[CA] CALPADS Attendance Reporting Updates

CDE’s revised CALPADS Update Flash #305 introduced new CALPADS attendance reporting requirements for Attendance Recovery and Expanded Learning Programs.

The 2025–26 EOY 1 cycle has now closed. However, the update remains useful because it shows how attendance, afterschool programming, student information systems, and state reporting now connect.

For current reporting dates and requirements, always check the CDE CALPADS calendar and current file specifications.

Two New Data Collections

Flash #305 added two collections to the 2025–26 EOY 1 submission:

• Attendance Recovery Program data
• Expanded Learning Program data

These collections serve different purposes. Therefore, LEAs should not try to manage them as one process.

Attendance Recovery Requires Careful Tracking

Attendance Recovery is optional for students in transitional kindergarten through grade 12. It allows eligible students to make up absences outside the regular school day.

LEAs must track the hours each student attends. Then, they determine whether the student earned a full Attendance Recovery day under the required minimum-time rules.

The program can help LEAs recover Average Daily Attendance funding. However, LEAs report that ADA through the Principal Apportionment Data Collection Web Application, not CALPADS.

CALPADS collects the total Attendance Recovery days earned through the Student Absence Summary, or STAS, file. CDE uses this data to calculate an alternate chronic absenteeism rate.

A student may earn Attendance Recovery days before an absence occurs. For example, a student may participate during the summer and later apply those earned days to qualifying absences at the same LEA.

Still, the limits matter:

• An LEA may report no more than 10 Attendance Recovery days for a student.
• Reported days cannot exceed the student’s qualifying absences.
• The LEA must report days at a school where the student had absences.
• Suspensions do not qualify for Attendance Recovery.

Expanded Learning Reporting Takes a Different Approach

Expanded Learning reporting covers ELO-P, ASES, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and ASSETS programs.

Unlike most student-program records, this collection does not use the school-level SPRG file. Instead, LEAs report student participation through the LEA-level LEAP file.

This approach recognizes that students may attend an expanded learning program at a different school site. They may also participate when they are not actively enrolled at a school.

LEAs use Education Program Code 194 for Expanded Learning Program participation. They then report the number of days each student attended.

For this collection, any amount of attendance counts as one day. Five minutes, two hours, or a full afternoon each count as one attendance day.

In addition, LEAs must include enrolled students who did not attend. Those students receive a reported value of zero days.

Why This Matters for District Teams

These requirements create a shared data-management responsibility. The CALPADS coordinator cannot complete the work alone.

First, attendance staff need reliable Attendance Recovery records. Next, expanded learning teams need a consistent way to track enrollment and daily participation. Then, SIS and program vendors need to send the correct data to CALPADS.

Without that coordination, LEAs may face missing records, incorrect day counts, or avoidable certification errors.

Questions to Ask Before the Next Collection

Use these questions to prepare your process:

• Can our SIS track Attendance Recovery hours and earned days separately?
• Do we know which team owns Attendance Recovery data?
• Can our expanded learning provider share complete enrollment and attendance data?
• Does our system identify students who enrolled but had zero attendance?
• Have we tested our STAS and LEAP reporting process before certification?
• Do attendance, afterschool, fiscal, and CALPADS staff agree on the workflow?

Answering these questions early helps teams find process gaps before the reporting window opens.

Build a Process, Not a Last-Minute Fix

The biggest lesson from Flash #305 is simple: new reporting requirements need clear ownership before the deadline arrives.

Set internal deadlines. Define the source system for each data point. Review records with program staff before certification. Then, document the process for the next reporting cycle.

For the full guidance, review CALPADS Update Flash #305 – Revised.

MeasureED provides CALPADS support services for LEAs that need help building dependable data workflows, reviewing reporting processes, and resolving validation issues. You can also contact MeasureED to discuss your team’s needs.