After the scheduler is no longer being run, scheduling issues may require manually updating student schedules. In addition, students may still be enrolling in the current year and will need a schedule for the upcoming year. Once the new school year begins, new students will need to be scheduled and other students may need schedule changes for a variety of reasons such as balancing or collapsing sections. In all these scenarios, schedules would be created or changed manually, which is referred to in Focus as Walk-in Scheduling.
The Loading Reports should be used after Run Scheduler is no longer being used and once the new school year begins to locate students who have not been scheduled or who may have conflicting or incomplete schedules. Schedulers should be in the new school year when viewing this report.
The Students with Incomplete Schedules report displays students who have one or more periods in which no courses are scheduled.
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Loading Reports.
2. Click the Students with Incomplete Schedules tab.
3. Leave the search text box empty and click Search, or use More Search Options to select a specific grade level.
When the report opens, the Effective Date displays the first day of the new term.
4. The first time the report is viewed, select the Periods used for scheduling and click Update.
A red X displays for each period a student is not scheduled.
5. Check both semesters by changing the selection of the Quarter (Marking Period) using the pull-down in the Portal header.
6. Show/Hide Dismissed Students: Some students may not need a full set of requests so would not need all periods scheduled to be “fully scheduled."
- Select the Dismiss Student check box next to the student’s name if this is applicable.
- Click Save Dismissed Students to hide said students from the report.
- Click Show Dismissed Students to display the hidden students.
7. Click the student’s name from the Students with Incomplete Schedules tab.
When the schedule record opens, courses can be added in one of three ways:
- By clicking +Add a Section, which opens Courses & Sections.
- By using any of the pull-downs in Search for a section to add.
- By viewing any Unscheduled Requests to determine if they can be used by changing the period a different course may have scheduled.
Option 1: +Add a Section
1. Click +Add a Section, which will open Courses & Sections in a pop-up window.
2. Click on the Subject and Course; each Section will display the number of available seats.
3. Click on the Section to be added to the student’s schedule.
The Courses & Sections pop-up closes and the student’s schedule displays with the added course.
4. Continue using +Add a Section to fill the student’s schedule.
Option 2: Search for a section to add
Most users find this option easier and faster for building schedules. It is up to the individual user to determine which fields they wish to use to locate a section with available seats.
1. Select options from the pull-downs and click Search.
Based on the search criteria entered, available sections will display the course name as a hyperlink with a + sign for adding the section to the student schedule.
2. Click on the course hyperlink for the applicable section and the section will be added to the schedule. If a course already exists in the selected period, an error message will appear with the option to go ahead and add the section if you will be moving the conflicting section.
3. Repeat Steps 1 - 2 until the student is fully scheduled.
The student schedules opened on a new tab. Close the tab and return to the Loading Report; refresh the report and the fully scheduled student will no longer display on the report. This process can be repeated for individual students until all unscheduled students have a schedule.
Any courses that were unavailable (no seats left) or unable to fit in the schedule will display in the student’s Unscheduled Requests section below Search for a Section to Add.
Option 3: Unscheduled Requests + Period-Teacher Pull-downs
To see why a requested course did not schedule even though seats may be available:
- Click on the course name link at the bottom of the screen.
This will display the sections and available seats for the course in Courses & Sections and may provide an explanation for why a requested course did not get scheduled.
Courses can be rearranged on the student’s schedule by clicking the Period-Teacher pull-down. The pull-down will display all other sections of a course with the teacher as well as the number of available seats.
1. Click on the section requiring a teacher/period change.
2. Select a new section from the Period - Teacher pull-down. It might be necessary to do this for several sections to avoid creating schedule conflicts.
3. Repeat this for all sections that need to be moved or rearranged.
4. Click Save.
As of the first day of the school year or new term, the Period-Teacher pull-down on the Student’s Schedule will no longer be available for use. The Delete checkboxes will be visible through the end of the first day of the term. The sections will have to be dropped individually or en mass from the schedule.
The Students with Conflicting Schedules can be used to locate students with multiple sections scheduled into the same period.
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Loading Reports.
2. Click the Students with Conflicting Schedules tab.
3. Leave the search text box empty and click Search or use More Search Options to select a specific grade level.
When the report opens, the Effective Date displays the first day of the new term.
4. The first time the report is viewed, select the periods used for scheduling and click Update.
A red X displays for any period a student has more than one section in the same period.
5. Click on the student’s name to adjust the schedule using any of the options previously described.
Prior to and up through the end of the first day of the school year/new term, individual or multiple classes can be dropped from a student’s schedule using the Delete check boxes. Since the class may not have yet started, deleting the class will not impact attendance or grades.
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Student Schedule.
2. Enter the student name or ID number in the search text box and click Search.
To the left of the Course column there is a Delete column.
3. Select the Delete check box in the header and all sections will be selected or select the individual check boxes to delete specific sections.
4. Click Save to delete the selected sections on the schedule.
Follow the previous steps for using + Add a Section or Search for a Section to add.
After the first day of the school year or new term, the Delete check boxes on the left-hand side will no longer be available because Attendance and Grades could potentially be linked to the sections. The sections will have to be dropped individually or en mass from the schedule as described below.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to drop a section from multiple students for various reasons, such as a section of a course is being dissolved. When done prior to the start of the term, a drop date is not required. It is best practice to ADD the new course(s) section first, then do the Mass Drop.
Each Student Gets Different New Section
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Student Schedule.
2. Click More Search Options, select Scheduling. Then, select Scheduled into Section(s).
3. Select the section to be dropped/replaced from the Scheduled into Section(s) pull-down to locate the correct group of students.
4. Click Search.
5. From the resulting list, click on the first name in the list. The student schedule screen will display.
6. Click +Add a Section or use Search for a Section to add to select a course section that will replace the one that is going to be dropped.
Another option is to refer to the student’s Unscheduled Requests at the bottom of the schedule to select a course designated as an alternate.
A message may display that there is a conflict if the new course section is in the same period as a currently scheduled section; click OK to proceed with scheduling the new course.
The new course will display on the schedule.
7. In the header, click Back to Search Results or click the arrows under the student name to move to the next student in the list and repeat the above steps until all students have had the new section added.
All Students Get Same New Section
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Mass Add Course.
2. Click More Search Options, select Scheduling. Then, select Scheduled into Section(s).
3. Select the section to be dropped/replaced from the Scheduled into Section(s) pull-down to locate the correct group of students.
4. Click Search.
5. At the top of the screen, click the Choose Course link.
6. In the pop-up window, click the subject, course, and section to add to the students.
7. The selected section is displayed next to Course Section(s) to Add.
8. Click the Choose more Courses link to add more sections if needed.
9. Select the Start Date of the course.
10. Select the Marking Period of enrollment. Selecting Full Course Enrollment will enroll the students for the full course length set on the course.
11. Select the Locked check box to lock this section on the student's schedule. When a section is locked, it will not be affected by subsequent Scheduler runs.
12. Scroll down to the student list. Select the check box next to each student to mass add this course to, or select the check box in the column header to select all the students in the list.
13. Click Add Course(s) to Selected Students at the top of the screen.
A green check mark and confirmation message is displayed, indicating the course has been added to the selected students.
If Back to Search Results is clicked, the list can be downloaded to Excel, which would allow copying and pasting the student ID numbers into the search text box on the Mass Drop Course search screen. Otherwise, the previous search criteria would have to be re-entered to reproduce the list of students.
14. Go to the Scheduling menu and click Mass Drop Course.
15. Click on More Search Options and enter the same search criteria that was used to generate the list for adding a new course to the student schedules or copy and paste student numbers from the saved excel sheet.
16. On the Mass Drop Course screen, click the Choose Course and select the course section that is being dropped.
Since the school year/term has not yet started, the Drop Date does not need to be adjusted (defaults to current date) and will not display on student schedules.
17. Select the check box in the header to select all the students or select the individual check boxes next to students' names.
18. Click Drop Course for Selected Students. A confirmation that the selected course was dropped will appear.
After the school year has started: This same process can be used in similar circumstances but a Dropped date must be entered and it cannot be the same as the Enrolled date for the newly added section.
In Courses & Sections, locate the section being dissolved and set the seat count to zero or double-click the green checkmark for Active to make the section Inactive so it can no longer be used to schedule students.
DO NOT REMOVE THE TEACHER’s NAME.
In some instances, instead of mass dropping and mass adding sections to schedules, it may be appropriate to move the teacher and the students to a new course number. This may be done prior to or after the term has begun.
1. Click the subject, course, and section.
2. At the top of the screen, click the bold course link.
3. In the pop-up window, click the Move section ___ to a different course link.
4. Click the subject and course to move the section to.
5. In the confirmation message, click OK.
The section is moved to the selected subject and course. Any standards assigned to the previous section will be assigned to the new section.
After the first day of the school year or new term, schedules must have a Dropped date entered if a student withdraws or changes teachers for any section on the schedule. This is applicable whether schedules are dropped individually or en masse. The Delete check boxes and the Period-Teacher pull-downs will not be available.
Option 1: Enter Individual Dropped Dates
1. Enter the date in the Dropped field for each section to be dropped.
2. Click Save.
Option 2: Mass Ddd Dropped Date
1. Click the Mass Update button.
2. Select Dropped from the first pull-down.
3. Select the dropped date from the applicable pull-downs.
4. Click Run Mass Update.
The Dropped date fields populate in the student schedule.
5. Click Save.
The schedule Dropped date is inclusive, so the student will stay active in the class through the entered date. The Dropped date should be the last day the student attended the class. The Dropped date and Enrolled date for replacement sections cannot be the same date.
If students will be receiving in-class support from Support Teachers (ESE, ELL Immersion, Interventions) for a course, schedulers can use the Inclusion tab to create the Inclusion section. Once the Inclusion section has been created, it can be added to existing student schedules.
A system preference can be enabled that will allow Focus to automatically subtract Inclusion minutes from the primary section when added to the student schedule; otherwise, schedulers must manually adjust the minutes.
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Courses & Sections.
2. Select the appropriate Subject, Course, and Section. Note: Some districts may use an 8th digit on the course number or some naming convention on the section short name, to indicate the section to which an Inclusion section will be attached.
3. Click on the Inclusion tab.
4. Complete the fields for:
- Inclusion Teacher: Select the support teacher.
- Permissions: Permissions for access to Gradebook and Attendance. Options are None, Read only, and Modify.
- Scheduling Method: Only option is I - In-Class One-on-One.
- Team Teacher Training: Criteria entered per district instructions.
- Cert/Licensure/Qual Status: Auto-populates if Focus In/Out-of-Field process is enabled; otherwise, follow district instructions.
- Primary Instructor: This check box should be left unselected.
- Report to DOE: Select the check box if counted for FTE Surveys.
- Course Num: Optional if different than primary.
- Section Num: Optional if different than primary.
- Inclusion Minutes Weekly: Enter the maximum/average of weekly minutes. Maximum is typically ½ the Class Weekly Minutes of the S section; the minutes can be adjusted on individual student schedules as applicable.
- Inclusion FEFP: An FEFP can be indicated for the inclusion section. This pushes to the student schedules when the Inclusion section is added.
- Inclusion Reading Intervention Component: If the support is for Reading intervention, indicate the Tier placement.
- Inclusion ELL Instructional Model: If used for ELL Support, the Instructional Model can be indicated.
- Start Date and End Date: Enter dates only if the Inclusion teacher will be providing support for a specific timeframe.
- Days Override: All days can be selected and then adjusted per student on the schedules.
5. Click Save.
Depending on when they are created, there are three options for adding Inclusion sections to student schedules.
Option 1: Adding From the Individual Student Schedule
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Student Schedule.
2. Enter the name or ID number for the student needing the Inclusion section and click Search.
3. Select the Show Florida Fields check box.
4. The class with the Inclusion section will display a red x in the Inclusion column. This means the section has been built but the student is not assigned.
5. Click the red X to select the Inclusion check box, then click Save.
The Inclusion section will display below the primary section and both will display a green checkmark. The Inclusion section checkmark is not editable.
The Class Weekly minutes for the Inclusion section will automatically subtract from the primary section if the system preference has been enabled.
6. Adjust Minutes and Days of service on the Inclusion section as indicated by the ESE or ELL service provider. If minutes are manually reduced or increased on the Inclusion section from the schedule, the primary section minutes will automatically update, if the system preference has been enabled.
7. Click Save after making any adjustments to days or minutes.
Option 2: Using the Students with Inclusion Report
The Students with Inclusion report is used to quickly add inclusion sections to students. Schedule fields can be updated for each student for both the inclusion record and schedule record, including the Class Minutes Weekly.
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select the Students with Inclusion.
2. Select one or multiple sections in the Sections with Inclusion pull-down.
The Sections with Inclusion pull-down is populated with active sections that have inclusion set up for the school and school year selected at the top-right.
3. Click Load Report.
The report displays students who are scheduled into the selected section(s). The Schedule Record row displays the schedule fields for the general section. Students who are already scheduled into the inclusion section have the Inclusion check box selected, and have an additional Inclusion Record row that displays beneath the Schedule Record row.
4. To add an inclusion record to a student, select the Inclusion check box.
5. Click Save.
6. Make any updates to the Schedule Record or Inclusion Record rows as needed, such as updating Class Minutes Weekly.
When the Class Minutes Weekly are updated for the inclusion record, it is automatically adjusted for the schedule record.
7. Click Save.
Option 3: Auto-Scheduling Students with a Request for Inclusion
When student requests were entered, schedulers may have selected the Inclusion check box. In this instance, when the scheduler was run, the system looked for sections of the requested courses that had the Inclusion section built using the Inclusion tab and auto-scheduled the students into both the primary and Inclusion section. This can be done manually if the Inclusion section was NOT built before Run Scheduler was used.
1. Go to Scheduling and select Student Schedules.
2. Click More Search Options.
3. Click the Scheduling tab and select Requested Course(s).
4. Select the applicable inclusion courses from the Requested Course(s) pull-down.
5. Click on a student from the list to view the Requests screen.
6. Click Auto-Schedule this Student.
The inclusion section displays as part of the student's schedule under the primary section. Both sections now display a green checkmark in the Inclusion column. The Inclusion checkmark is not editable.
7. Adjust Class Minutes Weekly and Meeting Days of service on the Inclusion section as indicated by the ESE or ELL service provider. If minutes are manually reduced or increased on the Inclusion section from the schedule, the primary section minutes will automatically update if the system preference was enabled.
8. Click Save after making any adjustments to days or minutes.
Dropping an Inclusion Section
If the student no longer needs the Inclusion section, it will need to be dropped from the student schedule just like any other section.
1. Enter a Dropped date for the Inclusion section.
2. Click Save.
The Inclusion checkmarks and Inclusion section minutes will remain through the end of the dropped date. If the system preference has been enabled, the Class Minutes Weekly on the primary section will update to the full minutes.
Removing an Inclusion Section
This is not the recommended method because this will remove any record of the ESE Services. Removing the Inclusion Section should only be used if added to the schedule in error.
1. Select the Show Florida Fields check box.
2. Click the Inclusion field for the Primary section where a green checkmark is displayed, and clear the selected check box. Note: The Inclusion field isn't editable for the Inclusion section.
3. Click Save.
When students will be leaving the traditional class to receive extra instruction or therapies, the section must be created and then can be individually added or mass added to student schedules like any other course.
1. Go to the Scheduling menu and select Courses & Sections.
2. Select the appropriate Subject, Course, and Section.
3. Click on the Florida tab.
4. Use the pull-down to select the Scheduling Method of G - Individual or Small Group Instruction (district may opt to instruct to use S - Self-contained).
5. Select the Pull-out check box.
6. Ensure the Class Minutes Weekly are correct (this can be changed on the individual student schedule).
Now that the section is built, the section can be added to a student schedule just as any other section.
7. Adjust the Meeting Days and the Class Minutes Weekly for the student as indicated by the service provider.
The minutes will automatically subtract similar to Inclusion if the system preference has been enabled.
8. Click Save after making any changes to the student schedule.