Configure Microsoft Return to School
This article provides step-by-step instructions to IT administrators for configuring the Microsoft Return to School's solution settings and its application components. IT administrators are responsible for making sure the school operations administrators can guide the return to in-person learning for their students and staff.
Solution settings
Microsoft Return to School requires configurations to ensure that the user has the correct information. In the Solution Settings area, you can add your portal header name, add schools, create your testing operations, and more.
General settings
In the General settings area, you define system settings that will apply for the portal and Power BI dashboards. There should only be one general settings record maintained in the app.
To access general settings:
Select General settings in the left pane, and then select New.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields.
Column Description Name Name of the solution settings record. Portal Header The text that will be displayed in the header of the portal application. Daily Passes Set to Yes to enable the Daily Passes menu item on the portal application's home page. Allow storing of Negative Health Checks Set to Yes to have the application create a record when a user does not agree to the attestation statement so you can follow up with that user later. Allow QR codes Set to Yes to have the application add a QR code to the daily pass. Allow users to register Dependents Enables users to register guests under their contact. General Terms and Agreement Shown in the Portal app during the booking process. Health Terms and Agreement Shown in the Portal app during the booking process. Testing Supported Enables booking of an appointment, submission of test results, and viewing test results. Resource Text Resources Text can be used to surface general information to portal users; for example, how data and privacy are managed, FAQs on how to use the portal, and health and safety protocols implemented by the school. A Resources menu option is available in the Portal app's Option menu to view content of this field. Instructions for Negative Attestations Instructions displayed after the user clicks on the I disagree button on the Health Terms & Agreement page.
Plan reopening phases
Reopening schools safely requires planning in phases to ensure the safety of the students and staff.
In the model-driven app, select the Solution Settings module, which allows you to configure the plan.
Set up a reopen phase
In the reopening plan, you define phases that help guide school administrators to safely reopen their school. The phases are defined in Return to School by default, but can be customized.
To create or edit a reopen phase:
Select Reopen phases in the left pane, and then select New.
Enter appropriate values in the fields:
Column Description Index Enter a unique index number to place the phase in the order you want. Name Enter a name for the reopen phase. Description Enter the description for the phase. Process Stage Select the appropriate process stage to assign the new reopen phase to. This identifies which stage in the business process flow should be activated. Capacity Limit Percentage Enter the percentage of capacity for this phase. If set to 0, the school will appear closed to portal users and they will be unable to book a day pass to that school. 
Select Save & Close. The newly created record is available in the Active Reopen Phases view.
To edit the record, select it, update the values, and then select Save & Close.
Manage school groups
Schools belong to a "school group." These groups are created by school administrators.
To create a new school group:
Open your Return To School Management app.
Navigate to the Solution Settings area, in the section pane.
In the left pane, under Master data, select School group.
Select New.
Fill in the details for the form.
Field Description Name Name of the new school group Description Summary information about the school group
Manage schools
To create a new school:
Open your Return to School Management app.
Navigate to the Solution Settings area, in the section pane.
In the left pane, under Master data, select Schools.
Select New.
Fill in the details for the form.
Field Description Name Name of the school you are adding Description Summary information about this school School Group The school group this school belongs to Reopen Phase The open phase this school is in currently Address Street 1 Street address of this school Address Postal Code Postal code for the location Address City City where school is located Address County County where school is located Address State State where school is located Address Country Country for the location
Note
More information: Import or export data from Microsoft Dataverse
Move a school to a new phase
When you think a school should be moved to a new phase, you can apply for a transition. Only a School Management app administrator can create this new transition record, which indicates the school is ready to move to a new phase.
After a new transition request is created and saved, it appears in the subgrid on the Transitions tab of the school record with a status of Submitted. A reviewer can be assigned to the request but they must be an application administrator to act upon an approval or rejection of the transition record. On an approval or rejection of the transition record, it's processed. When it's complete, the request is considered to be closed and is stored as a historical record.
When the process is complete, the transition record appears in the subgrid as either Accepted (approved request) or Rejected (rejected request). If the transition request is accepted, the phase that was proposed in the transition record is applied to the school record's reopen phase field. This update triggers the background process that updates the business process flow stage, aligning the reopen phase and the current business process flow stage.
Note
During the execution of the background processes, there might be a delay before you can see these updates. You might need to select the refresh button to see the updates on the screen.
Note
Transitions from one phase to another must be approved. Therefore, we highly recommend that organizations ensure that someone has been given the responsibility to monitor the transitions.
Creating a transition request
In the left pane, select Schools, and then select a school record from the Active School list.
Select the Transitions tab. If any existing or previous transition requests were established, they'll appear in the subgrid.
Select New Reopen Phase Transition.
Enter appropriate values in the fields.
Field Description Proposed Reopen Phase Select the next reopen phase you want to transition to. Summary Enter the summary information about moving to the next or targeted reopen phase. Reviewer Select appropriate resources to review and approve the new transition. Select Save & Close. The newly created record is available on the Transitions tab for the school.
To edit the record, select it, update the values, and then select Save & Close. After the phase transition is approved or rejected, the record can't be updated.
Approving or rejecting a transition
In the left pane, select Phase Transitions.
Filter the transitions by name on the Reviewer column.
Select the Transition record. Complete any analysis required, and then select Approved or Rejected in the Review Status field.
For an approval, select Approved, enter any comments in the Review Comments field, and then select Save & Close.
For a rejection, select Rejected, enter any comments in the Review Comments field, and then select Save & Close.
The review status for the transition is updated, and appropriate back-end processes are triggered to move the school to the targeted reopen phase.
Creating transition records with the business process flow
For ease of use, you can also use the business process flow to create new transition records. There are two cases:
Moving forward
Given that the school isn't in the final phase, you can select the circle of the current stage, and then select Next Stage. The business process flow won't move instantly; however, in the background, a new transition record is created and you'll go to that record. The record is automatically populated with the next phase and is ready for approval.
Moving backward
Given that the school isn't in the first phase, you can select the circle of the current stage and then select the back arrow (<) to move back. Or you can select the circle of any previous stage, and then select Set Active. The business process flow changes immediately. In the background, a phase transition record is created and approved automatically. Wait for some time for the changes to happen; you can continue to perform other tasks in the meantime.
Manage persons
To create a new contact:
In the Solution Settings area, select Persons on the left pane. See the list of contacts active in the app.
Select New.
Fill in the fields:
Field Description First Name Contact Middle Name This is optional. Last Name Contact last name. Contact Type You have the options of: Alumni, Donor, Faculty, Friend, Guest, Instructor, Organization Contact, Parent, Sibling, Staff, Student, Unknown. Email Contact email. Phone Contact phone. Date of Birth Contact birth date. Zip Code Contacts address zip code. Residence County Contact address county. School Contact school. Race Contact race. Ethnicity Contact ethnic group. Gender Contact gender. Health and Safety Plan Health and safety plan assigned for that contact. Current to Plan Measures whether the person is current with their health and safety plan. There are 4 statuses: Yes, No, Plan not assigned, and Plan not started. For Requires Portal Access, decide if the contact will be able to access the portal content.
Select Save.
Note
More information: Import or export data from Microsoft Dataverse
Access
To address school access for a guardian or dependent, manage it through the Access tab under the contact record.
Open the contact record for which you would like to create an access action.
Select the Access tab.
Select New Access Action.
A form displays. Fill in the details for the contact to be blocked.
Field Description Person Used to associate the contact action. Access Status Used to set type of access action. Access Available date Set expire date for this record. Block Reason Reason why the person was blocked. Available options are: Quarantine, Isolation, and Others. This value defaults to Isolation when the access action is created from a case. Submitted by Lookup to system user used to capture original creator. Source Used to capture source name. Defaults to manual when created in model-driven app. Notes Used to capture reason for the block or instructions to the end user. Notification Used to associate to a specific notification so notes and body can be synchronized. Select Save & Close.
Notification
The Notification tab, under a contact record, will provide the contact guardian or dependent with a notification on the portal. The types can be:
- Information
- Warning
- Error
Notification status (bell icon) changes from unread to read one day after the notification record is created.
Appointments
If the person has scheduled any appointments, you can see them listed in the contact record under the Appointments tab.
Cases
If the person has any cases, you can see all cases associated with the person under the Cases tab.
Relationships
The Parent/Guardians subgrid is displayed in this tab if the person is a student. If the person is a parent/guardian, the Dependents subgrid will be displayed.
If the parent/guardian has some dependents under his or her name, add the dependents there or view the already existing dependents.
If the student has some parents/guardians, add the parent/guardian there or view the already existing parents/guardians.
To add a related person, select the New Related Person button in the subgrid:
Fill in the fields:
Field Description Student Lookup to the student contact. Relationship Type This is set to parent/guardian by default. Parent/Guardian Lookup to the parent/guardian contact. Select Save & Close.
Invite users to the portal
In the Return to School Management app, the school IT administrator can invite contacts (persons) to the portal by sending them an email with an invitation to be redeemed.
To invite a contact to the portal:
Open the School Management app.
Navigate to the Solution Settings area.
Select Persons.
Select the contact you would like to invite to the portal.
Verify that the e-mail address is correct.
Set the field Requires portal access to YES.
Select Save.
You can set up sending invitations in bulk by selecting multiple users from the view and selecting the edit button. In the edit dialog, set Requires portal access to YES.
To trigger the sending of invitations by batch:
Navigate to Solutions Settings > Portal Invitations and create or update the existing record.
Set the max number of invitations to send for the day. The total number of invitations that can be sent per day is set by default to 5,000.
Select Save. This will trigger a flow to run in the background and send the email invitations.
Tip
The flow process that sends the invitations is only triggered when a different number is saved in the max number of invitations to send field.
Tip
If an import process is used to create parents/guardians, ensure that the Requires Portal Access field is defaulted to Yes.
Note
Extension of the product is required if the school district has to send more than 5,000 emails per day. See Sending portal invitations in batch for more information on how to change this.
Note
Prior to inviting users to the portal, it is your responsibility to obtain the proper consent from any parent, guardian, or other responsible party.
Monitor daily passes
You can monitor whether your school's students or staff are feeling healthy enough to be eligible to return to your school. You can track their self-attestations of their health based on answers to the questionnaire. This data is typically entered by the student or staff member by using the Return to School Portal app. You can view a summary of the responses in the Daily Passes area of the School Management app.
Manage school access for a person
Each person (student or staff member) can be blocked from creating a daily pass using the Book Appointment option in the Portal app. By disabling their access, they cannot enter a school building. This block can be done by an administrator in the School Management app. Follow these steps:
Open the School Management app, and then select Persons from the left pane.
Locate and open the contact record for the person you need to block.
Select the contact record's Access tab.
Select New Access Action.
Select Access Status as Blocked, set Access Available Date to a date in the future when you would like the block to expire, and then enter some notes to display to the person (student or staff). Person, Source, Submitted By, and Owner are filled in automatically.
Select Save & Close.
The person is now blocked and can no longer generate a pass or booking through the Portal app. All existing passes (bookings) are inactivated.
When a person's school access changes, the person receives a notification in the Portal app triggered by a flow. For more information about flows, refer to Extend Return to School.
Configure healthcare services
Set up healthcare services offered in a school test location:
Open the School Management app and navigate to the Solution Settings area.
In the left pane, select Healthcare Services.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below.
Column Description Name Name of the healthcare service being provided in the school test location Description Description of the healthcare service If an existing test location has been previously configured, you can assign an existing Test Location record to the healthcare service: select the Test Location tab and select Add Existing in the subgrid.
Configure test locations
Set up school test locations:
Open the School Management app and navigate to the Solution Settings area.
In the left pane, select Test Locations.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below:
Column Description Name Name of test location School School where test location is located If an existing healthcare service has been previously configured, you can assign an existing Healthcare Service record to the test location: select the Healthcare Service tab and select Add Existing in the subgrid.
Note
Before you configure the test locations schedule, make sure that your preferred time zone is set in your personal options for model-driven apps. More information: Set personal options
Configure test location schedules
Note
Before configuring the test location schedule, make sure that your preferred time zone is set under your personal options.
To allow users to book appointments in a specific test location, a test location must first be configured with a location schedule, and that a schedule must have an effectivity start date and end date. Location Schedule must be configured with time slots, and each time slot will have a corresponding slot capacity.
Open the School Management app and navigate to the Solution Settings area.
In the left pane, select Location Schedule.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below:
Column Description Name Name of test location schedule Select New Slot.
Add the slot name, slot capacity, and start and end date of the slot. Select Save and Close.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the time slots for the schedule are created.
Add all the slots needed. The subgrid should refresh and display all the newly created time slots.
Select Save & Close to save the Location Schedule record.
Configure questionnaires and questions
Set up the Healthcare Service questionnaire that appears in the portal as part of the appointment booking process.
Open the School Management app and navigate to the Solution Settings area.
On the left pane, select Questionnaires.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below:
Column Description Name Name of healthcare service questionnaire Healthcare Service The healthcare service associated with the questionnaire Language Language used to display the questions on the portal Save the Questionnaire record.
Note
When creating a questionnaire for a service, consider if it will be required in English, in Spanish or both. If both languages are required, then you will need to create two questionnaires. One will have Language set to English, with its questions in the selected language. Then, create a second questionnaire record with Language set to Spanish, with its questions translated to the selected language.
In the Questions tab, select New Question subgrid.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below:
Column Description Question Question text as it will appear to the user on the portal. Questionnaire Questionnaire that the questions are associated with. Question Order Order in which the question should appear in the portal. Response Type Type of response answer (for example, Yes/No, Text, Date). Save the question and select the back arrow to go back to the Questionnaire form.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all the questions for the questionnaire are configured.
Configure health and safety plans
Set up periodic health and safety plans that you can assign to each person in your school:
Open the School Management app and navigate to the Solution Settings area.
From the left pane, select Health & Safety Plans.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below:
Column Description Name Name of the health and safety plan. Description Description of the healthcare service. Start Date Start date of the plan. End Date End date of the plan. Frequency Frequency at which the person needs to get tested. Healthcare Service Associated healthcare service. Select Save & Close to save the Health and Safety Plan record.
Configure labs
Set up laboratories that will process test specimens for a specific healthcare service:
Open the School Management app and navigate to the Solution Settings area.
From the left pane, select Labs.
Enter the appropriate values in the fields below:
Column Description Name Name of the laboratory Address Street 1 Laboratory street address Address Street 2 Laboratory street address Address Postal Code Postal code of the laboratory Address City City of the laboratory Address County County of the laboratory Address Country Country of the laboratory Select Save & Close to save the Lab record.
Set duplicate detection rules for active cases
For active cases, the number of cases can be limited to one active case per contact. When you want to enable this limitation, you need to create a rule to prevent duplicates.
Go to the Power Platform admin center.
Select the environment in which the app is located.
On the command bar, select Settings.
Expand Data management, and then select Duplicate detection rules.
Select New and enter the appropriate values in the fields.
Column Description Name Enter a name for the rule. Base Record Type Select Cases. Matching Record Type Select Cases. Field Select Contact. Criteria Select *Exact Match. Select the Exclude inactive matching records checkbox.
Select Save & Close.
Select the newly created rule from the list of rules, and then select Publish.
Define a theme
You can use a theme to enhance the user experience.
On Advance Settings for the model-driven app, select Settings, and then select Customizations.
Under Customizations, select Themes.
From the list, select the default theme.
You can select different colors from the theme.
Note
More information: Overview of themes in Power Apps portals
Bulk record deletion
In line with privacy regulations, bulk deletion of records might be required. Take the following steps to create a bulk record-delete job. Organizations can do this to delete personal data after a certain period has passed. It is also a way to reduce storage consumption. You can delete deactivated cases or daily passes after a certain time period.
To create bulk record-delete jobs:
Select Advance Settings, select the Settings arrow, and then select Data Management.
Under Data Management, select Bulk Record Deletion.
Select New.
Complete the Bulk Deletion Wizard.
Select the appropriate table and criteria.
Add a name and a schedule for the bulk record-delete job to run.
Submit the bulk record-delete job. The job will run according to the schedule.
Feedback about the Microsoft Return to School
To provide feedback about Microsoft Return to School, visit the community page.