PowerSchool 8.1.

1 Release Notes
PowerSchool
Student Information System

Released November 2014

Document Owner: Documentation Services
This edition applies to Release 8.1.1 of the PowerSchool software, and to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated
in new editions or updates.
The data and names used to illustrate the reports and screen images may include names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All
of the data and names are fictitious; any similarities to actual names are entirely coincidental.
PowerSchool is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s).
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. All trademarks are either owned or licensed by Pearson
Education, Inc. or its affiliates. Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Installation Notes .................................................................................................................................................... 4
PowerSchool System Requirements ................................................................................................................... 5
PowerSchool Components ................................................................................................................................ 6
Documentation ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Resolved Issues ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
State and Provincial Reporting ................................................................................................................................. 9
Known Issues........................................................................................................................................................... 9
Page and File Changes ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Contents

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

Introduction
The 8.1.1 release of the PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) includes enhancements and resolutions to previously
identified issues.

Installation Notes
You must be running PowerSchool 7.8.x or greater in order to upgrade to PowerSchool 8.1.1.
The installer setup files for this release are available for download from PowerSource.
If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 8.1.x you will need:

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Application Installer

If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 8.0.x you will need:

PowerSchool Database Scripts Updater 12.1 (PowerSource > Downloads > PowerSchool Database >
PowerSchool Database 12.1)

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Application Installer

If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 7.8.x 7.11.1.3 you will need:

PowerSchool Database 12.1 Installer (PowerSource > Downloads > PowerSchool Database > PowerSchool
Database 12.1)

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Application Installer

If you are upgrading from PowerSchool 7.0.x through 7.7.x you will need:

PowerSchool Database Scripts Updater 11.2 (PowerSource > Downloads > PowerSchool Database >
PowerSchool Database 11.2)

PowerSchool 7.8.0.0 Application Installer

Once upgraded to PowerSchool 7.8, download and install the Database 12.1 Installer and the 8.1.1 Application
Installer.

If you are performing a new installation, you will need:

Introduction

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

PowerSchool Database 12.1 Installer (PowerSource > Downloads > PowerSchool Database > PowerSchool
Database 12.1)

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Application Installer

Note: PowerSchool 8.1.1 does not support upgrading from PowerSchool 6.x. If your district is using PowerSchool 6.x, you must
upgrade to PowerSchool 7.0 - 7.8 before upgrading to PowerSchool 8.1.1. For more information, see the Installation Guide for
PowerSchool 8.x available on PowerSource.
Note: If Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is enabled on your system, an update to the latest SIF adapter is required.
Consult the latest SIF documentation for information on updating to the latest SIF version.
The PowerSchool Application Installer is available at Support > Downloads > PowerSchool > PowerSchool Installers >
PowerSchool 8.1.1 > PowerSchool Application [version] installer.
The PowerSchool Database Installer is available at Support > Downloads > PowerSchool > PowerSchool Database >
PowerSchool Database 12.1 > PowerSchool Database [version].
Use the PowerSchool installer to manage your PowerSchool deployment. It installs the database and application for a specific
server, and it configures per-server settings such as database and web server ports, passwords, and file paths.

PowerSchool System Requirements

If this is the first time you are installing PowerSchool, review the PowerSchool 8.x Hardware and Software Requirements and
the Installation Guide for PowerSchool 8.x, available on PowerSource, before installing this version of PowerSchool.
The Hardware and Software Requirements are updated periodically, and contain information on supported software and browser
versions for a release. Review this document before installing updates to PowerSchool.

General Recommendation
Pearson strongly recommends that you check to make sure Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is enabled on your PowerSchool server
to ensure all data passed between your server and end users/Pearson Technical Support remains secure and private. If SSL is
not enabled, data moving between your server and end users is unencrypted. For more information on implementing SSL, see
Knowledgebase article 8476 available on PowerSource.

Introduction

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

PowerSchool Components
PowerSchool is comprised of several software components, each versioned independently from one another. This allows for
greater flexibility of component updates as new features and bug fixes become available. Some updates may include
dependencies between components. These dependencies will be communicated and built in to the component update installers
to prevent PowerSchool from being configured incorrectly.
The following table identifies the version number for each PowerSchool component for this release:
Component

Version Number

API Documentation

1.5.0

PowerSchool Server

8.1.1

PowerTeacher

2.8.0.1

ReportWorks

1.5.1.11

PowerScheduler

3.0.2

Oracle

12c

Schoolnet

16.1

State Reporting

14.10.2

Report SDK

1.14.0.0

Java

1.7

Introduction

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

Documentation
Be sure to check out the updated online help. Assistance is just a click away!
PowerSchool 8.1.1 Documentation on PowerSource
Location

Title

Support > Documentation > PowerSchool > Release

Notes > PowerSchool Release Notes > PowerSchool 8.x
> PowerSchool 8.1.1

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

Support > Documentation > PowerSchool > Installation,

Upgrade, Backup, and Configuration Guides >
PowerSchool 8.x Installation and Configuration Guides

Installation Guide for PowerSchool 8.x

Support > Documentation > PowerSchool > User Guides

> PowerSchool 8.x User Guides

System Administrator User Guide for PowerSchool 8.x

Support > Documentation > PowerSchool > User Guides

> PowerSchool 8.x User Guides

PowerScheduler User Guide for PowerSchool 8.x

Resolved Issues
General Fixes
Issue

Description

Atomic Sync Stability Issues with

PowerTeacher Gradebook

When Atomic Sync is not enabled, PowerTeacher Gradebook data can get out of sync causing
stability issues. The ability to disable Atomic sync has been removed from the application,
resolving this issue.

Attendance Errors in PowerTeacher

Portal

When taking attendance in PowerTeacher portal, DASM_PushRecord and DASM_PopRecord table

=Teachers errors appear. This issue is now resolved.

Attendance Recalculation Runs Slowly

The Attendance Recalculation (DTE_Nightly) runs slowly after upgrading to PowerSchool 8.x.
This issue is now resolved.

Documentation

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

Issue

Description

Incident Management Error

When creating an incident with a behavior attached to it, an AddEditIncidentAction error

appears and the incident is not created in PowerSchool. This issue is now resolved.

Large Student Numbers Do Not Import

Into Incidents

Student Numbers larger than 10 characters cannot be imported into incidents or used in APIs
for incidents. This issue is now resolved.

Localization Not Working Correctly in

Several Areas of PowerSchool

Multiple areas in PowerSchool did not translate correctly when using the Localize PowerSchool
page. The following areas in PowerSchool have been corrected:

Assign IDs & Passwords (/admin/functions/assignids.html)

Reset Class Counts (/admin/tech/operationresult.html)

Mass Enroll (/admin/studentlist/massenroll.html)

Scheduling Setup (/admin/students/schedulesetup.html)

Long PowerSchool Start Times Due to

Large Number of Standards

When starting PowerSchool, it may take 20-30 minutes to startup when there are more than
50,000 Standards. This issue is now resolved.

Message Key Import Issue

Message key Import function did not consider the character set when importing. This issue is
now resolved.

POODLE Security Vulnerability

Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE) exploits a vulnerability in SSL

v3.0. This issue is now resolved. For more information, see Knowledgebase article 73227
available on PowerSource.

Staff Directory Links in PowerTeacher

Cannot be Translated

Staff Directory links in PowerTeacher cannot be translated using the Localize PowerSchool page.
This issue is now resolved.

Unable to Change Standards Sort Order

The Standards sort order does not change when submitted in PowerSchool. This issue is now
resolved.

Virtual Table Importing

PowerSchool 8.1.0.0.1012250 "HTTP Status 500 - Unexpected exception occurred:

java.lang.NullPointerException" error appears when using Quick Import to import data in to
virtual tables. This issue is now resolved.

Resolved Issues

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

State and Provincial Reporting

There are no state and provincial reporting updates with this release.

Known Issues
The following new known issue was introduced with this release.

When downloading attachments through Special Functions > Search Attachments, if you add a filter for student
name and include a comma in the name, an error appears and the download does not complete.
Workaround: Do not include a comma when searching by student name.

Page and File Changes

The following is a list of web_root file changes. If you manage your own customized built-in PowerSchool files, review the list
for new, updated, and deleted files. If you use an image server and there were changes in the web_root/images or
web_root/scripts directories, be sure to update these directories on your image server.
Note: This list now includes all files that changed under web_root. This change was made in response to requests from our
customers.
Key:
+ = New page
= Changed page
- = Removed page

web_root/admin/dashboard/index.html
web_root/admin/faculty/facultydirectory-custom.html
web_root/admin/faculty/photo.html
web_root/admin/faculty/submitphoto.html
web_root/admin/functions/assignids.html
web_root/admin/groups/edit.html
web_root/admin/groups/home.html
web_root/admin/incidents/incidentlog.html

Known Issues

PowerSchool 8.1.1 Release Notes

web_root/admin/incidents/student_incident_detail.html
web_root/admin/seop/sep.html
web_root/admin/studentlist/massenroll.html
web_root/admin/studentlist/summerschoolind.html
web_root/admin/students/customlogentry.html
web_root/admin/students/standards.html
web_root/admin/students/storedstandardsscores.html
web_root/admin/tech/specop.html
web_root/admin/validation/validateStudentAddress_google.html
web_root/ftl/admin/incident/list.ftl
web_root/ftl/admin/roles/editRole.ftl
web_root/ftl/admin/students/studentemail.ftl
web_root/ftl/customization/tlistCollection_html.ftl
web_root/scripts/components/docattach/controllers/docattachController.js
web_root/scripts/StudentSummerSchoolInfo.js
web_root/subs/classattendance.html
web_root/teachers/facultydirectory-custom.html
web_root/teachers/reportsall.html

Page and File Changes

10