Special Programs 26.9.0.0

Digital Signature Opt-Out Improvements

The Digital Signature opt-out process is now simpler. Staff can now enter or edit an opt-out reason directly from Digital Signature Details without launching the signature wizard.

Opted-out signers are now clearly identified on documents, PDFs, completion certificates, and reports. The opt-out reason is also recorded in the audit log for tracking and compliance.

Automated Notifications for Expired Digital

What’s New

To improve transparency and streamline signature collection, PowerSchool Special Programs now automatically alerts staff users when a Digital Signature signing link sent to a recipient has expired.

Previously, if a signing link reached its expiration date before completion, staff members received no proactive notice, which could lead to delays in securing required document signatures. Staff members will now receive an automated email notification detailing which recipient’s link has expired, why it expired, and steps to quickly issue a new signing link.

Key Benefits

• Proactive Visibility: Know immediately when a document signing link expires without having to manually track link lifetimes.

• Faster Turnaround: Quickly resend signature requests to parents, guardians, or staff to keep compliance timelines on track.

• Bulk Management: Easily view and resend reminders for all expired links from a centralized utility.

How It Works

When a digital signature link exceeds its configured expiration period (e.g., 7 days) without being completed:

1. Automated Notification: An email alert titled "Action Required: Your Document Signing Link Has Expired" is sent to the staff member who initiated the signature request.

2. Email Details: The notification specifies the document name, the date sent, and the names of signers whose links have expired.

Resending an Expired Link

Staff users can resend a signature request using either of the following methods:

• Method 1: Directly from the Document

  1. Open the student document in PowerSchool Special Programs.

  2. Go to More → Digital Signature Details.

  3. Locate the respective signer, click the ... (Options) menu, and select Send Reminder.

• Method 2: In Bulk via Utilities

  1. Navigate to Administration → Utilities → Students.

  2. Under Select Utility, choose Digital Signature Documents.

  3. Click the Options drop-down menu in the top right corner and select Send Reminder.

  4. Select the desired filtered records and click Send.

Support for Accented Characters (Diacritics) in File Attachment Names

PowerSchool Special Programs has been updated to support full Unicode character sets, including letters with diacritics and accent marks (such as é, à, è, ç, ô), in uploaded file attachment names. Users will no longer experience validation errors when attaching documents containing non-ASCII characters in their file names.

Workflow Document Creation Resolved for French (Canadian) Browser Settings

Overview

When using PowerSchool Special Programs with the web browser UI language set to French (Canada) (fr-CA), users attempting to generate a new workflow document from the dropdown selection menu under Workflow Cases encountered an issue where clicking the document creation action button (Aller / Go) yielded no response, preventing document creation.

Resolution & Customer Impact

An update was made to the client-side script handling and string localization on the profilecases.aspx page. Special Programs now properly sanitizes localized resource strings during page rendering, ensuring that workflow document creation functions seamlessly regardless of the user's browser language preferences, including French (Canadian).

Digital Signature: Resolved Missing Signature Date Issue Caused by In-Browser Translation Tools

An issue has been resolved where signature dates could appear blank or missing on completed, digitally signed documents when signers or staff used browser/page translation tools (such as automatic browser language translation).

Previously, if active translation altered the visible date formatting in the signature field during the signing process, the system was unable to parse the non-canonical date string upon saving. This resulted in the signature date not rendering on the final document output.

With this release, date formatting in Digital Signature forms is normalized prior to server parsing. Signature dates are now accurately recorded and displayed on all signed document outputs, regardless of active browser translation settings.

Digital Signature Date Accuracy

Resolved an issue where digitally signed documents could display the date from an earlier signing session instead of the final submission date.

The signing workflow now updates the signature date when the document is submitted, including after a signer reset. This ensures generated documents and audit records reflect the correct completion date.

Advanced Reports: Resolved Security Exception for View-Only Permissions

Fixed an issue where users with 'View Advanced Reports' security permissions encountered a security violation error when opening reports if they lacked 'Process/Unprocess Advanced Reports' permissions. Session verification now properly grants access to view reports based on the viewing permission alone.

File Attachments Retained During Student Record Transfers

• Issue: When transferring student records between districts with the system configured to “Include Live Document in Transfer Envelopes” and “Convert to Live Document,” file attachments associated with draft documents were inadvertently stripped during the transfer process, causing the documents to appear in the receiving district without their uploaded files.

• Fix: The transfer package logic has been updated to ensure all attached files associated with draft documents are preserved within the transfer envelope and properly retained upon arrival in the receiving district when converted to live documents.

Merge Reporting not working for non-administrative staff members

Overview

An issue in PowerSchool Special Programs (PSSP) has been resolved where non-administrative staff members with valid "Merge Report" permissions were restricted from merging reports that contained child profile data (such as IEP sub-sections and Section 504 details).

Previous Behavior

While administrative users were able to merge any report without restriction, standard staff members assigned "Merge Report" permissions experienced system failures or unexpected access restrictions when initiating merges on reports containing child profile depth. Backend permission checks were evaluating access against nested profile depth rather than checking the user's explicit report-action rights and record-level visibility.

State & Regional Module – District Tenant Switching List

Resolved an issue where users switching between district tenant databases intermittently saw an incorrect or unexpected list of districts in the tenant dropdown.

Details & Resolution

• Previous Behavior: In multi-tenant environments, when a staff user attempted to switch district databases, a caching issue could occasionally cause the dropdown menu to display unauthorized or unrelated district options rather than only the districts assigned to that user's account.

• New Behavior: The tenant list caching logic has been updated. The switch district tenant menu now consistently and accurately displays only the specific district databases the authenticated user is authorized to access.