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CALPADS error brief · SENR

SENR0020

Missing Exit Reason
Severity Fatal
Error type Input Validation
Record type SENR

Official CALPADS rule

What CALPADS is rejecting

If Enrollment Exit Date is populated Then Student Exit Reason Code must be populated

Focus fields

Fields validated

1.25 - Enrollment Exit Date 1.26 - Student Exit Reason Code

Recommended correction path

Suggested resolution

Read the complete validation

CALPADS rule: If Enrollment Exit Date is populated, Student Exit Reason Code must be populated.

Severity: Fatal   Type: Input Validation

Fields validated:

  • 1.25 Enrollment Exit Date
  • 1.26 Student Exit Reason Code

Do not select a convenient reason solely to fill the blank. The code affects transfer, no-show, completion, dropout, cohort, and accountability interpretation. It must describe the same event represented by the Exit Date.

Choose the correction from the actual event

The student’s factual status determines which field changes
What the evidence showsAppropriate responseWhat not to do
The student exited on the submitted dateRetain the supported Exit Date and populate the current Exit Reason that describes the departure.Choose a generic transfer or no-show code without evidence.
The student remains enrolled and attendingRemove the unsupported Exit Date and keep Exit Reason blank.Invent a reason to preserve an accidental closure.
A planned exit was entered but did not occurReverse the projected exit under the local enrollment process.Report the anticipated reason after the student continued attending.
The student never appearedApply the supported N470 no-show reason and date treatment when its conditions are met.Treat every missing student as an ordinary transfer.
The student completed schoolUse the supported completion exit reason and completion status combination.Populate a completion code based only on expected graduation.
The actual reason remains unresolvedInvestigate and keep the enrollment record from posting an unsupported exit.Guess merely to clear SENR0020.

Translate the event into the current code—not the other way around

Examples of evidence questions; verify current definitions before choosing a code
Exit circumstanceEvidence to verifyConnected CALPADS concern
Transfer to another California schoolLast expected attendance, receiving-school information, records request, and surrounding enrollments.Do not assume a transfer merely because records were requested.
Move outside California or outside the United StatesAuthorized withdrawal information and destination evidence available to the LEA.Select the precise current destination category rather than a generic transfer.
N470 No ShowExpected enrollment, nonattendance, investigation, disability status when applicable, and no-show chronology.Exit Date must follow the special same-day/one-day-prior rules.
E150 Mid-year updateStudent continued at the same school and a qualifying enrollment attribute changed.A continuing SENR record should begin no more than one day after the exit.
Year-end exitLast attendance before break and whether the student is expected to return.E155/E156 definitions and date limits must be applied correctly.
E230 CompletionTranscript, diploma/certificate, grade level, completion date, and authorized status.Exit Reason, Completion Status, and Grade Level must form permitted combinations.

What commonly produces SENR0020

Symptoms, likely causes, and durable corrections
What you findLikely causeDurable correction
Exit Date exists in SIS; reason is blankThe withdrawal workflow allowed an incomplete exit.Complete or reverse the event and enforce paired fields locally.
Both values exist in SIS; reason is blank in fileThe extract omitted, filtered, or mis-mapped field 1.26.Repair the SENR report/integration and test the full exit set.
Many records share the same exit dateRollover or year-end processing populated dates before reasons were assigned.Correct the bulk workflow and review the affected population.
Student continued attending after the dateA projected or cancelled exit remained in the enrollment segment.Remove the unsupported closure and reconcile attendance.
Reason was stored on another segmentThe extract joined Exit Date and Reason from different enrollment records.Repair segment/key selection.
Local reason does not crosswalkThe SIS uses a local withdrawal code with no current CALPADS mapping.Map the documented circumstance to the current code set and review similar records.
Manual CALPADS edit cleared the prior errorThe authoritative SIS still contains a partial exit.Repair the SIS so the next submission preserves the accepted result.

Choose the diagnostic pathway

  • Determine whether an exit occurred
    • Is the student still attending or expected to attend?
    • What event ended the enrollment?
    • Was the exit completed, projected, cancelled, or entered accidentally?
    • Does attendance continue after field 1.25?
    • Does CALPADS already contain a subsequent or conflicting enrollment?
  • Verify Enrollment Exit Date
    • What was the last date the student was expected to attend?
    • Do attendance and withdrawal records support it?
    • Is it a real date in CCYYMMDD format?
    • Does it fit the Start Date and surrounding enrollment history?
    • Is it being confused with the office processing or records-request date?
  • Identify the actual reason
    • Was this a transfer, move, no-show, mid-year update, year-end exit, completion, or another circumstance?
    • What evidence supports that conclusion?
    • What current CALPADS definition matches it?
    • Does the reason form valid combinations with grade, status, and completion?
    • Was a local withdrawal code left unmapped?
  • Inspect SIS and extract
    • Are Date and Reason stored on the same enrollment segment?
    • What exact values appear in fields 1.25 and 1.26?
    • Did a report suppress or fail to translate the reason?
    • Did a join select values from different records?
    • Will the next scheduled extract reproduce the mismatch?
  • Review connected rules
    • Does N470 require special date treatment?
    • Does E150 have the required continuing record?
    • Do year-end codes fit their date window?
    • Does E230 have a supported completion status?
    • Could the exit create a gap, overlap, cohort, or dropout consequence?
  • Check the broader population
    • How many rows contain Exit Date without Reason?
    • Do they share a school, operator, date, local code, import, or report?
    • Can the SIS prevent partial exits?
    • Can the extract reject incomplete paired fields before upload?

Build the exit from one documented event

  1. StatusDid the student exit?
  2. DateWhen did it occur?
  3. ReasonWhat ended enrollment?
  4. ExtractTransmit the pair.
  5. VerifyConfirm chronology.

Primary participants

  • Registrar or enrollment staff
  • Attendance or school-site office staff
  • CALPADS coordinator
  • Graduation/cohort staff when applicable
  • SIS owner and vendor/integration support

Evidence to preserve

  • Enrollment and attendance chronology
  • Withdrawal/transfer/completion evidence
  • Raw fields 1.25 and 1.26
  • Local-to-CALPADS reason mapping
  • Accepted CALPADS result

Recommended correction path

  1. Preserve the rejected row

    Capture the submission ID, SSID, enrollment key, exact fields 1.25 and 1.26, and untouched extract.

  2. Confirm the intended enrollment

    Match student, school, Start Date, Enrollment Status, grade, and existing CALPADS history.

  3. Determine whether the student exited

    Use attendance, withdrawal, transfer, no-show, year-end, and completion evidence.

  4. Verify the Exit Date

    Confirm the supported last expected attendance date and its relationship to the enrollment sequence.

  5. Select the supported Exit Reason

    Translate the documented circumstance through the current code set and valid combinations.

  6. Remove an exit that did not occur

    If the student remains enrolled, clear the unsupported Exit Date and keep Exit Reason blank.

  7. Correct the owning system and mapping

    Repair incomplete SIS workflows, local-code crosswalks, segment joins, or extract suppression.

  8. Submit and verify

    Confirm SENR0020 clears and CALPADS correctly shows the enrollment as open or closed.

  9. Review the shared population

    Find other Exit Dates lacking reasons, especially records sharing the same workflow, local code, date, or extract.

Before closing the issue

  • Confirm an actual event supports both Exit Date and Exit Reason.
  • Verify the reason uses the current code definition and valid combinations.
  • Confirm the date fits Start Date, attendance, and surrounding enrollments.
  • Ensure an active student remains open when no exit occurred.
  • Verify the SIS and next extract reproduce the corrected pair.
  • Review downstream attendance, cohort, dropout, completion, program, and accountability effects.

Official SENR0020 troubleshooting page  |  SDLA CALPADS Code Sets V.18  |  Current CALPADS system documents