CALPADS Update Flash #310

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

From:      California Department of Education (CDE) –
                California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team

Date:       August 14, 2025

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #310

SENR0269: New Fatal Input Validation Rule for Student Grade Level Outside the Designated Grade Span for the School

Modifications to Grade Level Validations Based on Grade Levels Offered

Before the creation of data discrepancies (DD), SENR0269 was an Input Validation Rule (IVR) that triggered as a warning when a student’s grade level submitted on the Student Enrollment (SENR) file was outside the grade level range offered by the school as reflected in the California School Directory found here: https://www.cde.ca.gov/schooldirectory/. This IVR was transitioned to a DD; however, it was not visible to LEAs due to defects in the validation’s trigger logic, which have since been resolved.

It is important that student grade levels reflect the appropriate grade level span, as federal and state reporting requirements include reporting by grade levels. Therefore, SENR0269 is being re-implemented as follows:

• As part of the August 26, 2025 California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement System (CALPADS) maintenance release, SENR0269 will be a fatal IVR. The IVR will prevent the submission of any records that reflect grade levels that are outside the grade level range offered by the school as reflected in the California School Directory. This ensures data integrity moving forward.
• Beginning later this month, for data currently in CALPADS, SENR0269F1 will begin displaying as a DD in the Fall 1 submission tab. The DD will become a Fatal Certification Data Discrepancy (CDD) when the Fall 1 submission window opens for the 2025−26 school year on October 1, 2025. Please visit the CALPADS Calendar web page to view a complete list of the 2025–26 Fall Submission Windows and Certification Deadlines: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/rptcalendar.asp  

Guidance: Review School Grade Level Span Designations in the California School Directory and Update as Necessary

Prior to SENR0269 becoming fatal upon input, the CALPADS Office recommends that LEAs review and update, as necessary, the grade level ranges reflected in the California School Directory for their schools. This will mitigate delays in uploading enrollments to CALPADS this fall. Additionally, it will resolve any DDs for Fall 1 before the submission window opens. Our analysis finds that most often the grade level spans needing to be updated are for schools serving Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students. Noting that, if the highest grade level offered at a school is Preschool (PS), SENR0269 will reject the SENR files with students in the TK grade level.

If corrections to a school’s grades offered need to be made, please work with your LEA’s County-District-School (CDS) Coordinator to submit changes. Grade level span changes must be submitted by the authorized LEA CDS Coordinator using the Online Public Update for Schools (OPUS) web application: https://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscds/default.aspx.