Override for blackout dates
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Tiffany Freeman
When creating blackout dates on the calendar, it would be helpful if Superusers could override those dates for special circumstances such as FMLA or Admin leave. It would also be helpful, (and this may already exist, and I just don't know how to do it) if when creating blackout dates on the calendar, that we could do it in a series of multiple dates at a time instead of day by day.
Mike Weisman
Hey there Tiffany Freeman! Are you referring to the Absence Limits feature? If so, Super Users should absolutely be able to create absences over top of a day with an Absence Limit. Or are you referring to creating absences over top of Days off? (Holidays / Cancellations?)
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Melissa Shuker
Mike Weisman IF we started to use this type of a calendar event instead of sending red flag day "notifications" to staff, we would NEED the ability to create absences over top of the blackout days. For example, illness is going around, multiple staff members are out. We would notify staff that they can't use personal time on those days/weeks because our staff pool is already low/subs are already being utilized. Being able to block absences by creating a calendar event would be great. However, as I think Tiffany is indicating, some staff need to have absences on that day. They could be staff that are ill, they could be people out on parental leave, FMLA, etc. The point is, some staff ARE off while others need to be restricted. Not having this ability to do both is why we send "notifications" and try to visually/manually manage this versus creating a calendar event. Hope that makes sense. At least you know our district perspective on it.
Mike Weisman
Melissa Shuker Tiffany Freeman - Thanks for the details Melissa and Tiffany! Just want to clarify some terms and current functionality to make sure I'm on the same page.
- Absence Limits (Blackout Days, etc.): Allows districts to limit the number of absences for particular reasons on particular dates (Such as 0 Personal days before or after a holiday). Super Users are ableto override absence limits. Other admins can be given this ability too.
- Calendar Events (ex. Holiday, Cancellation): Allows districts to prevent + cancel all absences from being created on particular days by contract. Calendar events are notable to be overridden by anyone.
As things stand now and with these working definitions, what enhancement are you looking for exactly? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding!
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Melissa Shuker
Mike Weisman Ah, now the absence limits makes more sense. I bet we could be using that. I was imagining it as more of a general cap. Thank you for the clarification.
Mike Weisman
Melissa Shuker: Great point! The Absence limits feature is really flexible. You can use Absence limits for *
both
general caps and
specific dates! It's a pretty nifty feature. Here's a resource that has a bit more info if you're interested! > https://help.redroverk12.com/hc/en-us/articles/13073599053204-Absence-LimitsD
Diane Howell
We don’t let our before and after the holiday entries be combined so everyone has a better chance to score that date. Plus it’s harder to untangle later if needed.