Below is an example of a letter to CDE for approval of Electronic Attendance and also an example letter from an auditor.
Sample District Letter to CDE
[Date]
Educational Fiscal Services Consultant
California Department of Education
School Fiscal Services Division
1430 N Street, Suite 3800
Sacramento, CA 95814
To Whom It May Concern:
[Insert district name] is in Compliance with the six parameters required in the letter titled “Notice of Electronic Attendance Accounting and Teacher Signature Alternatives” from Jack O’Connell dated August 3, 2009. [District name] is requesting approval for its “attendance accounting system electronic certification.” [District name] believes the amount of paper and time saved in this process will be beneficial for all [district name] schools.
We are requesting this be approved for all [district name] schools which include:
High Schools (9-12) – [list high schools]
Intermediate Schools (7-8) – [list Intermediate schools]
Elementary Schools (K-6) - [list Elementary schools]
The below information addresses the 6 requirements:
1. Our current system has been approved by CDE.
2. We currently use Aeries student information system. We have configured our settings for all schools to only allow attendance to be taken on the calendar day of the school day that the attendance is a record of.
Below is a screen shot from our settings [insert screen print of Portal Options]:
The “0” days settings above circled in blue show that we have configured our system in a way that will not allow teachers to predate or postdate attendance beyond the school and calendar day of that attendance day.
Our schools have a current attendance roster printed on file that can be distributed, signed and collected in the event of a student information system outage. The attendance staff would collect and use these documents to enter attendance when the power or system is restored. These documents are required to be maintained at the school sites attendance office and available for audit.
3. The system contains the following report that lists the dates of data entry and modifications, and employee identification of the person or persons logging the attendance information into the system [insert Attendance Log report from Aeries Web Teacher Portal]:
4. The above report is accessible for all teachers and administrators and instructions and training have been provided to all staff.
Teachers will be required to print and sign the above attendance log as part of our yearly schedule to insure they know how and where to access this log.
5. [Insert password policy]. Our password policy requires a 5-digit alpha-numeric password changed twice per year. The policy has special rules that do not allow passwords that are insecure e.g. using the word “password” in the password.
Our technology staff has access to modify a password and assign rights to users.
Our policy also prohibits users from sharing their password with other users or writing it down.
6. The letter from our auditor confirming our systems level of integrity is acceptable is attached. The approval was on [enter date].
Thank you for your consideration on this matter,
[District signature]
[District name]
Sample Auditor Letter to CDE
[Date]
Educational Fiscal Services Consultant
California Department of Education
School Fiscal Services Division
1430 N Street, Suite 3800
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Electronic Attendance Accounting – [District name]
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is in response to a request from District personnel to provide your office with a document summarizing the results of our review of the electronic attendance system. As part of the process to obtain CDE approval of an electronic certification process, the District is required to obtain a letter from their independent auditor, indicating the attendance accounting system has been reviewed and that the system’s level of integrity is acceptable.
We visited a selected sample of sites and have determined that the attendance system is operating as designed and that the integrity of the attendance data generated is acceptable. The District system currently has in place all characteristics required for digital teacher signatures.
Please feel free to contact me at [auditors phone number] or [auditors email address] if you need additional information.
Sincerely,
[Auditor signature]
[Auditor name]
[Auditor company name]