When a typhoon or heat warning hits, a text message goes out to parents: "Tomorrow is a shortened-class day" or "Tomorrow is a school closure." The two messages look similar, but they get recorded completely differently in your child's attendance record. Here's how discretionary closure days set at the start of the term, emergency closures decided suddenly for something like a typhoon, and shortened-class days that only cut instructional time are each actually processed.

Who decides a closure day, and when

Under Article 47 of the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a school's closure days are set by the principal, before the school year begins, after deliberation by the school steering committee. Saturdays, public holidays, and summer/winter break are automatically included, and on top of that, the principal can designate an extra day or two at their discretion -- commonly called a "discretionary closure day." Because these days are already finalized during the school's curriculum planning in March, parents can check them in advance on the academic calendar distributed at the start of the term. For unpredictable situations like typhoons, heavy snow, or infectious disease, on the other hand, the principal can order an emergency closure, and in that case the principal must report it to the relevant education office without delay.

Discretionary closure days don't touch attendance records at all

This is where parents most often get confused. Discretionary closure days and emergency closure days were never part of the school's official instructional day count to begin with. In other words, that day was never a candidate for being marked "present" or "absent" -- it was simply left out of the academic calendar from the start. Schools must set discretionary closure days within a range that still satisfies the annual minimum of 190 instructional days, so more discretionary closure days doesn't mean fewer school days for your child, and your child staying home that day doesn't count as an absence either.

A shortened-class day is different -- it's a normal attendance day

A shortened-class day, by contrast, is a day when classes officially take place. Regular instructional hours are simply cut short for a safety reason like extreme heat or poor air quality, but on the academic calendar it's still, unambiguously, a day your child is required to attend. So if you don't send your child to school on a shortened-class day, that day is treated exactly like an ordinary absence. Thinking "it ends early anyway" and delaying or skipping the school run can leave an unexcused absence on the record, so if you get a shortened-class notice, make sure you understand that only the start and end times changed -- not whether attendance is required.

Separately from the shortened schedule itself, meal service, after-school programs, and care-classroom hours often change too. Some schools keep the care classroom running on its normal schedule even when regular classes end early, while others shorten the care classroom's hours right along with everything else -- it varies by school. If your children are in different grades, the shortened schedule or dismissal time may be announced differently by grade, so it's worth checking whether the notice specifies which grades it applies to.

Emergency closures are sometimes announced the same morning

Discretionary closure days are set well in advance, but an emergency closure triggered by a typhoon or heavy snow is often only finalized in the early morning or just before school starts. When the weather situation is borderline, notification can come right up against school-start time, through an education office alert text or a school website notice. Dual-income households should plan ahead for this by confirming whether they're registered on the school's emergency contact list and whether the care classroom keeps running during a sudden closure -- some schools operate care separately even during an emergency closure, and it varies school by school.

Once an emergency closure is decided, under the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act the principal must report it to the relevant education office without delay. The existence of this reporting requirement also means a school can't declare closures at will -- there has to be a clear reason, like a disaster or an urgent situation. Even within the same district, though, closure timing can differ school by school, so it genuinely happens that a neighboring school holds normal classes while yours closes. That's because the principal's discretion is exercised at the individual school level, so unless the local education office issues a blanket closure directive, check your specific school's own notice first.

How parents can check ahead of time

The annual academic calendar, including discretionary closure days, is generally published for the full year on the school website's "school curriculum" or "academic calendar" board, and is also distributed as a printed notice at the start of the term. Sudden mid-term decisions like emergency closures or shortened-class days, on the other hand, are usually announced through the school-alert app, a class communication tool like Classting, or a text message -- so turning on notifications for those channels ahead of time is, in practice, the most reliable way to stay informed.

Don't confuse this with other attendance situations

Separately from schedule changes, there are several other situations where you need to track your child's attendance carefully. If a child misses three or more days in a row, a distinct process kicks in for step-by-step handling of unexcused absences, and when a family trip takes a child out of school for a planned reason, the conditions for off-campus learning to count as recognized attendance need to be checked separately. If a performance assessment happened to fall on a shortened-class day and your child was absent, it's worth knowing that how a missed performance assessment gets handled runs on its own separate standard from schedule changes.

Checklist

1. Check the annual academic calendar (including discretionary closure days) in advance, from the school website or a start-of-term notice.
2. When you get a closure notice, first figure out whether it's a discretionary or emergency closure, or a shortened-class day.
3. Remember a shortened-class day is a normal attendance day, and decide whether to send your child accordingly.
4. Confirm separately with the school whether the care classroom runs during an emergency closure (especially important for dual-income households).
5. Turn on notifications for the school-alert app or class communication tool in advance, to be ready for same-day announcements.