FOCUS-59699 - Help Docs Branch

The Help Center has been updated with a new internal documentation system that provides a refreshed look and makes it easier to find and browse information. The updated navigation includes a new table of contents for quickly moving between sections within a help document, along with easier navigation between manuals, chapters, and related documentation.

The Help button is available from all screens in Focus and provides access to profile-specific help documentation. Users must be logged in to Focus to access help documentation. Documentation is profile-driven, so users see information based on their assigned profiles.

The new Help Docs screen is enabled for all profiles by default and can be managed under Users > Profiles > Setup > School Setup > Help Docs. The Help Docs screen is currently available for administrators, with access for teachers, parents, and students in development.

Availability: This change has been back-merged and is available in all versions starting at 12.0.138.

See Profiles > Setup tab > Help Docs, Portal (Admin/SIS) > The Basics of the Portal Page, Portal (Admin/ERP) > The Basics of the Portal Page, Portal (Teacher) > Basics of the Portal Page, and Portal (Parents/Students) > Basics of the Portal Page for updates.

The Hep button opens a pop-up window, as shown below:

The Help Docs screen opens the help center, as shown below:

FOCUS-60214 - Accounts Payable | Submit Profile Separation for Request Types

The "Submit Request - Past Years" permission for Purchasing and Internal Accounts has been split into two separate permissions: one for P-Card requests and one for non-P-Card requests.

• Administrators can now grant users the ability to submit prior-year P-Card requests independently from prior-year non-P-Card requests.
• Existing profiles that had the previous "Submit Request - Past Years" permission enabled have automatically been granted both new permissions, so no immediate action is required.
• This applies to both District Purchasing and Internal Accounts purchase requests.

See Setup > Profiles > Permissions Explained > Menu > Admin > Purchasing/Accounts Payable, Purchasing/Accounts Payable > Purchase Requests/Orders > Creating a Purchase Request/Order, Purchasing/Accounts Payable > Internal Purchase Requests/Orders > Creating an Internal Purchase Request/Order for more information.

FOCUS-59207 - Warehouse | Catalog Screen As Of Date

Warehouse Catalog now supports viewing inventory and purchase order data as of a specific date, with several related improvements to reporting and navigation.

• Added an "As Of Date" filter on the Warehouse Catalog screen so users can see item balances, costs, and usage as they existed on a chosen date.
• Added a Purchase Order Summary panel to the Catalog item view, with clickable requisition numbers that open the correct purchase order screen, including for internal warehouse requests.
• Added a Stock Item filter to the Warehouse Transaction Report so results can be limited to stock or non-stock items.

See Warehouse > Catalog > The Catalog Report, Warehouse > Catalog > Viewing an Item, Warehouse > Catalog Report > Catalog Report, Warehouse > Transaction Report > The Transaction Report for more information.

FOCUS-60408 - HR > Empl > Pay History | Add Reissue Flag

The Voided column on an employee's Pay History screen now distinguishes between checks that were simply voided and checks that were voided and reissued.

• On the Run History and Check History tabs, a check that was voided and later reissued now displays "Voided and Reissued" instead of just "Voided."
• Checks that were voided without a reissue continue to display "Voided" as before.
• This affects HR staff reviewing employee pay history, providing clearer visibility into check status..

See HR > Employee > Pay History for more information.

FOCUS-58197 - Employee Jobs | Job Group Now Locked After Wages Are Paid

Job groups with paid wages are now protected from accidental changes, while still allowing employees to be reassigned to them.

• On the Jobs screen, a job group that already has paid wages can no longer be changed, and hovering over it explains that the group is locked because wages have already been paid.
• Deleting a position with existing wages is blocked, with a clear message explaining that positions can't be removed once wages have been paid.
• Job groups that have paid wages can still be reused -- for example, adding a new position to a group when an employee returns from leave or termination is no longer blocked.
• New, unpaid job groups remain fully editable and deletable as before.

See HR > Employee > Jobs for more information.

FSS-101651 - T&A | Add new district setting to control "Add Timecard" access

Time & Attendance setup now includes new controls for employee-submitted timecards, and the Add Timecard button has been removed from the request details pop-up in Employee Self Service.

• A new "Allow Employees to Add Timecards" setting lets districts turn the self-service Add Timecard option on or off.
• A new "Maximum allowed number of days in the past an employee can manually request time for" setting lets districts limit how far back employees can request missed time; if left blank, there is no limit.
• When submitting a missed timecard, employees can no longer choose a future date, and if a maximum look-back is configured, selecting a date beyond that limit now shows a clear error message.
• The Add Timecard button no longer appears when employees open the request details pop-up in Employee Self Service; it remains available on the main Requests screen and is unchanged for managers and timekeepers reviewing timecards.

See HR > Time & Attendance Setup > Settings, ESS > View/Edit Timecard > Adding a Timecard for a Previous Pay Period, and (Teachers) ESS > View/Edit Timecard > Adding a Timecard for a Previous Pay Period for more information.

FOCUS-59316 - Early Warning System Analytics Available for All States

Early Warning System (EWS) Analytics is now available under Assessments > EWS Analytics, expanding access to districts outside of Florida. The report provides a Summary view with EWS indicator charts by grade level and a Student List view with demographic charts, student-level indicators, and filtering options to help identify and review students who may require additional support.

Florida and Texas districts retain their existing EWS criteria and reporting behavior. California and Washington districts now have state-specific indicators based on their respective EWS requirements. Districts in other states receive a core set of indicators, including enrollment, Attendance Below 90%, and Two or More Indicators. ELA and Math Level 1 state assessment indicators are also available when the applicable state assessment preferences are configured.

Access to EWS Analytics requires Purchased Built-In Analytics to be enabled in Focus Settings and the appropriate EWS Analytics permission under Assessments.

See Profiles > Assessment tab > EWS Analytics and EWS Analytics (NEW) for more details.

FOCUS-58637 - Communication: Admin Setting to Allow Messaging from Students

Administrators can now control which students can find and select them as recipients for direct messages using the new Make Me Available To setting under Communication > Settings/Preferences. Administrators can define their availability by selecting individual students, Student Groups, or Schools, with available selections limited by their Communication permissions.

Students included in the administrator's configured availability can select that administrator as a recipient when composing a message. Administrators can update their selections at any time to change who can contact them. The Make Me Available To setting is available only to administrator accounts.

See Communication (Admin) > Settings for more information.

FOCUS-60949 - Attendance Screen Show Full Code Options

Attendance code drop-down lists now show both the short code and full description again, while the selected cell still displays just the short code. On the Attendance Administration screen and the Absence Summary screen, clicking an attendance cell to change a code now opens a list showing "short code - full title" for each option, making it easier for anyone entering attendance, not just experienced data clerks, to pick the correct code. The compact display in the grid cell itself is unchanged, showing only the short code so columns stay narrow and readable. "Fill All" still applies the selected code across the row as expected.

FSS-101128 - Parent Absence Requests: Support Multiple File Attachments

Parent Absence Requests now support up to five file attachments per request or excuse note. Parents can upload multiple files when submitting a new request and can add or remove individual attachments when editing an existing request without affecting the remaining files.

Staff reviewing Parent Absence Requests can view and open each submitted attachment individually. Staff can also upload up to five files when adding absence documentation from a student's Absence Summary, with each attachment available separately when viewing the completed documentation.

See Administration (Admin) > Adding Absence Documentation, Parent Absence Requests (Admin) > Adding Absence Documentation, Absence Summary (Admin) > Adding Absence Documentation, Submit Absence Request or Excuse Note (Parents), and Absences (Parents) for more details.

FSS-101580 - Student Summary: Add Primary Residence Information

The Student Summary screen now displays a student's primary address, so staff can view residence details without navigating to a separate demographics or address tab. The primary address appears alongside other key student information on the summary screen, based on staff permissions to view addresses and contacts. Clicking the address opens the address editor in Student Info, allowing quick edits for staff with permission to edit addresses; staff without edit rights can still view the address details there. Staff without permission to view addresses and contacts will not see the primary address on the summary screen.

See Student > Student Summary > Viewing the Student Summary for more information, (Teachers) Student > Student Summary > Viewing the Student Summary, and (Parents/Students) Child Summary / My Summary for more information.

FSS-101692 - Hall Passes: Exclude Kiosk Passes From Timeframe Limits and Enhance Active Pass Display

Hall passes generated automatically by attendance kiosks, early release, or attendance-linked kiosk actions no longer count toward a student's hall pass timeframe limit. In addition, the Active tab in Students > Hall Passes now includes a Grade Level column, shown after the student's name, and the first four columns on the Active tab (Photo, Student ID, Student, and Grade Level) now stay visible while scrolling horizontally through pass details.

See Hall Passes (Admin) and Hall Passes (Teacher) for more information.

FOCUS-59176 - Grading Scales: Configure GPA Round Cutoff Precision

A new Round Cutoff setting is available under Grades > Grading Scales and Comments, allowing districts to explicitly define the decimal precision used when rounding applicable GPA and grade scale calculations. Administrators can select from 0 through 5 decimal places for each grading scale, providing direct control over rounding rather than having the precision inferred from the GPA values entered on the scale.

Round Cutoff becomes available when the grading scale contains at least one grade with a fractional GPA value. If all GPA values are whole numbers, the setting remains disabled and is set to 0 decimals. Existing grading scales are automatically assigned a Round Cutoff based on their current GPA values to preserve their existing effective rounding behavior.

See Grades > Grading Scales & Comments > Configuring the Round Cutoff for more information.

FSS-101243 - Communications Platform: Threat Alerts More Details/Permissions

Portal threat alerts now display the sent date and time along with an at-a-glance read status for staff recipients, shown as "Yes," "No," or a count such as "2 of 3 opened." The detailed view of a threat alert has also been updated to include the sent time and open status alongside the sender, recipients, and message content. In addition, the Communication Reports log now features a new "Opened" column that shows when a recipient read the message, visible both on screen and in exported reports. Threat alerts also now correctly respect each user's school-level permissions, ensuring administrators only see alerts for schools they are authorized to view. This enhancement is dependent upon the Communication Platform Expansion and requires Threat Moderation to be turned on.

See Communication Reports (Admin ) > Threat Messages Report for more information.

FSS-101319 - Discipline Referrals: Track Reviewing Administrator and Analyze Referrals by Processor

Discipline referrals now track the administrator who completes the review. When Reviewed by Admin is selected and the referral is saved, the new read-only Processed By field automatically displays the name of the administrator who reviewed the referral. Clearing Reviewed by Admin also clears the Processed By value, and duplicated referrals do not carry over the review status or processor.

Discipline Analytics also includes a new Processor chart that groups referrals by the administrator who reviewed them. Referrals that were reviewed before this enhancement display as Unknown because the reviewing administrator was not previously recorded, while classroom/minor infraction referrals display as Not Reviewed because administrator review does not apply to those referrals.

See Add Referral (Admin), Referrals (Admin), Referrals (Teacher), Discipline Analytics (Admin), and Discipline Analytics (Teacher) for more information.

FSS-101769 - School Choice: Hide Internal Reason Text From Student and Parent Portals

We have added a new "Internal" option for School Choice Reasons and Additional Reasons, which allows the reason text to be hidden from Student and Parent Portals while keeping the application record itself visible. In Setup > School Choice Setup > Reasons & Additional Reasons, a new "Internal" checkbox column now appears next to the existing column, which has been renamed "Hide Program Row" for clarity. When a Reason or Additional Reason is marked "Internal," students and parents viewing the Choice screen will still see the program record, but the associated reason and additional reason text will not display. The previous "Hide Program Row" option continues to work as before, hiding the entire record from students and parents. This change only affects the Student and Parent Portal Choice screen; administrator views on the Magnet/Special Assignment screen, the School Choice Report, and the School Choice Application remain unchanged.

See School Choice Setup > Setting Up Reasons and Setting Up Additional Reasons for more information.

FOCUS-59787 - Login As Parent on Mobile

Administrative staff can now log in as a parent through the mobile app. When viewing a student's Addresses & Contacts, a Login as Mobile option is available for linked parent users, allowing staff to access the mobile app experience from that parent's account.

See Student Info (Admin) for more information.

FOCUS-59382 - Import Files: Download Success and Error Results as CSV

Import Files now provides downloadable CSV files for successful and unsuccessful import results, making it easier to review and manage results from large file imports. After processing, users can select Download Successes or Download Errors to retrieve the complete list of affected files and applicable error details.

CSV downloads are available for both files uploaded directly through Setup > Import Files and imports processed using existing server files. For large imports where the on-screen results may be condensed, the downloaded CSV includes the complete set of individual results, eliminating the need for additional database queries to retrieve import details.

FSS-101353 - Honor Roll: Use Report Card Grade Custom Fields as Criteria

Honor Roll Setup now supports Student Report Card Grade custom fields as criteria when defining Honor Roll rules. Eligible Select One, Select Multiple, and Checkbox fields can be made available by enabling the new Show in Honor Roll Setup option for the field under Setup > Fields > Report Card Grade Fields.

Once enabled, the custom field appears under Grades > Honor Roll Setup and can be configured as part of the criteria used to determine Honor Roll eligibility. Existing Conduct fields that support this functionality are automatically enabled for Honor Roll Setup to preserve existing Conduct-based Honor Roll behavior. Other eligible custom fields remain disabled by default and can be enabled individually as needed.

See Fields > Report Card Grade Fields Options and Honor Roll Setup for more information.

FSS-101702 - Parent/Student Portal Assignment Grades

Assignment grades in the Parent and Student Portals now display as points or percentages based on the teacher's Gradebook setting.

FOCUS-60159 - New Online Application: Generate Missing Application Snapshots

Completed New Online Application forms and applications that are missing an Application Snapshot can now have the snapshot generated directly from Students > Online Enrollments. Users with the new Generate Missing Application Snapshots permission will see a Generate Snapshot option in the Snapshot column when a completed application does not have an existing snapshot.

When selected, users are notified that the snapshot will be generated using the information currently populated on the application. Once generation is complete, the snapshot becomes available as a PDF from Online Enrollments and the student's Applications & Forms record. Applications that already have a snapshot are unaffected.

See New Application Editor and Online Enrollments for Students for more information.

FSS-101220 - SSS: Copy Accommodations From Previous IEP

A new event trigger, Copy Accommodations From Existing Event, can be configured to automatically copy accommodations from the student's previous locked IEP or Amended IEP when a new annual IEP is started. This allows existing accommodations to carry forward without requiring staff to re-enter them manually.

See SSS Technical Information for more details.