dance", and the similarity rule Same Category 1? = Yes, the only classes that will display for the parent to choose a makeup class from will be those classes with a Category 1 = "Dance". |
| Makeup scheduling rules | |
 | Makeup Date Lead Time Use this scheduling rule to prevent parents from scheduling makeups at the last minute.
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 | Scheduling Window for Makeups Do you require that makeups are scheduled within a specified time frame? The scheduling window refers to how far the date of the makeup class is from the current date.
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 | Scheduling Window for Future Absences Use this scheduling rule to prevent parents from scheduling a makeup for an absence that is too far in the future. The scheduling window refers to how far the date of the absence is from the current date.
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 | Can Inactive Students Schedule Makeups? Control whether or not makeups can be scheduled in the Parent Portal for students who are not currently enrolled in classes, i.e., are inactive. |
| Makeup notifications | |
 | Receive notification emails when makeups are scheduled? Whenever a makeup is scheduled in the Parent Portal, Jackrabbit will immediately (and always) send an email notification to the class instructor, the primary family contact, and to the address related to the Portal Login ID that scheduled the makeup. Set this field to Yes to send an additional email notification to the email address listed, which advises that a makeup has been scheduled. |
| Makeup success message | |
 | Provide a custom message to parents after a makeup is scheduled? Set this to Yes to customize a confirmation that will display to advise the parent they were successful in scheduling their makeup class.
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| Cancellation rules | |
 | Can Makeups be Canceled? Control whether or not makeups can be canceled in the Parent Portal. |
 | Cancellation Window If you are allowing your parents to cancel makeups in their portals, do you require cancellations to be done with advance notice?
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