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First Day of School/Last Day of School

School Calendar: Roster by Session

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First Day of School (FDS) and Last Day of School (LDS) refer to the school calendar dates (Month / Day / Year) that indicate the beginning and end of a school year.

Schools will provide the dates for the First Day of School and the Last Day of School by providing the dates associated with an annual Session Name, using either “FDS/LDS” or “School Calendar” as the Session Name.

  • The Begin Date for the session will be counted as the First Day of School (FDS).

  • The End Date for the session will be counted as the Last Day of School (LDS).

First Day of School and Last Day of School data is mentioned frequently in state statutes by the name of ‘school term’. This information is highly sought and utilized by various organizations, families, vendors, sports conferences, etc.

These school types are strongly encouraged to submit this data: Public school districts, public charter schools, as well as DHS, DOC, WSD, WCBVI, and CCDEB schools.

This collection is optional for private Choice schools, as Choice schools already submit this information through the Online Application System (OAS).

Student Information System (SIS) vendors will collect these dates at the school level. This means each individual public school must enter this data into their SIS. There is no district or ‘parent’ level input of these dates.

There are two ways schools can submit this information:

  1. The preferred method for obtaining this data is that each school should send an annual session with a Begin Date and an End Date, specifically for the purpose of providing FDS/LDS information. The Session Name should be FDS/LDS or School Calendar. (See FAQ below for details on how vendors can assist with this process.)

  2. The other way to submit FDS/LDS information is for the school/LEA to submit their session through part of the school’s Roster data at the start of the school year, then DPI will use the session’s earliest begin date as the FDS and latest end date as the LDS.

  • Refer to the FAQs below for more details.

Rules for FDS

  • Month of the start date must occur in July, August, or September.

  • DPI school year starts July 1.

    • If the annual session Begin Date submitted by the school is listed as starting before July 1, DPI will pull the Begin Date submitted that occurs closest to July 1.

Rules for LDS

  • Month of the end date must occur in May or June.

  • DPI school year ends June 30.

    • If the annual session End Date submitted by the school is listed as ending after June 30, DPI will pull the End Date submitted that occurs closest to June 30.

If multiple annual sessions are submitted from one school, DPI will collect FDS and LDS based on the earliest provided date and the latest date provided.

This information can be viewed on the Agency Contacts screen within WISEdata Portal.

A screenshot of the Agency Contacts screen in WISEdata Portal.

 

USES: First Day of School and Last Day of School (i.e., School Calendar) is collected and provided to the public as a convenience and value added service. First Day of School and Last Day of School data is mentioned frequently in state statutes by the name of ‘school term’.

 

FAQs, Details, and Point to Note

 

  1. NOTES FOR LARGE SCHOOL DISTRICTS:

    • If your school is sending FDS/LDS dates via Roster, many large school districts do not send session dates until later in the school year - sometimes not until after the December snapshot is complete.

    • DPI recommends changing this pattern of delaying the sending of roster data, and encourages LEAs to submit K-12 roster data as early as possible. There are a large number of data collections involving roster data across DPI. DPI can create better, more accurate data collections when vendors submit roster data early in the school year. 

    • Not sending FDS/LDS via WISEdata will result in Warning 7464. IF FDS/LDS data is not sent, the Agency screen on WISEdata Portal Portal will display as blank spaces. 

    • DPI recommends working with your student information system (SIS) vendor representatives. Your vendor likely has a process in place with a FDS/LDS or 'School Calendar' session built based on first and last day of school dates already entered into the SIS. The SIS  should then be able to send this session to WISEdata Portal for each school. It is even possible for the vendor to automate a push of this FDS/LDS data over to DPI, thus requiring no work to be done by the LEA. Please communicate with your vendor on how to submit FDS/LDS data.

  2. NOTES FOR CHOICE SCHOOLS: This data element is not required for Choice schools, as Choice schools already submit this information through their Choice 3rd Friday in September Pupil Count Report in Online Application System (OAS). Choice schools may (but are not required to) also submit their FDS/LDS data through their SIS.

  3. What if an LEA has multiple start dates? An example of a school districts having multiple start dates would be a districts that starts on date "x" for all grades except four-year-old kindergarten, and then four-year-old kindergarten starts a day late, on date "x" +1. In such a scenario, DPI will use the earliest date. Both dates can be sent to WISEdata, but DPI will take the earliest begin date and the latest end date.

 

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