Using Dismissal Manager

Dismissal Manager helps administrators and teachers safely and accurately manage student dismissals by assigning and tracking how students leave school, for example, by bus, carline, parent pickup, walker, or to attend after-school programs. It minimizes the need to call the school and ensures everyone sees the most accurate information in real time.

Considerations

  1. Use the Dismissal Manager Dashboard to see all students in their dismissal types, the current status of their dismissal, and any notes submitted by parents, guardians, admins, or teachers.
  2. When students are marked absent for the day by a parent or guardian through the Guardian Portal, or if an administrator or teacher marks the student absent on the Dismissal Manager page, the student’s name and information will appear with a strike-through line to indicate the student is absent for that day. 
  3. You can set a daily cut-off time for guardian or parent dismissal changes that are submitted through the Guardian Portal. This reduces last-minute disruptions and ensures that front-office staff can manage exceptions more effectively. 
    • Once set, if a parent or guardian attempts to submit a change in your portal after the cut-off time, an onscreen message will guide them about what to do next, according to your school.
    • See Creating and Managing Locations, and scroll to the Dismissal Settings tab for details on setting a cutoff time. You can designate email notifications about changes to a staff list, ensuring updates reach the right people in time.
  4. Dismissal Manager integrates with Rhombus LPR to automatically queue students for pickup when a registered license plate is detected.
  5. Dismissal Manager does not sync with Student Information Systems (SIS) for attendance. 
  6. The Dismissal Manager integrates with the Dismissal Notes functionality in Visitor Aware.


Using the Dismissal Manager Guide

The steps below outline the key daily dismissal activities within Dismissal Manager's features. This includes managing student dismissal types, using the Carline Scanner for student pickup, and handling dismissal changes and notes. 


Additionally, this guide identifies how parents and guardians interact with the system through the Guardian Portal to set dismissal types and communicate changes.

  1. Daily Dismissal Activities: Dismissal Manager Dashboard

When administrators and teachers log in to Visitor Aware and access the Dismissal Manager Dashboard, they queue students from their assigned dismissal types to complete the daily dismissal process. 


Access the Dismissal Manager Dashboard and Workflow article to understand the Dismissal Manager Dashboard, dismissal tiles, dismissal tabs, and dismissal types. The article includes the workflow for students in the default  "Unassigned" dismissal type (typically at the beginning of the school year).


  1. Daily Dismissal Activities: Carline Scanner

The Carline Scanner adds a layer of verification and streamlines student pickup during dismissal. An administrator or teacher scans the next parent or guardian in the car line and retrieves a list of authorized student relationships for pickup. 


You can click the Carline Scanner tab in the Dismissal Manager Dashboard to display the Carline Scanner view and match parents or guardians to their assigned students, either through a QR code or by manual search.


Access the Carline Scanner article for instructions on how to use this feature.


  1. Administrators: Default Dismissal Type Changes

Students fall into the “unassigned” default dismissal type after procurement or at the beginning of the school year.     Typically, the school or district notifies parents and guardians to set their students’ default dismissal types through the Guardian Portal. However, administrators can change the default dismissal types if needed. 


Access the Adding or Changing Students’ Default Dismissal Types article for instructions on how to change default dismissal types.

  1. Administrators, Teachers, and Staff: Adding or Viewing Dismissal Changes and Notes

The Dismissal Notes page in Dismissal Manager allows admins, teachers, or office staff (who have access), to create, view, and manage student dismissal notes. Specify student dismissal details, including the student, date, dismissal type, and associated guardian.  


Access the Adding or Viewing Dismissal Changes and Notes article for instructions on how to change default dismissal types.


  1. Parents or Guardians: Dismissal Portal 

Parents and guardians can access the Guardian Portal online. They can set their students' dismissal types, make attendance changes, and send notes admins and teachers can see on the Dismissal Manager page and module. For example, if a student’s default dismissal type for the day is “bus” the parent or guardian can log in and change the type to “walker” or another of the available types, or record an absence or late arrival. 


For more information about how the Guardian Portal works, see Using the Guardian Portal PDF and Guardian Portal PDF, attached: