SafeArrival - FAQs

You can report only upcoming student absences using SafeArrival. Absences can be reported in advance: 

• 7 hours a day
• 7 days a week
• For any school day in the school calendar
• Up to the cut-off time on the day of the absence (usually before first bell)

• Illness/Injury
• Appointment
• Vacation
• Religious/Cultural Day
• Bereavement
• Absence Approved By Parent
• Late

If you do not see the Attendance option for your student(s), please check with the school to make sure you are using the email address that they have on record. You can always use the toll-free phone line at 1-833-202-1417 to report absences.

If the student is going to be late, select Full Day and then select Late. All students who are going to be late are marked as absent for the full day until they arrive and sign in through the school office.

If the student is marked absent and the absence hasn’t been reported in advance, our SchoolMessenger system will attempt to reach you to confirm the absence. The system tries to reach families – using the method they prefer – multiple times until they confirm/explain the elementary student’s absence. To avoid these notifications, please report your child’s absence in advance.

Call the toll-free phone line at 1-833-202-1417 and follow the instructions for reporting an absence. If the phone number you are calling from matches a phone number on file with the school for your student, you will hear your student’s name. If the system doesn’t recognize your caller ID, you will be asked to enter the student’s home phone number.

If you report your student’s absence in advance, you will not receive a notification. If your student is in elementary school, and you haven’t reported the student’s absence, you will receive a notification as soon as possible following attendance in the morning.

For families with secondary students, you will receive a message after the first period if they were absent first thing in the morning. If your student is absent for subsequent periods, you will receive a notification at the end of the day, approximately 6 p.m.

If you report your student’s absence in advance, you will not receive a notification. If you are not receiving messages, your student’s school likely has incorrect contact information for you. If your contact information changes throughout the school year, please provide this information directly to your student’s school.

A SchoolMessenger account is not required as you can always use the toll-free phone line at 1-833-202-1417 to report absences. However, we recommend that you provide your email address to the school and set up your SchoolMessenger account as this will allow you to review and report absences, review your contact information, communication preferences and more.

You can change your preferences by going into your profile within the app or the website portal. If there are two parents/guardians with different email addresses, each guardian will have to log in to update their notification preferences. Please ensure your school always has your current contact information so that communication is sent to the correct parent/guardian.

You may not have provided your school with an email address, or your school has a different email address on record. Please contact your school to verify the email address that is associated with the student in the system.

Yes. The app and website portal can be used from anywhere you have internet access. The toll-free phone line can be used from anywhere inside Canada or in the continental U.S..

Absences longer than 10 days must be reported directly to the school.

You can delete a reported absence up to the cut-off time using any of the three options - app, website or phone. After the cut-off time, the absence cannot be deleted. If the student is at school, the office will reflect this in the student information system and the student will be marked accordingly (Late or present). 

Please contact the school to confirm they have the correct email address on record, and that you have opted to receive email communications. You can review your notification preferences in the app or website portal.

Please confirm that another parent/caregiver did not report the absence. If it is still not clear, the school can verify who reported the absence and through which method. Please ensure your school always has your current contact information so that communication is sent to the correct parent/guardian.

If the reported absence did not cover the timeframe when attendance was taken, you may be notified of the absence. For example, if you reported an absence through the SafeArrival system at 9:30 a.m. but attendance was taken at 9:20 a.m. and calls have already started, you may still receive a call.  There may be up to a 10 minute delay between reporting an absence and it being reflected in the student information system.

If the student is marked absent and the absence hasn’t been reported in advance, our SchoolMessenger system will attempt to contact you multiple times until you confirm and explain the absence.

SafeArrival uses the information provided to the school and any notification preferences that have been set up by you using the SchoolMessenger app or website portal.

You will be asked to enter the student's home phone number.

Please try again in a few minutes or use the app or website.

If the SchoolMessenger app or website portal are not working, please try the toll-free number at 1-833-202-1417. If you cannot get through to the toll-free number, please call your school’s main office directly.

SafeArrival is a PowerSchool SchoolMessenger product. The OCDSB already uses several other SchoolMessenger tools including Communicate. Our technology and privacy teams have assessed PowerSchool to ensure it complies with relevant security standards and privacy legislation. The only information the OCDSB shares with PowerSchool is the information necessary to allow the software tools to work properly.