Scheduled Detention connects every detention consequence to a real session in your school's calendar. Minga handles enrollment, tracks due dates, records attendance, and triggers escalation automatically — so your staff spend less time coordinating and more time enforcing consistently. This article shows you how to configure your school detention calendar, establish automated detention periods, and update individual sessions.
Permission Level Required: Owner | Admin
In this article:
Scheduled Detentions Overview: A high-level look at open vs scheduled detentions.
Step 1: Set Up Blackout Dates: Establish calendar dates when detentions will not run.
Step 2: Create Detention Periods: Build the recurring schedule framework for your school detentions.
Step 3: Manage Detention Sessions: Monitor, edit, or delete specific upcoming sessions.
Scheduled Detentions Overview
A Scheduled Detention is a consequence type available to Plus and Premium Minga customers.
When creating consequences, there are two options available to schools:
Open Detentions - Defined campus locations communicated to students where they can arrive and be checked in by a staff member or a kiosk.
Scheduled Detentions - Provide an automatic rolling calendar that students can be assigned or choose a time to fulfill their consequence, being given time and opportunities to serve their detention before it is automatically escalated.
When this consequence is assigned to a student, Minga immediately validates that a feasible session exists, calculates a due date, and either places the student in a session automatically or prompts them to register — depending on your assignment mode setting.
For more information on Open Detentions, refer to this article.
Step 1: Set Up Blackout Dates
Before setting up scheduled detentions, it's important to define blackout dates to prevent detentions from being scheduled on holidays, school closures, or any other days detentions shouldn't fall on.
Start by navigating to Behaviors > Settings
Step-by-step Guide to Creating Detention Blackout Dates
Step-by-step Guide to Creating Detention Blackout Dates
Navigate to Behaviors.
Behaviors opens your discipline management dashboard.
Click Settings.
Settings opens the configuration options for all behavior features.
Find Scheduled Detention Settings.
This section controls the global options for your detention calendar.
Click Add Dates.
A configuration window appears to let you enter new calendar exceptions.
Enter a description in the Description field.
For example, type "Winter Break" to identify the holiday window.
Select your start and end dates using the calendar fields.
These fields default to the current calendar date.
Click Save.
Save applies the blackout dates to your school schedule.
⚠️ Note: If you add blackout dates after detention periods already exist, a warning modal will appear. The system will delete the scheduled sessions that fall within those dates. The system automatically moves all registered students to the next available detention session.
Blackout Schedule Best Practices:
Add your blackout dates first before creating any detention periods. This order prevents accidental session deletions and student reassignments.
Cover the full school year upfront by adding public holidays, exam blocks, staff days, and major school events.
Review your blackout calendar at the start of each school term to catch any schedule changes.
Step 2: Create Detention Periods
A detention period serves as the structural template for your recurring detentions. The system uses this template to automatically generate individual sessions.
Step-by-step Guide to Creating Detention Periods
Step-by-step Guide to Creating Detention Periods
Navigate to Behaviors from the main menu.
Select the Scheduled Detentions Tab.
Click Add Detention Period.
A configuration panel opens containing mandatory setup fields.
Enter a title in the Detention period title field.
For example, type "After School Detention" to clearly label the session.
Set your start date and end date using the calendar fields.
The start date defaults to the current date. The end date defaults to June 30.
Configure your schedule by selecting specific days, a start time, and an end time.
You can add or delete multiple sessions under a single detention period. Multiple types of detention periods can run at the exact same time.
Enter a location in the Location field.
This designates the physical room where students must report.
Select your staff members from the Supervisor dropdown menu.
This field is optional. You can select multiple supervisors if needed.
Enter a maximum capacity in the Capacity field.
This field defaults to 20 students.
Click Create.
The Create button only enables once you fill out all mandatory fields.
⚠️ Note: Individual sessions are completely auto-generated from the master period parameters. Admins do not create individual sessions manually.
Detention Period Best Practices:
Name periods clearly so staff can distinguish between them, such as "After School Mon/Wed" versus "Friday Lunch".
Start with one period type before adding more complex options to your system.
Verify the end date before saving to ensure it aligns perfectly with your specific school year calendar.
Adjust the default capacity of 20 to accurately reflect your room size and supervision constraints.
Step 3: Manage Detention Sessions
The Scheduled Detentions tab allows you to monitor and adjust specific scheduled sessions. The date range defaults to the current week. Each row displays the session type, date, time, enrolled count, location, and assigned supervisor.
Step-by-step Guide to Managing Detention Sessions
Step-by-step Guide to Managing Detention Sessions
Editing a Detention Session:
Navigate to the Scheduled Detentions tab in Behaviors.
This screen displays all generated sessions for the selected date range.
Click the pencil icon on the desired session row.
The edit panel opens for that specific session.
Adjust the date, time, location, supervisor, or capacity fields as needed.
Editing one session only affects that single session. It does not alter the configuration of the master detention period.
Click Save.
Save updates the session details. The system automatically notifies all registered students if the date or time changes. Students remain registered to the session.
Deleting a Detention Session:
Navigate to the Scheduled Detentions tab in Behaviors.
Click the blue pencil icon for the session you would like to delete.
Click Delete at the bottom left of the screen to remove a session entirely.
When deleting or editing a current period that affects currently registered students, a warning modal appears. Confirming the deletion automatically moves registered students to the next available session (it will automatically extend their number of chances to complete their detention), and they will be notified in Minga of the change.
Editing or Deleting Detention Sessions Best Practices:
Edit individual sessions only for genuine administrative changes, such as a last-minute room swap or an unforeseen time adjustment.
Only delete a session if it is genuinely cancelled. Empty sessions do not cause software conflicts and keep your historical schedule intact.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Issue: A warning modal appears when trying to add blackout dates.
Solution: This warning indicates that you are adding calendar exceptions to an active schedule. Confirming this action will delete any scheduled sessions within that date range. The system will automatically move registered students to the next available session.
Issue: The Create button is greyed out when building a detention period.
Solution: The Create button is greyed out when building a detention period because one or more mandatory configuration fields are empty. Review the creation form to ensure you entered a name, set start and end dates, selected schedule days, provided times, and designated a location. The button will enable immediately once all required fields contain valid data.
FAQs
FAQs
Can multiple detention periods run at the same time?
Multiple detention periods can run at the same time if you create additional types of detention periods scheduled for the same days and hours.
Will editing an individual session change the entire recurring period?
Editing an individual session only affects that specific session and does not alter the configuration of the master detention period.
What happens to registered students if a detention session is deleted?
If a detention session is deleted, the system displays a warning modal and automatically moves all registered students to the next available detention session.
Can I update multiple detention sessions at the same time?
You cannot bulk edit detention sessions because sessions must be adjusted individually using their respective edit icons.
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