FAQs – Unique ID

Person Identification Database (PID) and Person Enrollment Tracker (PET)

If I get PID errors, but there are too many to fix and I decide to select "Yes" to get the Unique IDs, what will happen?

You will still have the PID errors you always have had. TEA has made minimal changes to the PID error logic.

Will the PID search still be available after March 25th, 2013?

PID search will still be available in EDIT+ after Unique ID is implemented; however, in PID search the users will not be able to see the person’s Unique ID. The UID search will display the person’s Unique ID, but the users will not be able to see PID history on a person.

Will there still be PID error reports?

Yes, the PID error reports will still exist and will now include the Unique ID. The report has been renamed to remove reference to PID and include "TSDS Unique ID System."

Will local education agencies (LEAs—Texas schools districts and charter schools) that have a lot of ethnicity PID errors cause the system to hang up and not assign a Unique ID number? Will these students appear as 'near matches'?

No, ethnicity is an informational field in TSDS Unique ID.

Does data in PID belong to the State of Texas?

Yes. It's important to understand when it's appropriate to overwrite or add to data in Unique ID.

TEA owns the demographic data in PID and the standards on how it is maintained. For example, TEA standards indicate that full middle name is to be maintained for persons in PID. TEA extends the privilege of editing data to the current LEA of enrollment, so that the LEA maintains the most current and accurate demographic data.

However, LEA staff should not overwrite data that meets TEA standards with less complete or incorrect data unless there is evidence the data is erroneous. Replacing full middle names with middle initials degrades the quality of state data that all LEAs as well as other state and federal agencies rely on.

It is appropriate to update your local LEA data system to reflect the most current and accurate data, especially the full middle name.

I understand that Middle Name differences are PID discrepancies, but not actual PID errors. Is that correct?

Differences in major demographics between student records (SSN/S#, First Name, Last Name, Birth date, Unique ID) will trigger PID errors. However, a difference in minor demographics, such as Middle Name, will trigger a PID discrepancy that is not considered an error and does not count against the LEA’s PID error rate.

If your LEA has a policy in place that requires the use of middle initials in the SIS, be aware that PID discrepancies due to middle names mismatches will occur. The LEA can re-evaluate the local policy to determine if it is still needed, and if not, adopt a policy to use full middle names. The other option is to accept the PID discrepancies.

Discrepancies for name data for staff will not trigger PID errors. Do not update master records in Unique ID with middle initials if those records have full middle names. Remember, the Unique ID demographic data will not be imported to the district HR system.

Can I only update records for persons in my LEA?

Although TEA has shared with ESC Champions a workaround for updating a record that does not belong to an LEA in Unique ID, that workaround should only be used in very special cases. We expect the need for it will disappear as soon as the sequence of downloading Unique IDs begins to match up with the sequence of student/staff moves.

We will track this activity to judge when it is appropriately or inappropriately used. Again, a record should not be updated with less complete name data; instead, update your local system OR accept the PID discrepancy.

If the local record contains an outdated name or SSN/S#, you must opt to change the local system record OR accept the PID error.

Is there a similar list of the most common PID FAQs?

Yes, see information at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/peims/pid/PIDFrequentlyAskedQuestionsFAQ/index.htm

If I have missing Unique IDs will PET display this as an error?

Yes, the PET Error report will print the rejected PET records.

Does the system process files with missing UIDs?

The PET File will process if students do not have a Unique ID, however, those students that do not have a Unique ID will be rejected.

Why are there PET Events reported on the wrong (duplicate) Unique ID?

Unfortunately, due to the number of duplicates created recently, there are some PET events that have been erroneously reported on the duplicate records that are being retired. Once your LEA updates their SIS with the correct Unique ID, the PET event should show up on the correct record. Again, you can help eliminate these problems by exercising caution when creating IDs (only for students/staff new to Texas!) and matching records.