If you run PowerSchool at an Alberta school, you know the feeling: you sync to PASI, and a list of rejections comes back right before a deadline. Most of these errors fall into a handful of patterns. Once you know them, you can catch most problems before you submit instead of after.

Here are the PASI problems we see most often in schools, and how to fix each one.

1. Alberta Student Number (ASN) problems

Every enrolment in PASI hangs off the student’s ASN. If the ASN is wrong, everything else attached to that student can be rejected. PASI’s rules include rejecting an invalid ASN, an ASN that has been deactivated, and data sent against a secondary ASN (when two ASNs were merged).

  • Look the student up before you create a new ASN. Search PASI by name and birth date first. A new ASN for a student who already has one creates a duplicate that has to be merged later.
  • Check spelling and birth date. A name or birth date that doesn’t match the PASI record is one of the most common reasons a lookup fails.
  • After a merge, use the primary ASN. If PASI tells you an ASN is secondary, update the student in PowerSchool to the primary ASN and sync again.

2. Enrolment dates that don’t fit

PASI checks that a school enrolment’s start and exit dates sit inside the school year, and that the student isn’t enrolled somewhere else in a way that conflicts. A home education registration that overlaps your enrolment will also be rejected.

  • Confirm your school year and term dates in PowerSchool match the dates set up for the year.
  • For transfers, check whether the previous school has closed its enrolment. If it hasn’t, contact that school rather than backdating yours.
  • Don’t use an exit date in the future. Exit the student on the real last day attended.

3. School code and program setup

Rejections such as an invalid or unauthorized school code usually mean something in the school setup doesn’t match what PASI expects for your school or your access. Programming type and timeframe combinations that don’t fit together are another common cause.

  • Check the school number on the school record in PowerSchool against your PASI school code.
  • Make sure the person or account doing the sync has PASI access for that school.
  • Review program codes at the start of the year, before enrolments sync, not after.

4. Course and mark validations

High school course marks go to PASI as well, and PowerSchool has validation pages for school terms, courses, marks and CTS courses. Course codes that aren’t valid for the term, sections without the right course setup, and marks entered in the wrong format are the usual culprits.

  • Run the term, course and mark validations in PowerSchool before final marks are due, not on the due date.
  • Fix the course setup first. Marks attached to a badly set up course will keep failing until the course is right.
  • Check CTS courses separately. They have their own validation page for a reason.

A simple routine that prevents most of this

  1. Weekly in September: check alerts for new students and transfers.
  2. Monthly: review rejected and failed submissions, and clear them while they’re few.
  3. Two weeks before each reporting deadline: run every validation page and fix what comes up.
  4. After a staff change: confirm the new person has the right PASI access before they need it.

Need a hand?

We help schools across Alberta and Manitoba set up PowerSchool properly and clean up provincial reporting, with a specialty in First Nations education. If your PASI list is long or a deadline is close, see our PowerSchool services or call or text (825) 966-7690.