Student Data Services

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Helping Hands for District MIS Departments

At PAEC SDS, we specialize in providing small school district MIS departments with expert guidance and support on the FOCUS Student Information System and FLDOE state reporting. Our primary goal is to provide support to and enhance the expertise of these departments, making their jobs easier as they meet essential needs for their school districts. By collaborating closely with participating school districts, FOCUS, and the Florida Department of Education, we stay informed about key developments, enabling us to create and enhance systems that operate seamlessly from concept to completion. Throughout the process, we assist end users in navigating FOCUS, helping them achieve their goals efficiently. Our expertise encompasses a range of services, including custom programming, tailored solutions, project management, third-party integrations, and setting up and utilizing FOCUS-created systems and modules, ensuring districts can effectively record and extract necessary data for state reporting, launching new digital curricula, or meeting other data-driven needs.  We are committed to delivering effective MIS support to our participating districts, even when the support needed is as simple as being available to collaborate on a quick question or brainstorm a possible solution.

Our mission is to empower participating school districts
with expert SIS support, tailored training, and innovative technical solutions.
We are committed to fostering a collaborative community,
offering a platform for discussion, and advocating for small school districts
to ensure that the voices of our MIS community are heard.

We know the challenges small school districts face every day are unique, and the responsibilities in MIS are just as significant as those of the largest school districts in the state. PAEC SDS program is specifically designed to help small school districts manage MIS duties and the FOCUS Student Information System (SIS). PAEC SDS is officially the preferred partner with FOCUS for supporting small school districts in Florida.

Click each service area below to learn more:

Support
  • Ticket, Chat, Email and Phone Support
  • Knowledgeable guidance from expert staff
  • DOE Survey Reporting Assistance
  • Proactive follow-up to ensure issues are resolved in a timely fashion
Training
  • On-Site Training
  • Bi-Weekly MIS Training Webinars
  • Quarterly MIS In-Person Meetings and Trainings
  • Quarterly Data Entry Webinars
  • Annual Scheduling Training Series
  • Web repository of over 300 step-by-step training documents and videos
Technical Services
  • Certified Dedicated Database Management
  • Custom Report Creation
  • 3rd Party Software Integrations
  • Custom Programs
  • Test Score Importer Parsers, Templates, Instructions, and Support
  • Software Update Testing and Upgrade Assistance
  • 100+ custom Edit Rules to prevent data entry mistakes
Community
  • Online forum for MIS staff to discuss relevant questions or concerns with other MIS staff in PAEC SDS
  • Regular open round table meetings for MIS staff to discuss issues and hot topics
  • Weekly PAEC SDS Hot Topics Newsletter
Advocacy
  • Representation for small school districts through FAMIS
  • Regular meetings with the Florida Department of Education
  • Preferred partner with Focus School Software
  • Leaders in the Florida FOCUS Innovators Group (FIG)
  • Advisors to the PAEC Board and Florida legislative contacts through Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS)
The PAEC SDS Team
Participating District Benefits
Project Accomplishments
Frequently Asked Questions

20 Participating Districts and Growing

PAEC Student Data Services (SDS) was originally founded in 1987 as the “Gateway Student System Consortium” which operated under Santa Rosa school district as the fiscal agent. In 2008, PAEC absorbed the project and began looking for a new SIS to replace the old mainframe system. In 2011, PAEC SDS districts chose the Florida based company Focus School Software as their new SIS vendor. PAEC SDS was an early adopter of FOCUS SIS which is now the system used by more than 75% of school districts statewide. As more small districts in Florida have implemented FOCUS SIS, they too have joined the PAEC SDS program recognizing the value of sharing resources.

What Our Districts are Saying

“The SDS Program is constantly coming up with training, reports, help articles, etc. that help our District run smoothly. The ability to contact them with questions and issues that arise and receive help in a timely manner is invaluable.”

Ashley Barber
MIS Programming Manager
Jackson County School Board

“PAEC SDS helped so much this year getting an automated process started for populating teacher certification information and updating our FOCUS Course Catalog. This will be a GAME CHANGER for us next year. Also, they have been a HUGE help with our student fields cleanup.  Thirdly, TEST SCORES import assistance is a major help!”

Phillip Byrd
MIS Coordinator
Walton County School District

“PAEC SDS has provided our district with excellent technical support. The support desk addresses any issues in a speedy and professional manner. I especially find their training webinars and training documentation invaluable.”

Marian Strohmeyer
MIS Coordinator
Florida Atlantic University Schools

“The SDS program has answered and helped me tremendously as I am a first year survey submitter. There were a lot of aspects I did not handle before in regards to assessments as well. SDS helped walk me through very clearly all the areas that I needed help with and helped me have a clear understanding.”

Cindy Carey
MIS Manager
Calhoun County School District

“When it comes to data and student information there is so much to learn, SDS has been there for our district every step of the way. They always go above and beyond to support any challenges we may face.”

Allison Barrett
MIS FTE Data Operator
Wakulla County School District

“SDS offers a fantastic service for districts. SDS staff has a wealth of knowledge regarding FLDOE, state reporting, and FOCUS topics. The help desk, webinars, training, on-site visits, timelines and to-do lists, documentation, planning, and collaboration provided by SDS are valuable district resources.”

Kari Burgess-Watkins
Director of Instructional Technology & Information Services
Nassau County School District

Contact us at StudentDataServices@paec.org