12.0.27 - 12/04/2023

Finance

FOCUS-41125- feat(accounts-receivable): require explicit cash drawer access if new setting enabled

System enhancement restricting Cash Drawer access until assigned. To enable: Setup > General Ledger > Settings > Accounts Receivable > Point of Sale 'Restrict Cash Drawer Access to Assigned Drawers.'

See Setup > Settings > Accounts Receivable > Point of Sale and Cash Drawer Setup for details.

FOCUS-41107- feat(warehouse): add facility address to printed picklist

System improvement adding facility address to printed Pick List in Warehouse.

FOCUS-41093- feat(accounts-receivable): add permission restrictions to Cash Drawer Setup

System improvement to Accounts Receivable > Cashout > Drawers restricting view based on account strips permissions.

FOCUS-41058- feat(warehouse): add PO # criteria to Transaction Report

System improvement adding Purchase Order Number search functionality to the Transaction Report in Warehouse.

See Transaction Report for details.

FOCUS-41000- chore(accounts-payable): add commas to some numeric display values

System improvement adding comma throughout ERP.

FOCUS-40997- feat(accounts-receivable): add date picker to Deposits

System improvement adding calendar functionality to 'Deposit Date' field in Accounts Receivable.

See Deposits and Internal Account Deposits for more details.

FOCUS-40952- chore(budget): require title when creating BM draft

System improvement adding an error message requiring title to draft in Budget Maintenance.

FOCUS-40933- Add Select All To A/P ACH Voiding

System improvement adding select/deselect all to void ACH in Purchasing/Accounts Payable > Accounts Payable > Checks.

FOCUS-39815- Change Order Notification

System enhancement adding the ability to send notification when processing purchase order change requests. To enable Setup > Setting > Accounts Payable > Change order notification recipients.

Payroll

FOCUS-40567- Employee | Bank dropdown active indicator

System improvement displaying active/inactive indicator on Bank field in Human Resources > Employee > Direct Deposit.

FOCUS-40416- HR > Supplement Report - Add Facilities Search Filter

System improvement adding Facility search filter to Human Resources > Reports > Supplement Report.

FOCUS-39927- HR International Address

System improvement updating international address options throughout ERP modules.

SIS

FOCUS-41122- Audit Trail: Improve Audit Trail with JSON fields

This update addresses a specific technical issue involving the Database Object log_before column related to student JSON fields. Previously, there was an issue with double-encoding, where an extra quotation mark (") appeared in the 'before' column in the string of custom fields. The implementation of this branch effectively resolves this issue.

FOCUS-41119- Letterhead Template: Ensure Template is Available for Selected Features

This update addresses a previous issue in the system where Letterhead Templates, although enabled for use in Gradebook Reports, were not accessible in the Teacher Programs Gradebook Reports section.

FOCUS-41118- RunQuery: Improvements to RunQuery Log

This update addresses two key improvements in the RunQuery tool:

Query Interpretation Fix: Previously, if a past query contained strings like "<>", browsers would mistakenly interpret these as HTML tags, leading to unpredictable behavior when such queries were clicked. The update rectifies this, ensuring that special characters in queries are correctly interpreted and do not affect the tool's functionality.

Query List Deduplication: To enhance user experience and reduce redundancy, the branch introduces deduplication for the displayed list of queries. This means that if the same query is executed multiple times, it won't clutter the list, making it easier for users to navigate and manage their queries.

FOCUS-41101- Transcripts: Prioritize Semester Content in Transcript Generation for Texas

This update introduces a valuable enhancement for Texas transcripts within our system. The new feature focuses on improving the transcript generation process by utilizing the 'Texas Semester Content' field to determine the Term for a grade. However, when the 'Texas Semester Content' field is set to 'Course Term', the system will use the marking period term.

FOCUS-41070- Transcripts: 'Courses in Progress' Enhancement for Texas Grouping

This latest update brings a notable enhancement specifically tailored for our Texas-based customers' transcript needs. We've introduced the "Courses In Progress" feature within the Transcripts section, specifically when the "Texas" grouping is selected. This new functionality ensures that ongoing courses are accurately reflected in the transcripts, providing a comprehensive view of a student's current academic status.

FOCUS-41061- Graduation Requirements Report: Improve Display of Courses in ToolTip

This update enhances the Graduation Requirements Report by improving tooltip functionality. Now, tooltips with extensive content will automatically display scrollbars, preventing content cutoff and ensuring all information is easily accessible and readable. This refinement significantly improves user navigation and readability within the report.

FOCUS-41056- Gradebook: When Points and Letters are Both Hidden, Assignments in Student View are Not Showing Completion Checkmark

This update addresses an inconsistency within the Gradebook and Portal display. Previously, when only percent grades were shown in the Gradebook, completion assignment checkboxes were not visible to students or parents through the Portal, despite being visible in the teacher's Gradebook view. This branch resolves this issue, ensuring that completion assignment checkboxes are now consistently visible in both the teacher's Gradebook and the Portal for students and parents.

FOCUS-41054- Communication Platform: Consistent Table Display

This branch introduces significant improvements to tables in the Communication Platform. Firstly, it addresses the issue of table width in messages. Now, all tables, whether manually created in a message or generated as computed tables, will extend to span the entire width of the message, enhancing readability and visual appeal. Secondly, the update resolves the issue with table borders. Both created and computed tables will now consistently display borders when messages are printed or sent.

FOCUS-41052- Advanced Report: Handle Null Student Field Signatures in Advanced Reports

This branch resolves a previously encountered issue in Advanced Reports involving student signature fields. When a student signature field was included in a report and the corresponding value was null, it used to cause an error. With this update, Advanced Reports now handle null values in student signature fields effectively. In cases where a signature is absent, the report will display the null record smoothly, ensuring consistent and error-free report generation.

FOCUS-41046- Print Avery Labels: Improve Export Feature in Print Avery Labels

This update addresses a previously identified problem in the Student and User Print Avery Labels feature. With this fix, customers can now successfully export a list of returned results.

FOCUS-41040- Report Cards: Respect Marking Period Sort Order in Generation

This enhancement offers greater customization options for displaying marking periods on Report Cards and District Report Cards & Transcripts. Now, the sort order set by customers in the Setup menu under Marking Periods will dictate the sequence in which marking periods appear when these documents are generated. This change provides more control and flexibility in report presentation.

FOCUS-41036- Student Final Grade Report: Display School Name Improvement

This update enhances the Student Final Grades Report by ensuring that the schools column is populated correctly.

FOCUS-41025- Students With Inclusion Report: Prevent Error when Updating Minutes in Inclusion Section

This update addresses a previously encountered issue with the Students with Inclusion report. With this branch implemented, it prevents errors from occurring when end-users are updating the 'Class Minutes Weekly' for a student's inclusion section record.

FOCUS-41024- Communication Platform: Preserve Recorded Audio Files when Scheduling or Saving as Announcement or Template

This update improves the functionality of the Communication Platform, particularly for messages that include recorded audio files. Prior to this branch, there was a limitation where recorded audio files were only saved correctly if the message was sent immediately. In scenarios where the message was scheduled, saved as a template, or used in an announcement, the audio file would unfortunately be lost.

FOCUS-41018- Gradebook: Add Placeholder & Tooltip to Grade Filters

This update introduces a useful enhancement to the datatable filters within the Gradebook, particularly for the grade field. With the implementation of this branch, placeholder and focus-tooltip attributes are now added to the datatable filters.

FOCUS-41011- FAS: Enable Standard Question Options when Building Tests

This update addresses a specific issue encountered in the legacy Focus Assessment System (FAS), which is relevant only for customers utilizing the FAS add-on module. Previously, teachers experienced a problem where standard question options were being inadvertently disabled during the process of adding them to a test within the FAS environment. With this branch, the issue has been resolved

FOCUS-40993- RunQuery: Improve exporting to CSV Feature

This update resolves an issue in the Runquery function related to exporting query results to a CSV file. Prior to this branch, if a query result contained a double quote character (") in Runquery, it would incorrectly appear as an escaped double quote (") in the exported CSV file. With the implementation of this branch, the issue has been corrected.

FOCUS-40976- Communication Platform: Process Messages Upon View

This branch introduces a significant improvement in the Communication Platform, particularly for messages sent to more than 10 recipients that include dynamic fields. Prior to this update, in such scenarios, the dynamic fields within the message would not populate until processed by the communication queue scheduled job. This could lead to delays in the proper display of these fields. However, with the implementation of this branch, the dynamic fields will now populate immediately when the recipient opens the message, if the communication queue job hasn't already processed it.

FOCUS-40960- Re-Enrollment Forms: Ensure Access to Available Forms for Applicable Student Families

This update resolves a specific issue in the Re-Enrollment Forms program. Previously, students with two enrollment records in the same school year, including an inactive one, were incorrectly marked as inactive, preventing the display of applicable forms in the Parent Portal. The implementation of this branch ensures that such students are now accurately recognized as active, allowing for the correct display of forms.

FOCUS-40936- Attendance: Resolve URL Links in Print Absence Summary Emails

This update addresses an issue where parents were encountering an error upon clicking the "Chart" link in emails sent through the "Print Absence Summary" function. With the implementation of this branch, this error has been resolved.

FOCUS-40921- Post Final Grades: Respect Hidden Visibility Setting in Grade Posting Averaging Scheme

This update resolves a previously encountered issue in the Post Final Grades section for teachers. Specifically, it addresses the problem where a marking period exam column was incorrectly displayed, despite being marked as 'hidden' in the relevant Grade Posting Averaging scheme. With the implementation of this branch, such columns will now adhere to their designated visibility settings.

FOCUS-40917- Discipline: Update End Date on Detention List when Days Completed Equals Action Length

This update introduces a refinement in the process that links the Detention List to the Referral in the system. Specifically, it modifies the existing behavior to ensure that the "Start Date" value on the attached referral action will remain unchanged if the "days completed" is set and greater than zero.

FOCUS-40888- Delete a Student: Include Previous Year Entries in Count of Referrals Presented when Merging Students

This update addresses a display issue in the Delete a Student feature, specifically within the Merge 2 Students tab. Previously, the count of available Discipline referrals shown in the interface did not include referrals from previous years. With this update, the display now correctly includes previous year Discipline referrals.

FOCUS-40885- Student Final Grades Report: Restore Print Functionality

This branch reinstates a previously available feature, allowing end-users to utilize the Print functionality on the Student Final Grades Report. This update restores convenient access to printed reports.

FOCUS-40879- Communication Platform: Prioritize Selected School Year & Marking Period when Populating Fields

This branch introduces an important update regarding the use of marking period-based fields in the Communication Platform. Prior to this change, fields dependent on marking periods would automatically use the current marking period based on the date. However, with this update, for one-time messages, these fields will now be populated based on the school year selected in the top-right corner of the interface. For recurring messages, the system will continue to use the current marking period.

See Communication (Admin) for additional information.

FOCUS-40876- Communication Platform: Improve Communication Report Filtering

This update resolves a previous issue encountered in the Communication Report, particularly with the filter functionality of the "To" column. Previously, users experienced inconsistencies when attempting to filter results based on their input in this column.

FOCUS-40867- Test History Report: Display Correct School Year from Test History Administrations

This update significantly enhances the functionality of the Test History Report. Previously, the School Year displayed in the report was determined by the school year selected in the end-user's current session. However, with this new implementation, the Test History Report will now accurately reflect the school year corresponding to the specific Administration Date of each test.

FOCUS-40862- Detention List: Improve Restrictions for SESIR Codes Leveraged in Detention List

This update enhances the functionality of the newly added Add Detention button in the Discipline Detention List section. Initially, the Add Detention popup allowed users to select any Referral Code with an Action of Detention, as defined under Discipline Referral Codes & Actions Codes. This could potentially lead to Florida-based users selecting a SESIR Referral Code without an associated SESIR Incident, causing reporting issues. To address this, the branch now limits the Referral Code options in the Add Detention popup to those marked as Include on Mobile App and Detention. If no referral codes meet these criteria, the popup will default to showing non-SESIR and Detention referral codes. This refinement aims to prevent reporting discrepancies and improve overall usability.

See Detention List for more information.

FOCUS-40853- Communication Platform: New Announcement Filters

This enhancement significantly improves the Announcements feature within the Communication Platform. With the introduction of 'All Schools' and 'Active' filter options, users now have a more streamlined and efficient way to view announcements. These new filters, located in the upper right of the Announcements window, allow for a more targeted and organized approach to managing announcements across various schools. Importantly, this update respects existing profile permissions, ensuring that users who have limitations based on specific schools will only see relevant announcements.

See Communication (Admin) and Communication (Teachers) for additional information.

FOCUS-40836- Add a Student: Improve Handling of Custom Student Fields when "Visible on Add a Student/User Search" Enabled

The recent update refines the 'Add a Student' and 'Add a User' search screens for better usability and organization. Custom fields marked as 'Visible on Add a Student/User Search' now follow the system fields, ensuring a clearer and more structured display. Moreover, this enhancement allows for greater flexibility, enabling student and user fields to be visible on the 'Add a Student Search' without requiring the 'New Student' option to be active, streamlining the process for administrators.

See Add a Student, Add a User, Student Fields, and User Fields for more information.

FOCUS-40835- Scheduling: Resolve Display of Master Schedule Report when Modifying "Affects GPA" & "Graded"

This update addresses a display issue in the Master Schedule Report within the Scheduling Module. Previously, when changes were made to the "Affects GPA" and "Graded" values, these adjustments were not properly reflected in the report.

FOCUS-40834- Detention List: Resolve View Permissions Allowing Edit

This update addresses a permissions issue within the Detention List functionality. Previously, end-users with only view rights were able to edit information on the Detention List. This branch rectifies the issue.

FOCUS-40788- Resource Scheduler: Increase Report Limit

This update enhances the Resource Scheduler/Rooms by increasing the maximum number of allowable rooms. The limit has been expanded from 1000 to 2000 rooms, addressing the issue where newly added rooms would not display once the previous limit was reached.

See Rooms for more information.

FOCUS-40741- Discipline: New Sub-Permission for Adding Referral from Detention List

This enhancement introduces a new sub-permission within user Profiles specifically for the Detention List, titled "Add Referral." When this sub-permission is deactivated, it restricts end-users from being able to add new referrals directly from the Detention List in the Discipline module.

See Detention List > Adding a Detention for a Student for more information.

FOCUS-40603- Grades: Allow Inclusion of Courses w/o Grade but Conduct to be Included in Report Cards

This update enhances the report card functionality by allowing courses that do not have course grades but do have conduct or effort entries to be included and printed on the report card.

FOCUS-40598- Gradebook Preferences: Prevent Duplicate Entries in Program User Config

This update resolves a problem where duplicate entries in the Program User Config for Teacher Gradebook Preferences led to issues with the "Use Gradebook Grades" feature in Post Final Grades. Teachers were previously unable to utilize this feature due to these duplicate entries. With the implementation of this branch, the issue has been corrected, allowing teachers to effectively use the "Use Gradebook Grades" option.

FOCUS-40248- School Choice: Respect User Enrollment School Association in School Choice Report & Magnet/Special Assignment Screen

This update brings a significant enhancement to the School Choice module, particularly beneficial for administrative users. Previously, users with View/Edit permissions for School Choice Reports, the Magnet/Special Assignment page, and the Evaluate Placement page had visibility of programs from all schools within the district, irrespective of their specific school associations. With this new enhancement, the visibility of programs is now refined and limited to align with the schools that a user has explicit permissions for, as defined in their user_enrollment.schools settings. This change ensures a more tailored and relevant user experience, allowing for more efficient and focused management within the School Choice module.

See School Choice Reports and Magnet/Special Assignment for more information.

FOCUS-40095- User Profiles: New "Login as Parent" Profile Permission

This enhancement adds a new User Profile permission named "Login as Parent." When enabled, this permission allows a user to log in as Parent User types, but not as other admin or teacher-related users. The permission will be initially set to the off position, preserving current functionality. Additionally, the existing User Profile Permission "Login As" remains unchanged by this update and will continue to permit end users to log in as all user types.

See Student Info and User Info for additional details.

FOCUS-39731- Communication Platform: Introduce Student Groups Compatibility

This enhancement introduces the ability to directly message student groups within the Communication Platform. If you have access to pre-established student groups, either created by you or shared with you, you'll now find a convenient group icon within the student dropdown on the compose screen. By clicking this icon, the dropdown will display all available student groups, allowing you to easily select a group for messaging. It's important to note that you can either select individual students or a student group for messaging, but not a combination of both at the same time. This new feature streamlines the process of communicating with specific groups of students, making it more efficient and user-friendly.

See Communication (Admin) and Communication (Teachers) for additional information.

FOCUS-38778- Student Groups: Introducing Dynamic Groups & Teacher Group Features

We are excited to announce a significant enhancement to Student Groups in our system. This new development introduces Dynamic Student Groups, a feature that revolutionizes how groups are managed and utilized. With Dynamic Student Groups, users can create groups based on saved searches, ensuring that the group membership automatically updates based on the search criteria. This dynamic nature means that the group membership remains current and relevant without manual adjustments.

Furthermore, this update expands the functionality to teachers, allowing them to both access and create student groups for the students they are responsible for. This provides a powerful tool for teachers to organize and communicate with specific subsets of students based on various criteria.

For a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively use these new capabilities, we've prepared detailed guides on Focus University. Administrators can learn more about setting up and managing Student Groups at Student Groups for Administrators, and teachers can find information tailored to their needs at Student Groups for Teachers. These resources provide step-by-step instructions and insights to help you maximize the benefits of this exciting new feature.

FOCUS-38530- Portal: Improved Display of My Preferences, Student Name Format

The update refines the personalized student name format option in the Admin, Parent, and Student Portals, and the Select Student/Staff Quick Pick, based on user preferences. It also consolidates the Student Portal Name Preference and Student List Preference into a single setting, streamlining the process for users. This enhances user experience by providing more tailored and efficient navigation.

See

FOCUS-39434- Graduation Requirements Report: Flagged Custom Student Fields in Overview Report

The update includes an enhancement to the graduation requirement report functionality. Now, custom Student Fields marked as "Visible on Student Grades" will also be displayed on the search screen for the Graduation Requirement Report. This feature is in addition to their current visibility in the individual student view. This enhancement aims to streamline access to important student information in various report views.

See Student Fields and Graduation Requirements Report for more information.

FOCUS-36405- Student & User Search Reimagined

Our Enhanced Student Search in Focus is a breakthrough, offering versatile and efficient ways to access student data:

- Focused Search Options: Locate students quickly, whether by name, ID, or specific criteria.

- Streamlined Filtering: Advanced search options allow you to refine your queries with various student fields and choices.

- Cross-School Search: Broaden your search scope to include students from multiple schools, enhancing data accessibility.

See New Student Search (v.12) for step-by-step guidance and Navigating & Searching (User Info) for details.

SSS

FOCUS-41116- SSS: Display All Student Names when Adding Group Services

Prior to this branch, there was a limitation where only one student's name would appear on the left side of the popup window when adding a Group Service, even if multiple students were assigned to the group. This update rectifies this issue. Now, when adding a new group service, all students assigned to a group are correctly displayed on the left side of the popup window. This ensures better visibility and accuracy when managing group services for multiple students in the SSS Caseload & Services module.

FOCUS-41020- SSS: "Ready to Sign" Parent Portal Enhancement

This update to the Special Student Services (SSS) module introduces a significant enhancement in managing student service events requiring parental signatures. A key feature of this enhancement is the addition of a new "Ready to Sign" button, located in a newly added column on the Manage Student screen within the SSS module. When this button is clicked, it actively sends the event to the parent portal in the student services section, signaling to the parent that their signature is required.

Additionally, to ensure controlled access to this feature, a new SSS User Permission has been introduced. This permission grants specific end-users the authority to use the "Ready to Sign" button. This ensures that the decision to send documents for parental signature is made judiciously, allowing for thorough review and approval before involving parents.

See Manage Student > Sending an Event to Parents for Signatures  and User Profile Permissions > Setting System Permissions for more information.