School Choice Reports

School Choice Reports should be viewed in the application year; for example, for applications for the 2023-2024 school year, be sure 2023-2024 is selected at the top-right of the screen.

Users will only see programs on the School Choice Reports for the school(s) that they have permission to view according to their user_enrollment.schools settings.

Viewing the Student List Tabs and Verifying Application Information

The Student List tabs are used to view students' application information, including whether deadlines and requirements have been met, and to view the students' application status. Custom field information on the application can also be verified on this screen.

There are individual View profile permissions for each column of the Student List tabs in Users > Profiles, as well as Edit permissions for the editable columns. Set these permissions as needed for each profile that will use this report.

1. In the Setup menu, click School Choice Reports.

There are three student list tabs, one for each application type.

2. Click Magnet Student List, SPA Student List, or Choice Student List, depending on the application type you want to view.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome

3. In the Select Programs pull-down, select the programs to view. One or multiple can be selected.

4. Select Requires Verification to view only those students who have information that requires verification.

5. Click Load Report.

The students who applied to the selected programs are listed. The first several columns display information from the application.

If certain information on the report, such as Current School, Current Grade Level, Current Program, Zoned School, or Next Year Zoned School, is out-of-sync from student enrollment, click the Refresh Choice Data button.

The Zoned School and Next Year Zoned School pull from the student's enrollment record. If you don't see a next year zoned school, ensure the student has a next year enrollment record. Districts using the Address Catalog can easily populate this by running the Set Zoned School scheduled job. After the job runs, click the Refresh Choice Data button to refresh this information on the report.

See Refreshing Choice Data for more information.

Column
Description
Name Displays the student associated with the application.
Student ID Displays the student’s ID. Click the link to open the student’s record in Student Info.
Local ID Displays the student’s local ID, if used by the district. Click the link to open the student’s record in Student Info.
Submitted by Displays the name of who filled out the application, typically the parent.
Submitted Date Displays the date the application was submitted. 
Zoned School Displays the school the student is zoned for (value derived from Zoned School on Enrollment record).
Current School Displays the student’s current school.
Current Program Displays the student’s current program, if applicable.
Current Grade Level Displays the student’s current grade level.
Applying School Displays the school the student applied to.
Applying Program Displays the program the student applied to.
Projected Grade Level Displays the grade level the student will enter. The Projected Grade field is populated as follows:

1. For applications to a School Choice program for the default school year, the Projected Grade is set to the student's current grade level.

2. For applications for the next school year, the Projected Grade field follows a specific hierarchy:

a) Priority is given to the 'Choice Applicant Gradelevel' field. If this is null, the 'Applicant Gradelevel' field is used.

b) If both are null and the student is marked as 'Retain' in the Rolling/Retention Options field, their current grade level is used.

c) Otherwise, for non-retained students without values in the aforementioned fields, the next grade in the district's grade level configuration is used. For students in transition grades, the next grade in the Applicants school's configuration applies.

It is very important that all grade levels are set up in Setup > Grade Levels in the Applicants school. Marking periods also need to be set up in the Applicants school in Setup > Marking Periods in order to use the School Choice module. 

Next Year Zoned School Displays the school the student is zoned for next school year.
Choice Displays the rank the student gave to the program on the application.
Priority Displays the student’s priority amongst the other applicants, as determined by priority charts set up in School Choice Setup.

A value of -1 indicates a “regular” applicant; the student did not meet any of the criteria for priority rankings (military family, district employee, etc).

Address Displays the student's address
Amer. Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African Amer., Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Is., White, Hispanic/Latino
Displays a Y or N for the student's race/ethnicity. 
ESE/Spec. Ed Displays the student’s current active ESE/Spec. Ed code, if applicable. If the student has more than one exceptionality, the one marked as primary will display.

Note: This column displays as ESE for Florida districts, and Spec. Ed for districts in other states.

6. To overwrite the priority ranking, enter a value in the Priority Overwrite field.

School Choice Reports

7. Select the Deadline Met check box to indicate the student's application was received prior to the deadline.

The selection is auto-saved.

School Choice Reports

8. Select the Course Reqs. Met check box to indicate the student has met the course requirements for the program.

The Course Reqs. Met check box will be automatically selected if Focus is able to determine the student has met the course requirements for the program.

School Choice Reports

The Tour/Audition Met column will display a check mark if the student has completed the required tour/audition for the program as documented in Setup > Tours and Auditions. If the requirement was not met, the column will be empty. A red X indicates there was no tour/audition requirement for the program.

School Choice Reports

9. To verify that the student's listed siblings attend the program, click the icon in the Verify Siblings column.

The Verify Siblings pop-up window displays the siblings listed on the application. Focus will display students found at the same address as the applicant student.

10. To manually search for the student's siblings, click the Students in Applying School pull-down and search for and select the sibling.

The students available in the pull-down are based on students in the applying school using the eligible grade levels up to the highest grade level designated in Setup > School Choice Setup > Programs.

11. Click Verify or Deny at bottom of the window.

A green check mark will display in the Verify Siblings column if the siblings were verified, and a red X will display if the siblings were not verified or if no siblings were included on the application.

12. Each of the custom fields that were set up to display on the School Choice Reports and that require verification can be verified by selecting the applicable check box.

If the custom field was associated with a priority qualifier option, verifying the field will update the student's Priority ranking. If the field is not verified, the student will not receive the higher priority when the lottery is run.

The Status column displays "Waiting" by default. After the lottery is run, the Status column updates to Accepted, Declined, or Waitlisted. If the preference "Use Pending Acceptance Status Type" is enabled for the application, the "Pending Acceptance" option is also available. If the student is waitlisted, their position in the list is displayed in the Waitlist column. The student will remain in the applicant pool for subsequent lottery runs unless the parent accepts an offered seat for one of their other choices. The Status and Waitlist number can be manually modified at the district's discretion. The Status Date indicates the date and time the status on the application was changed.

If custom display names were set up for statuses in Setup > School Choice Setup > Statuses tab, those display names will be used instead of Waiting, Accepted, Declined, etc.

13. If desired, select a Reason.

Reason options are set up in Setup > School Choice Setup > Reasons tab.

14. Enter any Notes, as needed.

Notes entered here also display on the Magnet/Special Assignment screen, and vice versa. Notes do not display to the parent or student.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome

15. To view any files uploaded to the application, click the icon in the View Files column.

A green check mark will display next to the file icon if there are any files that were uploaded.

16. Click the file to download the file for viewing.

Additional files can be added to the application in the Uploaded Files window as needed.

17. Click Close when finished.

18. To email the parent, click the icon in the Email Parent column.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome

An email to the parent's email address contained in Focus is opened in your default email client.

The last two columns of the report, Last Updated Date/Time and Last Updated By, display the date and time when the application was last updated and the user who updated it.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome

Values on the report can be mass updated by clicking the Mass Update button, selecting the Column and Value to update, clicking Update, and then clicking Save.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome
Refreshing Choice Data

A student’s priority ranking is calculated upon application submission. The assigned Priority value will greatly affect the student’s chance at winning a seat via the lottery process. While some Priority values are assigned via verification, other are calculated based upon Student Information, which can change over time (e.g. Zoned School, Primary Address, SocioEconomic Status etc.). The Refresh Choice Data function allows you to recalculate all students' priority values to ensure they are accurate.

The "Refresh Choice Data" scheduled job can also be run to refresh choice data on a scheduled basis. You can select the school year to refresh data for, and run the job for specific statuses (Waiting, Accepted, Declined, etc.).

1. From the report in the Magnet Student List, SPA Student List, or Choice Student List, click Refresh Choice Data.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome

Refreshing School Choice data will recalculate the priorities of all applications with submitted values for the school year selected in the top-right, as well as perform additional School Choice cleanup operations.

2. In the pop-up window, click Yes.

Depending upon the number of school choice applications, the process can take several minutes to complete. A status bar will appear when the function is running.

When the process is complete, the School Choice Reports will reload.

Viewing the Program Report

The Program Report tab displays a breakdown of available seats for each program at any given school. The Program Report is a helpful once seat counts have been added to programs, and the rollover data process has been completed.

1. In the Setup menu, click School Choice Reports.

2. Click the Program Report tab.

School Choice Reports - Google Chrome

The school, program title, and program category are displayed. For each grade level, the total seats available (T), the rollover students accounted for (R), the new students enrolled (N), and number of available seats (A) are listed.