12.0.15 - 09/03/2023

Finance

FOCUS-39636- chore(rollover): change AP invoice template rollover to copy

System improvement allowing Accounts Payable Templates when rolled to be used in current year and new fiscal year simultaneously.

See AP Invoices for more information.

FOCUS-39217- Take Inventory Condition: Good

System improvement defaulting asset condition when taking Inventory in Fixed Assets > Inventory > Take Inventory. To enable: Setup > Setting > Fixed Assets - ' Default Condition When Taking Inventory'.

See Take Inventory for more details.

Payroll

FOCUS-39456- Allow them to choose an accounting strip and see how it's encumbered

System enhancement adding an explain to encumbrances in Payroll > Employee Wages > Examine Encumbrance.

See Employee Wages for more details.

FOCUS-37734- Create a program to increase min/max employees pay rates

System enhancement adding ability to increase min/max employee pay rates in Payroll > Employee Wages > Min/Max Yearly Change Pay.

See Employee Wages for more details.

SIS

FOCUS-39720- Re-Enrollment Restrictions: Enforce Built-In Validation for End-Users without Permissions

This branch enhances the Re-Enrollment Restrictions feature to provide a more consistent experience. Now, system validations will be effectively applied, even if end-users don't have permission to access every column in the Re-Enrollment Restrictions logging field. This ensures uniformity and upholds re-enrollment restrictions when enrolling students in Focus.

FOCUS-39706- Communication Platform: Resolve Template Display & Generation in Letter Queue and Workflow Triggers (Attention Customers with Custom Letter Queue Procedures)

This branch resolves a display and generation problem in Letter Queue and Students, Workflow Triggers for letter templates created before the Communication Platform's introduction in Version 12.

Important Implementation Steps:

Before applying this branch, districts should revise any custom procedures that feed letters into the Letter Queue using SQL queries. Here's how to assess and update these procedures:

1) Identify District Reports that have an insert statement directed at the letter_queue. With "All Reports" chosen, navigate to Reports > District Reports. Use the Filters option to search for "letter_queue" within the "Edit/Export/Run" column.

2) If a job is set to INSERT INTO the letter_queue, it should also be configured to INSERT into the letter_source column. Depending on the template's origin, input 'Letter' (for Print Letters & Send Emails) or 'CommunicationTemplate' (for the Communication Platform).

For assistance or clarification during this process, please reach out to your support representative.

FOCUS-39702- Student Info: Prevent Error on Deleted JSON Custom Fields

This branch makes refinements to ensure stability in the Student Final Grades and Student Info sections. When a custom JSON Student Field is added, populated, and later removed from Student Fields setup, the end-user will no longer encounter database errors.

FOCUS-39700- Gradebook: New Attribute Whitelisted in HTML Validator

Enhancements have been made to the HTML validator security feature within the Teacher Gradebook Assignment description areas. The 'aria-level' attribute has been whitelisted, ensuring that end-users will no longer encounter error messages when saving an Assignment with a description that includes this attribute. This facilitates smoother interactions within the Teacher Gradebook.

FOCUS-39692- Select Student/Staff Quick Pick: New Larger User/Student Photo in Tooltip

This branch brings refinements to the "Select Student/Staff" Quick Pick feature. Now, when end-users hover over a selected Student or User in the menu, a tooltip will display a larger instance of the respective photo, enhancing visibility and user experience.

See Searching for Students and Student Info for more information.

FOCUS-39676- Gradebook: New Attributes Whitelisted to HTML Validator

This branch enhances the Gradebook Assignment description functionality. Previously, when teachers copied and pasted numbered lists from word documents, they might encounter errors due to certain HTML attributes not being recognized. With this update, the attributes 'start', 'type', and 'name' are now whitelisted in the HTMLValidator, allowing for a more seamless experience when adding content to the Gradebook Assignment description area.

FOCUS-39675- Teacher Portal: Prevent Unintended Log Out when Searching in Menu

This branch addresses a concern within the menu search functionality. Previously, if teachers searched for a menu item and pressed 'Enter' with zero results, it would inadvertently log them out of Focus. This unintended behavior has been corrected, ensuring uninterrupted sessions for end-users.

FOCUS-39657- Scheduling: Allow Deleting Sections without Teachers

This branch addresses a specific concern in the Scheduling module. Previously, Sections without a teacher assignment could not be deleted. With this update, such Sections can now be removed successfully.

FOCUS-39655- Execution History: Prevent Error when Comment in District Report Contains Curly vs. Straight Quotes

Previously, cron jobs based on District Reports with SQL containing curly quotes (as opposed to straight quotes) in a comment could disrupt the recording of the execution status, leading to an error. With this update, the type of quotes nested within comment text in a District Report will no longer influence the job's execution status recording.

FOCUS-39654- Calendars: Resolve Display of All Day Events in Portal

This branch refines the Calendars feature. Previously, when end-users added an "all day" event, the timestamp was set to the start of the day for both the beginning and end, preventing its visibility in the events section of the portal. Now, "all day" events will display correctly in the portal's events section.

FOCUS-39635- Grad. Req. Report: Add Course Number to Scholar Requirement for Statistics

For customers using Florida State Reporting: This branch introduces an update to the Graduation Requirements Report in the Scholar section. The logic behind the requirement "Earned 1 Credit in Statistics or Equally-Rigorous Course" has been enhanced to include Course Number 1209300. This ensures the report reflects accurate graduation requirements as per the latest standards.

FOCUS-39628- School Choice: Remove Subscripts on Application Notes Not Attached to Programs

For customers utilizing the School Choice Module: This update enhances the presentation of Application Notes in School Choice Applications. From now on, any Application Notes that aren't specifically attached to a program will be displayed without subscripts, offering a cleaner and more intuitive view for end-users on the application.

See School Choice Setup > Adding Application Notes for more information.

FOCUS-39602- EdFi: New School Year Setting in EdFi Data Sync Scheduled Job

Our EdFi API has been updated to support prior year qualifying data. A new 'School Year' option has been introduced in the EdFi Data Sync Scheduled Job settings. If you have an existing job configured, it will automatically default to the current school year with this update, ensuring a seamless experience.

FOCUS-39599- Online Application: Respect Other Relationship Type in Application

For districts or schools utilizing the "Allow 'Other' Contact Type" System Preference and an Online Application: With this update, the "Other" option will now be visible to end-users when filling out an Online Application in the Contact Relationship field, provided that this field is displayed in the layout. This enhancement ensures greater flexibility in contact designation during the application process.

See System Preferences > Enrollment for more information.

FOCUS-39589- Grad. Req. Report: Leverage Personal Fitness when Failed HOPE Course Present in Final Grades

For customers using Florida State Reporting: This update addresses an inconsistency in the Graduation Requirements Report related to the "Use personal fitness option on grad requirements report" system preference. In the past, if a student did not pass or receive credit for a HOPE course in their Final Grades, the report would mistakenly indicate the student hadn't met the Physical Education requirement, even if they had successfully completed a .5 credit in Personal Fitness and another .5 credit in a different PE-related course. This has now been rectified, ensuring accurate representation of student achievements on the report.

See System Preferences > Grading for more information.

FOCUS-39588- Gradebook: Resolve Incorrect Display of Category Weight Error

This update refines the feedback mechanism in the Teacher Gradebook. Previously, there might have been instances where an error message displayed stating "Category weights do not add up to 100%. The sum of the 'Percent of Final Grade' fields for your categories is 100%," even when the category weights were correctly configured to equal 100%.

FOCUS-39585- Grade Change Requests: Better Permissions to Electronic Grade Change Requests

For customers utilizing Electronic Grade Changes Requests: This update reinforces permission-based access within the Grade Change Requests module. Administrators will now be able to make modifications to Grade Change Requests only when they possess the appropriate edit permissions. Those with "view only" permissions will remain restricted from making changes.

FOCUS-39544- Add a Student: New Preference to Enforce Contact Detail Entry

A new system preference, 'Require contact details when adding a student,' has been introduced. When activated, this preference ensures that essential contact details are provided when end-users add students. Specifically, if a student's contact lacks Contact Detail entries, an error message will appear. For visibility, this system preference will only surface if 'Require contact when adding a student' is also active and will default to the 'off' position upon installation. This enhancement empowers districts to ensure that school-based data entry operators capture crucial contact information during key enrollment phases.

See System Preferences > Enrollment for more details about this new setting.

FOCUS-39459- Online Application: Ensure Application School Years Display in Accordance with Preference Selections

For users of the Online Application module: With this update, when the system field for Application School Year is part of the layout, only future year selection options will be shown to end-users. However, this will be contingent upon having the "Allow Enrolling in Future Year" System Preference enabled. This enhancement ensures that enrollment options are in sync with district preferences.

FOCUS-39349- Online Enrollments: Correct Display of Portal Alerts for End-Users without Edit Permissions

This branch addresses a specific issue within the Online Enrollments Report: Users without edit permissions for the Unprocessed Forms section of the Online Enrollments Report will no longer receive portal alerts about Unprocessed Requests. For clarity on existing functionality: Users with Edit permission for the Unprocessed Forms will continue to receive the alert, "X Online Re-enrollment(s) are awaiting approval," within the portal. Upon clicking this alert, users will be directed to the Unprocessed Forms tab of the Online Enrollments screen.

FOCUS-38992- Custom Fields: Better Implementation of "Visible on Add a User/Student Search" Field Flag

This update brings changes to how Custom Student or User Fields behave in the Add a User/Student Search. Fields marked as "Visible on Add a User/Student Search" will still appear in both Exact & Partial Match results for field types including Checkbox, Date, Long Text, Number, Select Multiple, Select One, Signature, Text, and Time. However, only fields of the Text type will be supported in the top field entry section.

See Student Fields and User Fields for more information.

FOCUS-37688- Document Management Module: Retention Year Setting for Scheduled Job by Upload Field

For customers utilizing the Document Management add-on module, this enhancement introduces a notable feature. File Upload Fields now come with a setting allowing end-users to specify a year retention value. This value is acknowledged by the built-in Scheduled Job called "Purge Old Files," which is responsible for archiving documents. Consequently, documents not mandated for retention beyond a specified number of years post-upload date will be archived accordingly.

See Student Fields for more information.

FOCUS-35956- Grad. Req. Report: New Preference to Display Failed Courses in Description

This branch introduces a new System Preference named 'Show failed courses on Grad Requirements Report' under the Grading sub-tab. The preference is initially set to the Off position to preserve existing functionality. However, when activated, the detailed view of the Graduation Requirements Report will display failed courses in the hover-over description, allowing districts to present course results in accordance with their policies.

See System Preferences > Grading and Graduation Requirements Report for more information.