This filter identifies students who have reached a specified number of absences in the current semester. It uses the new Division Calendar table so the filter automatically scopes to the current marking period and semester, with no date editing required at the start of each term.
When to use
Schools often want to notify parents and admins when a student crosses an absence threshold: for example, 5 absences, 7 absences, 9 absences, and so on. Build one filter per threshold. Each filter feeds a separate Notification Trigger that sends exactly one email per threshold per student per semester. See FAQ: Configuring Absence Threshold Notification Trigger for the trigger configuration.
Filter structure
The completed filter follows this tree:
- Student Info
- Period Attendance And Discipline
- Count of Period Attend Disc Id > 4
- Division Calendar ((attendance only))
The Division Calendar ((attendance only)) child is the join that makes the filter scope to the current semester. For the Division Calendar feature itself, see Update: Division Calendar, Now in Data Analytics.
Steps
- Navigate to Scheduling > Students.
- Click the filter funnel icon next to the Select Saved Filter... dropdown above the student grid.
- In the Add Filter Item dropdown, pick New Filter and click Add.
- The query tree appears with Student Info as the root. Click the + icon next to Student Info.
- In the second dropdown at the top of the Connect modal (to the right of With), pick Period Attendance And Discipline.
- Click Select on the Student Info > Period Attendance And Discipline path.
Note: Always pick the destination table from the second dropdown at the top of the Connect modal. The Find Table autocomplete and Search button below open a Connect To dialog that does not list path-registered variants like Division Calendar ((attendance only)).
- The Period Attendance And Discipline conditions modal opens. In the Conditions row:
- Change the first dropdown from Field to Calculated/Aggregate.
- Set the aggregate function to Count.
- Pick the field Period Attend Disc Id.
- Change the operator to >.
- Type the threshold value (for example, 4 for a "5 or more absences" filter, since greater-than-4 catches 5, 6, 7, ...).
- Click Add.
- Click Save on the Period Attendance And Discipline modal.
- Back on the query tree, click the + icon next to Period Attendance And Discipline.
- In the Connect modal, click the second dropdown (to the right of With) and pick Division Calendar ((attendance only)).
- In the Division Calendar ((attendance only)) conditions modal, add a condition: Field School Id, operator =, value the school_id for the division you want to scope to (commonly 1). Click Add, then Save.
- Back in the Filter modal, click Save at the bottom.
- On the Save Filter page, type a clear name in Filter Name (for example, "Absences 5 or More, Current Semester") and click Save New.
The filter is now available as a Merge Filter on any Notification Trigger that targets students, and is also selectable from the Students page Select Saved Filter dropdown.
Cloning for additional thresholds
To create the filter for 7, 9, and higher thresholds, repeat the steps and change only the threshold value in the Count condition. Because Division Calendar always returns the current semester for each division, these filters do not require updates when the semester or academic year rolls over.
Example: For a "7 or more absences" filter, the Count condition is Count of Period Attend Disc Id > 6. For "9 or more," use > 8.
Notes
The aggregate condition lives on the parent table (Period Attendance And Discipline), not on Division Calendar. The Division Calendar join scopes which attendance records are counted to the current semester. The aggregate condition counts them.
The variant name in the second dropdown (here Division Calendar ((attendance only))) reflects the specific join path registered for that source table in dmt_table_joins. Other source tables may show different Division Calendar variants.