Work through the setup steps below in order. Most "the board is empty" or "every student shows the same spot" problems come from skipping step 4 or step 5.
Before you start: getting access
Dismissals needs to be included in your school's Orah plan and switched on by Orah. If you can't see it at all, contact Orah support.
Administrators get all the dismissal permissions automatically. Other staff only get the ones you tick on their staff profile (see Permissions below).
The setup steps
Add your pickup spots in Admin Console → Locations.
Create transport options (one for each way of getting home).
Create a dismissal schedule (the group of students, days and times).
Put students on the schedule from Admin Console → Students.
Set each student's weekly plan (this is what decides the pickup spot each day).
(Optional) Let passes and activities change the day.
Then review your Dismissal General Settings to decide what parents can change, whether they can self-announce their arrival, and whether signatures are required.
Where to find things
I want to… | Go to |
Run pickup, see today's dismissal and past records | Left sidebar → Location (some schools see Attendance) → Dismissals |
Set up transport options, schedules and weekly plans | The Dismissal Settings button at the top of the Dismissals page (on a computer). Staff who can't open Dismissals itself but do have settings access see Dismissal Settings in the sidebar instead. |
Give parents a sign-in link instead of the app | The Secure Parent Link button at the top of the Dismissals page |
Add a pickup spot like "Front circle" | Admin Console → Locations |
Put students on a schedule in bulk | Admin Console → Students, select students, then click the button whose tooltip says Assign Dismissal Schedule |
Dismissal Settings has four tabs: General Settings, Transport Options, Dismissal Schedules and Default Student Schedule.
Dismissals has these tabs, depending on permissions: Dismissal Events, Student Records, Student Plan Changes and Pickup Contacts (only if your school uses standing pickup QR codes).
Permissions
On a staff member's profile (Admin Console → Staff → profile → Additional Permissions), under Dismissals, you'll find:
Dismissal Settings: can open Dismissal Settings.
View & Edit any dismissal event: can see the Dismissal Events and Student Plan Changes tabs, and sees today's dismissals on My Schedule.
Edit student dismissal records: can see Student Records.
Delete student dismissal records and Delete any dismissal event: these appear on the profile, but there's currently no way to delete dismissal events or records in Orah. Ticking them only makes the Dismissals menu item appear.
Schedule access: who can view and who can start
Each dismissal schedule also has two questions of its own:
Who can view dismissal events?
Who can start this dismissal event?
Each one can be set to All Staff, Specific Staff, or Staff by Role. Only people in "Who can start" see the Activate Dismissal button. Anyone who can view or start a dismissal can move students around on its live board.
Important for staff on pickup duty: they need both of these:
the View & Edit any dismissal event checkbox on their profile. Without it they don't see the Dismissal Events tab or the My Schedule tile, so they have no way into the board.
a place in that schedule's Who can view or Who can start list. The Dismissal Events list only shows them the dismissals they're included on.
Tip: Setting both questions to All Staff is the easiest way to make sure any station can dismiss any student.
If someone has none of the view/edit permissions, opening Dismissals simply takes them back to their home screen.