Effective: November 15, 2009
Revised Date: October 30, 2009

The cutover to the new version of FASTER and SPEEDE/ExPRESS will begin on Friday, November 13, 2009. The new version will be in place on Sunday, November 15, 2009. FASTER users will be notified via e-mail from the listserv when more details are available on the FASTER web page.

If you have not yet done so, visit the FASTER Web Page and sign up for the FASTER listserv by clicking on the Sign up for the Listserv link. Documentation on how to use the listserv can be found at http://lserv.fldoe.org.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Whenever possible run FASTER jobs at night or on weekends. Use CLASS C when submitting jobs after 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and CLASS G for jobs submitted after 9 p.m. on Friday or anytime over the weekend. By adding or changing the job class on the JCL, you could save the state up to 75% of the cost of processing that job. Even if you run your job at night, you do not get a cost savings unless you specify the appropriate class. Chapter 3 gives a break down of the job classes and examples of each.

We would like to encourage all schools to use the FASTER system to send and receive transcripts. The FASTER system is quick, economical, and the formats permit the transmition of data that is not included on printed transcripts. In addition, when receiving requests through FASTER for student transcripts, please make all attempts to respond as quickly as possible.

Districts Only

FASTER PK-12 schools can be listed individually on the registrant list at the University of Texas, Austin, the server that handles SPEEDE/ExPRESS. The Office of Application Support (OAS) will continue to update the Texas server monthly per requests from the school districts.

CLAST is no longer administered as of 7/1/09. The ACC recommended that the 999 code still be used for waivers and that the 995 code now be used for requirements met. They did not think it necessary, from this point forward, to differentiate between how the requirement was met. The important information is whether the requirements were met or whether the student received a waiver. It will not require any recoding of previous transcripts.

Districts, Postsecondaries, and Technical Centers

Changes that were made to FASTER over the course of the previous year are listed in Updates to the 2008-2009 Version of FASTER.

Districts and Technical Centers

Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, the new race codes are required on the Demographic (I/S/T01) format for students who are currently in school. For the 2009-2010 school year, the old race codes are also required.

New race codes are not required for students who left the school district or graduated prior to the 2009-2010 school year. For these students, the old race codes are still required.

The new Race and Ethnicity code changes will become mandatory in the 2010-2011 school year.

Header Formats - Appendix H

I/S/P/T00

• New Ethnicity/Race Codes are not required on the Header record. Blanks are permitted for these fields on this record format. However, they are required on the IS01 format (see I/S/T01 below).

Postsecondary Formats - Appendix J

P01   Postsecondary Demographic Information Format

• No Change

P02   Postsecondary Term Format

• No Change

P03   Postsecondary Course Format

• No Change

P04   Postsecondary Remarks Format

• No Change

P05   Postsecondary Transfer Segment Format

• No Change

P06   Postsecondary Test Format

• In the CLAST Format Filler area (Columns 77-272), the codes that can be substituted for CLAST Test Scores are changing. Beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, the codes "0998", "0997", and "0996" are no longer valid. The code of "0995" should now be used to indicate "CLAST Requirements Met".

P07   Postsecondary Degree Format

• No Change

P08   Postsecondary Immunization Format

• The descriptions for several of the Vaccine Statuses have changed.

Interdistrict/Secondary/Technical Center Formats - Appendix I

I/S/T01   PK-12 Student Information Format

• A new value is being added to Certificate of Completion, Type . Code W53 is now valid for "Adult College Placement Test (CPT)-Eligible Certificate of Completion". The descriptions of the existing codes are being updated.
• Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, Withdrawal Codes W03, W11, W14, W16, W17, W19, and W20 are no longer valid. Adult codes are now W28-W53.
• Migrant Status Term Code "3", Enrolled/Served Only in Regular 180 day school year, is changing to "D". A new code of "E", Enrolled/Served in Regular 180 day School Year, is being added. All other codes will remain the same.
• The new Ethnicity/Race Codes are required for students currently in school, beginning with the 2009-2010 school year. For the 2009-2010 school year, the old race codes are also required.
• The new Ethnicity/Race Codes are not required for students who left the school district or graduated prior to the 2009-2010 school year. For these students, the old race codes are still required.
• The Commmunity Service Hours field is expanding from a 3-digit field to a 4-digit field and has been relocated from item #57 to item #72.
• A new field had been created. Physical Education Waiver is a code indicating whether or not the PE requirement has been waived for the KG-8 (Kindergartner) student for the school year as per Section 1003.455(4), Florida Statutes. Valid values are:

    
          "Y" - KG-8 Student with a Physical Education Waiver 
          "N" - KG-8 student with no Physical Education Waiver 
          "Z" - Not applicable.  Student is in grades PK or 9-12.
      

• A new field has been created. Multiple Birth Student is a code which indicates whether the student is a twin, triplet, etc., It is required for Migrant students, and optional for all other students. Valid values are:

  	"Y" - The student is a twin, triplet, etc. 
  	"N" - The student is not a twin, triplet, etc. 
  	"Z" - Unknown.  
  	

I/S/T02   PK-12 Student Immunization Format

• The descriptions for several of the Vaccine Statuses have changed.

I/S/T03   PK-12 Student School Year Format

• No Change.

I/S/T04   PK-12 Student Course Format

• Two new values are being added to Course, State Subject Area Requirements . "SV" is "Half Science and Half Vocational". "PA" is "Practical Arts with Artistic Content".
• Two new values are being added to Course Substituted, State Subject Area Requirements . "SV" is "Half Science and Half Vocational". "PA" is "Practical Arts with Artistic Content".

I/S/T05   PK-12 Student Vocational/ELL/Dropout Format

• New Dropout Prevention/Juvenile Justice Program codes have been added to the existing field. The new codes are "E" - Alternative to Expulsion Programs, and "N" - Non-School Institution for Neglected or Delinquent Students. Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, codes "H", "S", "C", and "O" are no longer valid.

I/S06   PK-12 Exceptional Student Format

• Four new FEFP Program Numbers have been added to the existing field. The new codes are listed below. In addition, beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, codes "251", "252", and "253" are no longer valid.

  	130  ESOL
  	300  Vocational 9-12 (formerly 301-309)
  	998  Community Instructional Services (CIS) (Applicable to years prior to 1987-88)
  	999  Non-funded because student is not eligible for FTE for reasons other than attendance
  	     or program membership (used in state reporting) 
        

• The new Date of Consent for Evaluation field has been added to the format. It occurs 10 times, once for each of the 10 Exceptional Student Programs which may be submitted on this format. This is the date consent was received for formal evaluation to determine the student's eligibility for each special education program.

I/S/T07   PK-12 Student Comment Format

• No Change.

I/S/T08   PK-12 Student Test Format

• TwoTwelve new Test Score Types have been added to the existing field. The new codes are:

          "GL" - Growth Level (for use with the Florida Alternate Assessment)
  	"SL" -  Status Level (for use with the Florida Alternate Assessment)    

  	"CE" - Raw Score/Comprehension Explicit
  	"CI" - Raw Score/Comprehension Implicit
  	"FP" - Florida Percentile
  	"GP" - Raw Score Grade of Final Passage
  	"PA" - Percent Accuracy
  	"PN" - Passage Number
  	"PS" - Probability of Success
  	"ST" - Standard Score
  	"TP" - Target Passage Number
  	"WM" - Raw Score/Fluency-Correct Words Per Minute       

I/S09   PK-12 Student Discipline Format

• No Change

I/S10   PK-12 PAS Number Format

• No Change

I/S11   PK-12 Migrant Student Format

• No Change

Postsecondary Edits

P00   Postsectondary Header Record Edits

• No Change

P01   Postsecondary Fixed Segment Edits

• No Change.

P02   Postsecondary Term Edits

• No Change

P03   Postsecondary Course Edits

• No Change

P04   Postsecondary Remarks Edits

• No Change

P05   Postsecondary Transfer Segment Edits

• No Change

• CLAST codes "0998", "0997", and "0996" are no longer valid.

P07   Postsecondary Degree Edits

• No Change

P08   Postsecondary Immunization Edits

• No Change

Interdistrict/Secondary/Technical Center Edits

I/S/T00   PK-12 Header Record Edits

• No Change

I/S/T01   PK-12 Demographic Edits

• Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, the new Ethnicity Code is required for those students currently in school.
• Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, at least one of the new Race Codes must be Y for those students currently in school regardless of whether Ethnicity is Y or N.
• Several codes within the W01-W27 range will no longer be edited. If Diploma Date is blank, Diploma Type must be blank. Otherwise, it must be W06, W07, W6A, W6B, W10, W27, W43, W45, W52, WFA, WFB, WGA, WFT, WFW, WGD, or ZZZ (not edited if Record Type is I01).
  
• Several values are being removed from Withdrawal Codes . Codes W03, W11, W14, W16, W17, W19, and W20 are no longer valid. Withdrawal Code must be DNE, W01-W02, W04-W10, W12, W13, W15, W18, W21-W27, W3A, W3B, W6A, W6B, W8A, WFA, WFB, WFT, WFW, WGA, WGD, WPO, or blanks (this field is not edited if Record Type is S01). Valid adult codes are W28-W53. -Reject-
• W53 is a new Certification of Completion Type. If Certificate of Completion Date is blank, Certificate of Completion Type must be blank. Otherwise, Certificate of Completion Type must be W08, W8A, W09, W44, W53, or ZZZ (not edited if Record Type is I01). -Reject-
• If Migrant Status Term is not blank it must be D, E, S, B, X or Z (not edited if Record Type is S01).
• Physical Education Waiver must be Y, N, Z.
• Multiple Birth Student must be Y, N, Z.

I/S/T02   PK-12 Immunization Edits

• No Change

I/S/T03   PK-12 School Year Edits

I/S/T04   PK-12 Course edits

• Course, State Subject Area Requirements must be one of EN, MA, SC, AH, WH, EC, AG, VO, SV, PF, LM, PE, EX, EL, FL, LA, SS, NC, CE or PA. This field may also be blank if Grade Level is not 09 - 12, there is no Course Flag of 9, and the addressee is not Bright Futures, Talented Twenty, or Out-of-State
• Course Substituted, State Subject Area Requirements must be one of EN, MA, SC, AH, WH, EC, AG, VO, SV, PF, LM, PE, EX, EL, FL, LA, SS, NC, CE, PA or blank. If blank is found, EL is substituted.

I/S/T05   PK-12 Vocational/LEP/Dropout edits

• Dropout Prevention/Juvenile Justice Programs must be U, R, A, E, P, D, N, Z, or blank.
• In accordance with the changes in Dropout Prevention/Juvenile Justice Programs, the edits dealing with Dropout Prevention/Junvenile Justice Placement Reasons , are also changing. See Edit Numbers 24 - 29.
• In accordance with the changes in Dropout Prevention/Juvenile Justice Programs, the edits dealing with Dropout Prevention/Junvenile Justice Outcomes , are also changing. See Edit Numbers 31 - 37.

I06   PK-12 Exceptional Student Edits

• If FEFP Program Number is not blank, it must be 101-103, 111-113, 254, 255, 130, 300, 998 or 999.
• If Date of Consent for Evaluation is not blank, it must be a valid date in MMDDCCYY format.

I/S/T07   PK-12 Student Comment Edits

• No Change

I/S/T08   PK-12 Student Test Edits

• The codes "GV", "GL", and "SL" will be added the Test Scores Types already being edited.
• Added new tests FAI, FAR and SDT.

I/S09   PK-12 Discipline Edits

• No Change

I/S10   PK-12 PAS Code Edits

• No Change

I11   PK-12 Migrant Student Edits

• No Change