Within the student database on Airtable, we have added a piece to help differentiate between students that currently need transportation and those who have been previously entered but do not need transportation. This innovative little item is referred to as the "Active Button." Here are some important things to know about this feature.
Should I mark students as active when I enter them?
Yes. If you are entering a new student, make sure to select the active button on their column. This not only lets us know that we should look for transportation, but it also is necessary if they are to be imported into other systems. The import process only pulls those records which have the active button pressed.
What if I want to end a student's transportation?
This is just as easy. If a student is no longer riding and can be permanently canceled, click the active button. This will remove all schedule information from their record at the same time. After that, all you need to do is change their Effective Date field to the day their transportation ends, and the cancel is entered.
Should I delete students after they are permanently canceled and removed?
That is up to you, though we recommend against it. The record of that student remains in the database and is available in the event they are in a new program or need to restart transportation. If you delete them and transportation resumes, then their full slate of information will have to be entered once again.