The School District Review Progrram

The School District Review Program (SDRP)

User_Guide_for_the_MTPS_OMB

The School District Review Progrram

OMB: 0607-0987

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School District Review Program
User Guide for the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (MTPS)

Issued
August 2015

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Statement:
A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for
failure to comply with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays a current valid OMB Control
Number. This collection is voluntary. The authority for conducting this collection comes from
Title 13 U.S.C, Sections 16, 141, and 193.
The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0607-xxxx. Public reporting for
this collection of information is estimated to be approximately 30 hours per response, including
the time for reviewing instructions, completing and reviewing the collection of information.
Comments concerning the accuracy of this burden and suggestions for reducing the burden
should be directed to: Paperwork Reduction 0607-xxxx, United States Census Bureau, 4600
Silver Hill Road, Room 3K138, Washington, DC 20233. You may email comments to
[email protected]; use “Paperwork Project 0607-xxxx” as the subject.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Table of Contents
Preface............................................................................................................................................. 5
Installing MTPS version 5.11 and Census Bureau Data ................................................................. 5
Participant Information ................................................................................................................. 11
SDRP Help .................................................................................................................................... 12
Starting the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software ........................................................................... 12
To Pick a SDRP County (or county equivalent) ........................................................................... 12
To Work with the SDRP Map Window ........................................................................................ 13
Navigation Tools .................................................................................................................................... 15
Information Tools ................................................................................................................................... 16
To Work with Layers.............................................................................................................................. 17

To Use Images in a Map (TerraServer-USA) ............................................................................... 18
To Update School District Attributes ........................................................................................... 19
To Change School District Boundaries......................................................................................... 20
Boundary Corrections ................................................................................................................... 20
Selecting Whole Faces............................................................................................................................ 21
Splitting Faces ........................................................................................................................................ 22

Delete Area ................................................................................................................................... 23
Deleting an Area ..................................................................................................................................... 23

Boundary Corrections Using a Local GIS File ............................................................................. 24
Using external reference sources ............................................................................................................ 26

Simple and Complex Dissolutions ................................................................................................ 26
Complex Dissolution Verification .......................................................................................................... 28

Simple and Complex Consolidations ............................................................................................ 29
Create a New District .................................................................................................................... 32
To Display the MTPS Submission Log for a School District ....................................................... 33
To Compare School Districts Statewide ....................................................................................... 34
To Verify Your SDRP Work ........................................................................................................ 35
To Report Your SDRP Changes to the Census Bureau ................................................................ 36
Sending SDRP updates to the Census Bureau .............................................................................. 38

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................... 47
How to Add Lines in the MTPS ............................................................................................................. 47
Lines with “spikes”................................................................................................................................. 65

Appendix B ................................................................................................................................... 69
Defining Small Land Parcels .................................................................................................................. 69
Shorelines with School District Not Defined in Water........................................................................... 71

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Preface
The MAF/TIGER Partnership Software (MTPS) is a customized Windows software package
built-on Caliper Corporation’s Maptitude geographic information system (GIS). It is designed to
facilitate streamlined updating of Census Bureau provided Environmental System Research
Institute (ESRI) shapefiles by state and local partners within a Windows environment.
The Census Bureau provides all School District Review Program (SDRP) participants with a
copy of the MTPS along with customized ESRI shapefiles.
This guide provides procedural instructions for using the SDRP within the MTPS environment.
We strongly encourage all participants to complete the Computer Based Training module
and to read these instructions before performing actual updates in the MTPS. Moreover, the
Census Bureau suggests that all participants familiarize themselves with the updating tools in the
MTPS by performing several dry runs in a county before making actual updates.
Contact Information
If you have any questions, contact the SDRP team by phone at 301.763.1099:
•
•
•
•

Mr. Ian Millett
Mr. Nathan Jones
Ms. Lauren Kirsch
Mr. Ryan Short

E-mail: [email protected]
Fax number: 301.763.4710
School District Review Program (SDRP) Web Page
http://www.census.gov/geo/partnerships/sdrp.html

Installing MTPS version 5.11 and Census Bureau Data
This section provides instructions for installing both the software and the data. If you have
any problems installing or using the MTPS program or data, please contact the SDRP Team.
You can skip the MTPS program installation if you installed MTPS 5.11 during the 20132014 SDRP and it is still on your computer. The Census Bureau recommends that you
rename any existing MTPSData folders on your computer from the 2013-2014 SDRP and
proceed to Step #8: Loading the Census Bureau Data.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Warning: Installing the MTPS and the accompanying data will delete any previous MTPS
data installations and any work already completed, regardless of Census Bureau program
(Boundary and Annexation Survey, Redistricting Data Project, SDRP, etc.). The Census
Bureau recommends that you rename any existing MTPSData folders on your computer.
To rename existing MTPSData folders:
1. Navigate to the c:\MTPSData folder.
2. Rename the folder using the program initials so it can be easily identified later (e.g.,
c:\MTPSData_SDRP13-14 or c:\MTPSData_BAS).

Installation of MTPS from Download
In order to download the MTPS, please contact the SDRP Team using the phone number or
email address listed above. The SDRP Team will email you the MTPS download username,
password, and setup file within two business days.
1. Download the MTPS from the SDRP website at
http://www.census.gov/geo/partnerships/sdrp.html using the download username and
password provided by the SDRP Team.
2. Unzip (Extract) the MTPS5.11.zip file into a new folder on your c: drive labelled
MTPS_Software.
3. In the c:\MTPS_Software folder, locate and double-click on the SETUP.EXE file to
start the InstallShield Wizard.
Skip ahead to Installation of MTPS from DVD Step #4.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Installation of MTPS from DVD
1. Start Windows.
2. Insert the MTPS Program disc in the appropriate drive.
3. If the InstallShield Wizard does not automatically start:
3.1 - Choose the Run command from the Windows Start menu.
3.2 - Type the location of your disc plus the word setup (for example, type
d:\setup), or use the Windows Browse button to locate the SETUP.EXE file
to start the InstallShield Wizard.
4. In the Setup: Welcome window, click Next.

5. In the Setup: Select Installation Type window, select Install MAF/TIGER
Partnership Software and Data for a Single User and then click Next. Do NOT
choose “Network”.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

6. Setup will prompt you to select a folder where you want the MTPS files to install. Use
the default Destination Folder and click on Next.

7. Setup will prompt you to select the MTPS program parts you want to install. Use the
default selections and click on Next.

The setup program will continue through the MTPS program installation process and eventually
prompt you to load the Census Bureau data.

Loading the Census Bureau Data
8. Once the MTPS program has installed, the setup process prompts you to insert the
Census SDRP Data disc with a Setup Needs the Census Data message.
8.1 If you are loading the data for your state from the Census Data disc, remove
the MTPS Program disc and insert the Census Bureau Data disc. Browse to
the location of the Data disc and click OK. The file name will be SDRP_ss,
where ss represents the two-digit Federal Information Processing Standards
(FIPS) code for your state.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

8.2 If you will download the Census Bureau data for your state from the SDRP
website, click Skip on the Setup screen to load the data after the MTPS has
finished installing. Skip ahead to Step #10.

9. After the setup process finishes copying all state data shapefiles, Guidelines, and
Listings onto your system, the setup phase of the process is now complete.
10. Click Finish on the Setup screen.

11. If you will download the Census Bureau data for your state, download it now, by
county, from the SDRP website at http://www.census.gov/geo/partnerships/sdrp.html
No username or password are required to download data.
12. Unzip (Extract) the data zip files, by county, into a new folder on your c: drive
labelled MTPSData. The download for each county will come with a set of statewide
shapefiles and a set of county shapefiles. On startup, MTPS will automatically load
any state and county data that is in the MTPSData folder.
13. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar and from the Programs menu.
Choose MAF - TIGER Partnership Software and then MAF - TIGER
Partnership Software 5.11.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

14. Click OK. This will display the Please Log In dialog box and enter SDRP as the
user name using all upper-case letters for the SDRP (the user name is case-sensitive).
Example:

15. Click OK.
16. You are then prompted with the following two Startup Choices:
o Run the Computer Based Training (CBT)
o Go Directly to the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software program (default)
Select the CBT as your startup choice and click OK to review critical MTPS information
and update procedures. Please review the lessons in the Basic Skills and SDRP tutorials.
After you have reviewed the CBT, select “Go directly to the MAF/TIGER Partnership
Software program” in the Startup Choices box to start using the MTPS.
While reading through the Guide To Reporting School District Updates and
identifying your changes, we recommend that you learn the basics of the MTPS as shown
below. After you read through the Guide To Reporting School District Updates and
identify your changes, you can learn how to do the changes that you have identified.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Participant Information
The first time you enter the MTPS, select School Districts from the MTPS menu and click on
Update User Information, which is located at the bottom. Example:

A window will appear asking you to verify and correct the participant (Mapping Coordinator)
information for the person using the software. Example:

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Please use the example participant information provided as a guide when filling out this form.
The Census Bureau tries to maintain complete contact information for each participant working
with the SDRP, but if we are missing data, such as a fax number or e-mail address, please
populate the appropriate fields with the information.
Click the OK button in the bottom right corner after you have completed making the necessary
updates.

SDRP Help
Review the on-line help for the SDRP program by choosing Help-Contents, clicking the
MTPS Census Program Help link, and then the SDRP link.
You can also run the CBT by clicking on the Start button, then Programs-MAF-TIGER
Partnership Software-Computer Based Training for MAF-TIGER Partnership
Software.
Note: Adobe Flash Player must be installed on your computer for the CBT to operate. The
Census Bureau provides all MTPS participants with this software or you can download it for
free at: http://www.adobe.com.

Starting the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software
Before you can open the SDRP Map window, you must pick a county to work with, so that
the MTPS can import the data for that county. The last county you picked becomes the
current county, and when you open the SDRP Map window, the software displays that
county. To work with a different county you must close the SDRP Map window, pick
another county, and open the SDRP Map window again.

To Pick a SDRP County (or county equivalent)
Begin using the SDRP user interface by following these steps:
1. If the SDRP Map window is open, choose School Districts-Close from the Standard
Toolbar. The MTPS closes the SDRP Map window and any toolboxes that are open.
2. Then choose School District-Pick a County from the Standard Toolbar. The MTPS
displays the following MTPS Counties dialog box:

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

3. The aforementioned box will contain all the counties within your state. Highlight a
county in the scroll list by clicking on it.
4. Click OK. If that county is already the current county, the MTPS displays a message
reminding you. Otherwise, before starting the import process, the MTPS displays a
message to recommend that you disable any anti-virus software to speed the process.
Disabling your antivirus is not required, only suggested. When you click OK, the MTPS
imports the county, makes it the current county and displays a message indicating
success. Example:

Note: Depending on the processing speed of your computer, some large counties, such as
Los Angeles County and Cook County may take longer (20 minutes) to build than smaller
counties.
5. Click OK.

To Work with the SDRP Map Window
1. From the Standard Toolbar choose School District-Open. The MTPS displays the SDRP
Map window.
2. The MTPS opens the School Districts Toolbox. This toolbox can be turned on and off
from the School District menu. Example:

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

3. The MTPS opens the Tools toolbox, which contains navigation and information tools.
This toolbox can be docked into the Standard Toolbar at the top of the screen. Example:

4. The MTPS opens the map legend for the initial map view. The layers listed in the legend
will automatically change as you zoom in and out on the map. Example:

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Navigation Tools
To do this…

Do this…

Zoom in to a point or a rectangle

Click
on the Tools toolbar and click on a
point or drag a rectangle. MAF/TIGER
Partnership Software makes the scale larger
and changes the center of the map.

Zoom out from a point or a rectangle

Click
on the Tools toolbar and click on a
point or drag a rectangle. MAF/TIGER
Partnership Software makes the scale
smaller and changes the center of the map.

Move the map in any direction

Click
on the Tools toolbar and drag the
map. MAF/TIGER Partnership Software
changes the center of the map.

Return to the previous scale and center

Choose Map-Previous Scale or click
the Tools toolbar.

Return to the original scale and center

Choose Map-Original Scale or click
the Tools toolbar.

Move the map in a cardinal direction

Choose Map-Pan-Pan Map Toolbox

to display the Pan Map toolbox, then click
the appropriate arrow button to move the
map half the width or height of the map in
that direction or return to the previous scale.
Move the map right, left, up, or down

From the Map-Pan submenu choose one of
the commands: Pan Right, Pan Left, Pan
Up, or Pan Down.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Information Tools
___________________________________________________________________
To do this…
Do this…
Change the working layer
Choose the layer you want from the dropdown window on the Standard Toolbar.
Get information on a map feature

Choose a layer from the drop down list.
Click
on the Tools toolbar to activate the
Info tool and click on a feature on the map
or drag a circle around the map feature.
MAF/TIGER Partnership Software marks
the feature with an ‘i’ and displays the data
for the feature in the Info window.

Get information on several features

There are two tools for displaying data for
on the Tools
multiple layers. Choose
toolbar to activate the Multi-Layer Info
tool to display the data for all of the features
at a location where you click. Choose
on the Tools toolbar to active the MultiLayer Area Info tool to find all the area
features at a location where you click.

Change the fields that are displayed

Right click in any Info window and choose
Field Sets, highlight an existing set or click
Add to create a new set, and click OK.
MAF/TIGER Partnership Software displays
just the fields in the field set, in the order
you chose.

Close the info window

Click the close box in the upper right
corner or choose Close from the system
menu in the upper left corner.

Measure distance and area

Choose
on the Tools toolbar to activate
the Measure Distance tool. Click a starting
location, any intermediate location, and
double-click the ending location. A dialog
box displays the length. Choose
on the
Tools toolbar to active the Measure Size
tool. Click a starting location and several
shape points, double-clicking to close the
area. A dialog box displays the area and
perimeter.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS
16

To Work with Layers
___________________________________________________________________________
To do this…
Do this…
Open the Layers dialog box
Choose Map-Layers or click
on the
Standard toolbar, or click the right mouse
button on the map window and choose
Layers. MAF/TIGER Partnership Software
displays the Layers dialog box.
Choose a layer

Highlight the layer in the scroll list, which
shows the layers in the order they will be
drawn, a sample of the style, and the status.
Note: The active or working layer is
displayed at the bottom of the layers list,
but will show as the top layer in the map
legend. Hidden means the layer will not be
drawn, autoscale means the layer will be
drawn between certain scales, and blank
means the layer will be drawn at all scales.
You can also hold the Shift key and click on
another layer to highlight a range of layers,
or hold the Ctrl key and click on a layer to
toggle the highlight on or off.

Hide a layer

Click Hide. The button will change to
Show so that you can reshow the layer.

Add a layer

Click Add Layer to display the File.
You can choose the type of file and one or
more files to open. Click Cancel to close
the dialog box without adding any layers.

Drop a layer

Click Drop Layer. MAF/TIGER
Partnership Software displays a Confirm
dialog box. Click Cancel to close the dialog
box without dropping the layer.

Change the order of the layers

Click Move Up or Move Down.
MAF/TIGER Partnership Software moves
the highlighted layer up or down.

Change the style settings for a layer

Click Style to display the Style dialog box,
which is different for point, line, and area

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

layers. Click Apply if you want to try out
changes to style settings, but click Cancel to
close the dialog box without changing the
settings.
Change the label settings for a layer

Click Labels to display the Automatic
Labels dialog box. Click Apply if you want
to try out changes to label settings, but click
Cancel to close the dialog box without
changing the settings.

Change the autoscale settings for a layer

Click Autoscale to display the Autoscale
dialog box. The Largest drop-down list, if
not blank, shows the largest scale at which
to display the layer, as you zoom in. The
Smallest drop-down list, if not blank, shows
the smallest scale at which to display the
layer, as you zoom out. Click Cancel to
close the dialog box without changing the
settings.

Close the Layers dialog box

Click Close.

Note: To learn more about a command, dialog box, or toolbox, open or highlight the item and
press F1 to get the appropriate topic in the on-line help.

To Use Images in a Map (TerraServer-USA)
Microsoft Corporation maintains TerraServer-USA, an on-line database of high resolution
United States Geological Survey (USGS) aerial imagery and scanned USGS topographic maps.
If you have Internet access, you can get an image from TerraServer-USA to add as a new layer in
your map. Images can function as layers in your maps in almost the same way as any other type
of layer.
NOTE: The .NET Framework from Microsoft must be installed to use this functionality. For
more information, see the Microsoft download page at: http://www.Microsoft.com. Also, please
contact your IT staff before installing.
Follow these steps to use a Terra-Server-USA map image:
1. Change the scale of the map, if necessary to get the area for which you want the map
image.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

2. Select Tools-Imagery-TerraServer USA toolbox from the Standard toolbar. The
MTPS opens the toolbox. Example:

3. Choose one of the following options from the Methods drop-down list:
•
•
•

Aerial image – nationwide black and white digital orthophoto quadrangles (DOQs)
Topographic map – nationwide digitally scanned images of USGS topographic
maps, also called digital raster graphics (DRGs)
Urban color maps – color DOQs for the 133 most populated metropolitan areas of
the United States. See the USGS Fact Sheet at:
gisdata.usgs.net/IADD/factsheets/fact.html.

4. Choose the image resolution from the Resolution drop-down list. If you choose
Autoscale, the MTPS will choose an appropriate resolution.
5. Click on
to get the image. The MTPS requests, receives, and displays the image in
the map window.
6. Click on
to save the image. The MTPS displays the Save Image As dialog box.
Choose a folder, choose a file type, type a name, and click Save. The MTPS saves the
image in the JPEG format.
Click on
to drop the image layer from the map. The metadata for the image can be displayed
by clicking on . Click OK when you’re finished reading the metadata.
When you’re done, click on the close button in the top right-hand corner of the toolbox. The
MTPS closes the toolbox.
More detailed information about using imagery can be found in the on-line Help. Click on the
Search tab and type TerraServer in window 1. The relative topics will appear in window 3.
When clicked on, the information associated with each topic will be displayed in the viewing
window.

To Update School District Attributes
PLEASE NOTE: Updates or corrections to any existing Local Education Agency (LEA)
codes, school district names, levels, and/or low and high grades should NOT be completed
using the MTPS. Please record and submit the aforementioned changes manually using the
Excel Submission_Log.xls spreadsheet (referenced in the User Guide for the Excel
Submission Log and included on your MTPS Data disc).
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS
19

To Change School District Boundaries
IMPORTANT NOTES:




Participants will use the MTPS to make and record only boundary changes
(annexations/corrections), complex consolidations, complex dissolutions, new districts,
and to delete areas. Please do not use the MTPS for simple consolidations and simple
dissolutions. List those updates manually in the Excel Submission_Log.xls (referenced
in the User Guide for the Excel Submission Log and included on your MTPS Data
disc).
When a Unified school district moves (annexes) into an area previously covered by an
Elementary or an Elementary and Secondary school district, you must also delete the
same faces from the Elementary or the Elementary and Secondary school district layers.
You do not have to take this action if the annexation of an area occurs within level
(i.e., a Unified school district moves into an area previously covered by another
Unified school district).



When an Elementary or an Elementary and Secondary school district moves
(annexes) into an area previously covered by a Unified school district, you must also
delete the same faces from the Unified school district layer. You do not have to take
this action if the annexation of an area is within level (i.e., an Elementary school
district moves into an area previously covered by another Elementary school district
and/or a Secondary school district moves into an area previously covered by another
Secondary school district).



The Census Bureau will not adjudicate between school districts when a change
affects an adjacent district. We ask that you, as the mapping coordinator, please
resolve these issues before submitting changes to the Census Bureau.

Boundary Corrections
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read Appendix A: How to Add Lines in the MTPS before
making any boundary corrections and filling out the MTPS Submission Log.
When making a boundary correction using the MTPS, you will need to know:
1. Which school district is the target district (i.e., the one adding area), and if it is an
elementary, secondary or unified district.
2. Which school district is losing area, and if it is an elementary, secondary, or unified
district.
Please zoom into the work area to ensure that the ALL LINES layer is visible, and use the
MTPS as a frame of reference while making your boundary correction(s). Moreover, please try
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

to use existing census features as much as possible rather than adding lines within 30 feet of
existing census features.
To do this…
Make a boundary correction

Do this…
From the School Districts Toolbox, choose Boundary
Correction from the Map Action drop-down list.
Choose the type of school district (elementary, secondary,
or unified) you wish to modify from the District Layer
drop-down list.
Choose the target school district to modify from either the
District drop-down list or by selecting it using the Target
Area Pointer tool . The chosen school district will
shade.
Zoom to the portion of the boundary that you wish
to edit by using the Zoom In
on the Tools toolbar
and click on a point or drag a rectangle.

There are two ways to effect a boundary change. One is by selecting individual faces or
polygons. However, if the whole area of a selected face (polygon) isn’t to be included in the
boundary correction, the face will need to be split by drawing (adding) a new line (boundary)
in the appropriate place.
Note: Once you have started making changes, you cannot choose a different edit (district)
layer until you click
to save your changes or
to cancel your changes.
You can also undo changes with the Edit-Undo command.
Selecting Whole Faces
To do this…
Selecting whole faces

Do this…
Click on the Select by Pointing
tool on the
School District Toolbar to select each individual face to
add to the target school district or click on the Select by
Shape
tool to select faces within a shape. Remember
to double-click to end your shape. The selected faces will
shade green.
Note: If you select an incorrect face, hold down the
Control key and click to unselect it. And, you can click on
Cancel Edits
before effecting the change. If the

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

change was already effected, go to Edit/Undo in the
Standard toolbar at the top of the screen.
Then click on . The MTPS Submission Log dialog box
is displayed showing the change has been made and
recorded for the target district – the one adding area. Scroll
to the right and click in the Narrative Description field of
the Submission Log to enter the Type of change and any
additional information regarding the change. NOTE: If a
boundary correction or change is being made in
conjunction with a Complex Consolidation, please
enter, Complex Consolidation Boundary
Correction/Change in the Narrative Description field.
This field holds up to 500 characters. See the Quick Start
Guide for the definition of a complex consolidation.
Click Close. The MTPS closes the Submission Log dialog
box.
The MTPS corrects the school district boundary based on
the added faces.

Splitting Faces
To do this…
Add a line (Create a new boundary)

Do this…
Choose School Districts-Line Editing
Toolbox from the Standard toolbar at the
top of the screen.
Click

to activate the Add Line tool.

Zoom into the area where you want to draw
the new boundary.
Click where you want to start the line
Move the cursor and click to create shape
points (nodes, vertices) along the new line.
Double-click to end the line. You may click
at a node (either at an intersection or at the
endpoint of a line), on a line, or in space.
NOTE: Depending on where you draw your line, you may get a Warning pop-up box giving
you the option to use existing lines for your boundary instead of adding a new one.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

If you answer Yes, the new line you delineated disappears. You will have to redraw any line
segments that connect to the existing lines you wish to use as a boundary.
If you answer No, the MTPS adds the new line and displays a Dataview window. The
MAF/TIGER feature class code (MTFCC) for School District Boundary (P0001) is
automatically filled-in.
If desired, enter the full name of the added line by clicking on the + sign next to fullname.
The MTPS will automatically enter Unnamed. Use the Delete key to backspace over and
then type in the feature name.
To close the Dataview window, click the X in the upper right-hand corner.
If you choose not to add a name, click on the X in the upper-right hand corner of the
Dataview window.
Click
to add the line or
to cancel the added line. You can also go to Edit-Undo,
while still in the map window, to cancel any added lines.
Once your new line is added, follow the instructions given above for Selecting Whole Faces to
make your boundary correction/change.

Delete Area
You will never use this tool as a single action. It should always be done in conjunction with and
as a result of a boundary change (annexation/correction), complex dissolution, complex
consolidation or when a new school district is created.
Note: Once you have started making changes, you cannot choose a different edit (district) layer
until you click
to save your changes or
to cancel your changes.
You can also undo changes with the Edit-Undo command.
Deleting an Area
To do this…
Delete area

Do this…
From the School Districts Toolbox, choose Delete Area
from the Map Action drop-down list.
A Note dialog box will display reminding you that the
Delete Area tool should only be used for deleting parts of
school districts that cannot be deleted through the use of
other tools.
Click Okay.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Choose the type of school district (elementary, secondary,
or unified) you wish to modify from the District Layer
drop-down list.
Choose the school district to modify from either the
District drop-down list or by selecting it using the Target
Area Pointer tool . The chosen school district will
shade.
Zoom to the portion of the boundary that you wish to edit
by using the Zoom In
on the Tools toolbar and click on
a point or drag a rectangle.
Select faces to delete using the Select by Pointing
tool
on the School District Toolbar to select one or more faces
or the Select by Shape
tool to select faces within a
shape. Like before, the selected faces will turn green.
Then click on
. The MTPS Submission Log pops up
showing that this school district has lost area. Scroll over
to the right to see. You can click in the Narrative
Description field if you want to give us any information
regarding the change.
Click Close.
You’ll still see a residual line where the old boundaries were, but the symbology will be
gone. This line remains in the event you need to find this area again to see where the original
boundary was located.

Boundary Corrections Using a Local GIS File
In the event that your local participant provides you with electronic versions of their school
district boundary changes, you can bring them in as additional layers in your map. Adding these
as layers allows you to use them as templates for digitizing the boundary changes into the MTPS.
When accepting GIS files from your local participants, make sure you also receive the projection
information and metadata for the data that they are supplying. This will assist you if there are
any problems when importing the data.
You will need to know the answer to the following questions before starting:



What type of local file(s) have I received?
Do I have the projection information for this file(s)?

NOTE: If you add additional files to your MTPS project, you must not move or delete those
files on your PC until you drop them from the MTPS project. Failure to drop the files from the
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

project before moving or deleting them will render the project unable to open. Read How to
Drop a Layer on page 14.
It is also important to remember when making updates, if an equivalent feature exists, you
should use the equivalent feature in the Census File as your boundary even though it may not be
spatially aligned with the source file’s feature. See Appendix B: Special Situations for more
information.
Use these steps to make a boundary correction using a local GIS file:
1. If necessary, select Pick a County from the School Districts drop-down menu in the
Standard Toolbar.
2. Select the county you wish to work in and then select Open from the School District
drop-down menu.
3. Open the Layers Dialog box by clicking the Map Layers

button.

4. Click the Add Layer button.
5. In the File Open window that appears, set the Files of type pull-down menu to the file
type you are trying to add.
6. After setting the file type, still using the File Open window, navigate to and select the
file you want to add. Click the Open button.
7. A pop-up box will appear listing information about the file you are adding. Click the
Coordinates button. This lists the coordinates, as interpreted by the software, from any
associated projection files. If the file you are trying to add does not have the associated
projection file then this is where you would manually enter the projection information.
(Note: Each projection type has its own specific characteristics. In general, the information
you need is the projection name, datum, units (if applicable), and zone (if applicable). It is
also worth noting that the system of latitude and longitude is often referred to as unprojected. Help with projections is available in the Help section under Basic Skills -Additional Skills -- Importing and Exporting Geographic Files -- Using Data in Other
Coordinate Systems.)

8. After verifying or entering the projection information, click OK. Continue clicking OK
until you are back at the Layers Dialog box. Your file should now be listed in the Layers
window. You can change the symbology (dashed lines work best) for your layer here by
clicking on Style button (refer back to the To Work with the Layers section).
9. Click the Apply button, the OK button, and the Close button to have your newly added
file drawn in your map.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

10. Examine where the boundaries diverge to determine if you need to draw a new line or if
there is an existing line to which you can bring the school district boundary. See
Attachment E for more information.
11. Once you’ve made your evaluation, use the Boundary Correction action in the School
District Toolbox to make the needed school district changes.
If you wish to import an older data format such as ESRI E00 files, you must first convert
them by clicking on File from the menu bar, then selecting Open. Open the pull-down menu
from the Files of Type menu and select your data format from the list. If you fail to find
your data format, then Maptitude does not support it.
Using external reference sources
The Census Bureau encourages the use of external reference sources such as georeferenced
imagery and the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) grid when reviewing your school
district boundaries. However, please keep in mind the topological nature of the MAF/TIGER
database when choosing where to add boundaries and coverage. It would be incorrect to
digitize a PLSS line or a feature from imagery as intersecting existing features if it’s in the
wrong relative location. It would also be incorrect to assign coverage based on the location
of these external sources without reviewing the feature network. Doing either of these could
cause a misallocation of population when tabulations are created based on these topologically
incorrect lines and coverages. To prevent this, please look at the relative position of these
guiding sources to both the Census supplied geography and your own data. Recreate the
lines in the Census supplied geography in the same relative position as to where they exist in
your own data. Also, be sure to use equivalent features as boundaries when creating
coverages. See Appendix A: How to Add Lines in the MTPS for more information.

Simple and Complex Dissolutions
A dissolution results in the disappearance of a school district with no new school district being
created. There are two types of dissolutions – simple and complex.
The term simple dissolution refers to the situation where one or more existing school districts
are entirely absorbed by one other existing school district. A new school district is not created.
The name and LEA code of the receiving school district are retained.
Note: do not make simple dissolutions using the MTPS. Report them manually using the
Excel Submission_Log.xls (referenced in the User Guide for the Excel Submission Log and
included on your MTPS Data disc).
The term complex dissolution refers to the situation where a single school district is dissolved
and its area is split between two or more other existing school districts, with or without
additional boundary changes/corrections. Again, a new school district is not created, and the
names and LEA codes of the receiving school districts are retained.
Before you do a complex dissolution using the MTPS, you must be sure about two basic things:
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

1. What is the school district being dissolved? Is it actually true that the entire district will
disappear? If any part of the district is to remain, then it is not a complex dissolution, but
just a boundary correction.
2. Which school districts will gain the area formerly covered by the dissolving school
district? Remember, you must split the territory between districts in order for it to be a
complex dissolution. If transferring all territory to only a single school district, then it is
just a simple dissolution.
Note: Once you have started making changes, you cannot choose a different edit (district)
layer until you click
to save your changes or
to cancel your changes.

You can also undo changes with the Edit-Undo command.
To do this…
Complex dissolution

Do this…
Choose Complex Dissolution from the Map
Action drop-down list.
Choose the school district layer (level) of the school
district being dissolved from the Source Layer
drop-down list.
Choose the school district that is being dissolved
from the Dissolve From drop-down list. It will
shade gray on the map.
Choose the school district layer of the school
district adding area from the To Layer drop-down
list.
Choose the school district that is adding area from
the Dissolve Into drop-down list. It will shade with
a pattern.
Zoom into the area you wish to edit and select the
faces to take from the district being dissolved by
using the
tool to select one or more faces or the
tool to select faces with a shape, then click
.
Note: The MTPS checks to make sure all the selected faces
come from the district specified in the Dissolve From
window. Don’t worry about over-bounding into another
school district. If incorrect faces are selected, hold down

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

the Ctrl key and click to remove the incorrect selections
and then click
again.
The MTPS displays the Confirm with Explanation dialog
box. Type an explanation, which will be automatically
entered into the Narrative/Description field in the
Submission Log, and click Continue.
The MTPS displays the Submission Log dialog box for the
target school district.
Click Close.
The MTPS adds the faces to the target school district.
Repeat the above steps, choosing a different selection in the To Layer and Dissolve Into
windows if applicable, and entering the same explanation into the Narrative/Description field,
until all parts of the school district are dissolved into other school districts.
Note: If you choose another map action before completing a complex dissolution, the MTPS
displays a message. Click OK to continue.
You can undo changes with the Edit-Undo command.

Complex Dissolution Verification
The MTPS contains a verification tool that ensures that no small pieces of the dissolving
school district were missed during the complex dissolution process.

To run the tool –
1. Go to School Districts and then Verification Toolbox.
2. From the Type of Verification drop-down list, pick Required-Complex
Dissolution.
3. From the Source Layer drop-down list, always choose the level of district that
was dissolved.
4. Click Verify.
5. The tool will run and list any school districts from the chosen level that were not
completely dissolved.
6. Click on the magnifying glass icon to zoom to the extent of the district’s
undissolved pieces.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

7. Use the Complex Dissolution tool to reassign the neglected faces.

Simple and Complex Consolidations
A consolidation is when two or more school districts combine to form a new school
district. There are two types of consolidations – simple and complex.
The term simple consolidation refers to the situation where two or more school districts merge
to create a NEW school district with a new name and new LEA code, with no additional
boundary changes/corrections. There is no change in the overall boundaries of the former school
districts.
For example: All of School District A merges with all of School District B and becomes new
School District C. There is no change to the overall boundaries of the merged school districts
with no additional boundary changes/corrections. Please see the Guide to Reporting School
District Updates for more information and examples.
Note: Do not use the MTPS to report simple consolidations. Instead, report them manually
using the Excel Submission_Log.xls (referenced in the User Guide for the Excel Submission
Log and included on your MTPS Data disc).
The term complex consolidation refers to the situation where two or more school districts merge
to create a NEW school district with a new name and new LEA code, along with additional
boundary changes/corrections. This type of consolidation also contains boundary correction
and/or changes that modify the outer edge of the new school district. Therefore, if you delineate
a complex consolidation, we will expect accompanying boundary corrections or changes for the
new school district.
For example: All of School District A merges with all of School District B and becomes new
School District C and then, area from School District W is added to the newly created School
District C via a boundary correction and/or change. There is a change to the overall boundary of
the merged schools districts because School District C is receiving area from School District W.
School District W was not part of the merger; it only had a boundary correction and/or change.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The MTPS will not correctly record a complex consolidation, unless
you complete the processes in the following order:
First step - complete the consolidation of school districts using the Complex Consolidation
tool in the MTPS. Again, you will only use the Complex Consolidation tool in the MTPS to
delineate a complex consolidation.
Second step - complete all boundary corrections and/or changes to the outer edge of the new
school district using the Boundary Correction tool in the MTPS.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Before you complete a complex consolidation using the MTPS, you should know the
following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The school districts being consolidated
The new LEA code – if not known, the MTPS will fill in a temp LEA code
The name of the new school district
The low and high grade
The school district losing area (making this a complex, rather than a simple
consolidation)

Remember: Once you have started making changes, you cannot choose a different edit
(district) layer until you click to save your changes or
to cancel your changes.

You can also undo changes with the Edit-Undo command.
___________________________________________________________________________
To do this…
Do this…
Complex consolidation
From the School district Toolbox choose
Complex Consolidation from the Map
Action drop-down list.
Choose the type of district you want to
consolidate from the Target Layer dropdown list.
Choose New District from the Consolidate
Into drop-down list.
Choose the district level from which to
select districts from the From Layer dropdown list.
Click on the
tool to bring up the Pick
Consolidation Features box. (You can also
use either the
tool to select one or more
school districts or the
tool to select
school districts within a shape)
From the 1st Source Layer drop-down list,
select the layer that contains a district to
consolidate. From the 1st Consolidation
District drop-down list choose the district to
consolidate. You can choose as many as
four districts to consolidate using the Pick
Consolidation Features box. Click OK.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS
30

Click
to save the edits.
The New School District dialog box popsup. Enter the LEA code, if known, the
school district name, and the low grade and
the high grade in the appropriate New Value
fields.
Click OK. The MTPS displays the School
Submission Log dialog box. Type an
explanatory note for the change in the
Narrative/Description column.
Click Close after verifying the information
recorded is correct.
The MTPS closes the Submission Log
dialog box and consolidates the selected
school districts. You can undo changes with
the Edit-Undo command.
A complex consolidation must also include boundary change(s)/correction(s) in addition to the
consolidating of two or more school districts into a new school district. Once you complete the
consolidation, the next step is to complete the boundary corrections.
Refer to the Boundary Corrections section for step-by-step instructions on how to make
boundary corrections for a school district.
REMINDER!!!: If the school district adding area and the school district losing area are the
same layer (level), you will not have to perform a Delete Area action. But, if the school district
adding area and the school district losing area are in different layers (levels), you must perform
a Delete Area action. A Delete Area action will never be done by itself. It will always be done
in conjunction with another action, such as a boundary correction, complex dissolution, or
creating a new school district.
Examples:


When a Unified school district moves (annexes) into an area previously covered by an
Elementary or an Elementary and Secondary school district, you must also delete the
same faces from the Elementary or the Elementary and Secondary school district layers.
You do not have to take this action if the annexation of an area is within level (i.e., a
Unified school district moves into an area previously covered by another Unified
school district).



School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

this action if the annexation of an area is within level (i.e., an Elementary school
district moves into an area previously covered by another Elementary school district
and/or a Secondary school district moves into an area previously covered by another
Secondary school district).
Refer to the Delete Area section on for step-by-step instructions on how to delete area
from a school district.

Create a New District
The term New District is the process of transferring areas from one or more existing school
districts to form a completely new school district. Please do not confuse this transaction with a
consolidation where the entire area of one of more school districts is combined to form a new
school district.
Reminder: You will need to complete a Delete Area process if the newly created school
district is a different level(s) than the district(s) that lost area. Refer to the Delete Area
section for step-by-step instructions on how to delete area from a school district.
Before you create a new school district, you should know the following information:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The district level – elementary, secondary, unified
The LEA code – if not known, the MTPS will fill in a temp LEA code
The name
The low and high grade
The districts that are losing area

___________________________________________________________________
To do this…
Do this…
Create a new district
Select New District from the Map Action
drop-down list.
Select the school district level from the
District Layer drop-down list. This will be
the level of the new district being created.
Choose New District from the District
drop-down list.
Zoom into the area you wish to edit.
Select each individual face to add to the new
school district by using the Select by
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Pointing
tool or on the Select by Shape
tool to select faces within a shape.
Remember to double-click to end your
shape. Refer to the prior section for
instructions on Selecting Whole Faces and
Splitting Faces.
Click

The New School District information window will pop up, and you will notice that the
MTPS generates a temporary LEA code. This is a temp code assigned by the MTPS. If you
have received a permanent LEA code for the new school district, you can click in that field
and enter it. Then fill in the name, low grade and high grade for the new district. Click OK.
The MTPS Submission Log pops up. Please enter all pertinent information regarding this
action by clicking in the Narrative/Description field. Click Close.
Note: Once you have started making changes, you cannot choose a different edit (district) layer
until you click
to save your changes or
to cancel your changes
You can also undo changes with the Edit-Undo command.

To Display the MTPS Submission Log for a School District
MTPS participants will only use the MTPS tools for cases of boundary changes
(annexations/corrections), new school districts, deleted areas, complex consolidations, or
complex dissolutions where real spatial changes are being made to the school district
geography. In these cases, the MTPS Submission Log will automatically log the information
when the user commits the changes, and the user will not have to update the log manually.
The MTPS will automatically submit those change records to the Census Bureau. Users can
view this submission log as well as enter comments in the Narrative/Description field of the
Submission Log.
Reminder: For all other changes (Name, Grade Range, Level, LEA Code, simple
consolidation, or simple dissolution) the user will not use the MTPS. Instead, please
manually fill-out the Excel Submission_Log.xls (referenced in the User Guide for the
Excel Submission Log and included on your MTPS Data disc) and return these change
records to the Census Bureau.
___________________________________________________________________
To do this…
Do this…
Display MTPS Submission Log
Click
to activate the Display MTPS
Submission Log tool in the School Districts
Toolbar.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Select the school district level from the
School Districts Toolbar.
Click on a school district. If there are no
changes for the school district, the MTPS
displays a message; click OK to close the
message. Otherwise, the MTPS displays the
Submission Log dialog box for the school
district. You can type notes for changes in
the Narrative/Description field.
Click Close. The MTPS closes the
Submission Log dialog box.

To Compare School Districts Statewide
This function allows the user to compare Census school district boundaries provided with MTPS
to their local participant school district boundary reference file to identify Census school districts
without matching participant districts, identify participant districts without matching Census
districts, and identify matching districts that are different in size. You will need a digital file with
your local school district boundaries that can be imported and added as a layer in MTPS.
1. Use the School Districts pull down menu to select Open Statewide Map.
2. Add your participant school district boundaries as a layer in the SDRP Map by clicking
the
button on the Standard toolbar and clicking Add Layer.
3. In the File Open window that appears, set the Files of type pull-down menu to the file
type you are trying to add.
4. After setting the file type, still using the File Open window, navigate to and select the
file you want to add and click the Open button.
5. Click the Statewide Comparison Tool
box.

to display the Pick Statewide Layers dialog

6. Choose a Census school district layer from the Census Statewide Layer drop down list.
7. Choose the LEA (sdlea) code field in the Census school district layer from the Census
LEA Field drop-down list.
8. Choose your participant school district layer from the Participant Statewide Layer
drop-down list.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

9. Choose the Local Education Agency (LEA) code field in your participant school district
layer from the Participant LEA Field drop-down list.
10. Click OK.
The MTPS compares the school district boundaries and creates the following two dataviews:
1. Comparing Census school districts to participant school districts in Dataview1
2. Participant school districts to Census school districts in Dataview2
Dataview1 has an All matched school districts selection set and Dataview2 has an Unmatched
school districts selection set.
Use the dataviews as follows:
To do this…
Show unmatched school districts

Do this…
Choose All matched school districts for
Dataview1 or All unmatched school
districts for Dataview2 from the Windows
drop-down list on the Standard Toolbar.

Sort the dataview on a column

Right-click on the column heading and
choose Sort Increasing or Sort Decreasing.

Find a school district on the map

Right-click on the record for the school
district and choose Zoom.

When you are done with the dataviews, you can close them.

To Verify Your SDRP Work
Before you can report/submit your changes/updates, the MTPS requires that you run
the following three Verification tools:
1. Complete Coverage
2. Complex Dissolution
3. Verify for Overlaps (Grade Range)
From the Standard Toolbar choose School Districts-Verification Toolbox. The MTPS displays
the Verify School Districts dialog box.

Choose a type of validation as follows:
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

To do this type of verification…
Complete Coverage

Do this…
Choose Required: Complete
Coverage from the Type of
Verification drop-down list.

Complex Dissolution

Choose Required: Complex
Dissolution from the Type of
Verification drop-down list and
always choose the level of the
district that was dissolved from the
Source Layer drop-down list.

Overlaps (Grade Range)

Choose Required: Overlaps
(Grade Range) from the Type of
Verification drop-down list.

___________________________________________________________________
Click Verify. The MTPS displays a message indicating the result of the verification.
Click OK to close the message.
If any areas do not meet the verification test, the MTPS documents the areas at the bottom of
the scroll list. You can highlight one or more areas and click
. The MTPS zooms to the
highlighted areas and shades them on the map. You can use the School Districts Toolbox to
make any necessary changes.
Once you have made all changes, rerun the verification test. If the MTPS returns no areas,
then choose the next verification test.
When you are done, click the Close box in the upper-right corner of the toolbox.
The MTPS closes the Verify School Districts toolbox.

To Report Your SDRP Changes to the Census Bureau
1. Choose School Districts-Report Changes from the Standard Toolbar. The MTPS
displays a Confirm dialog reminding you to run or re-run the three required verification
tools, and asks if you want to create a ZIP file containing changes for the Census Bureau.
2. If all required verification tools have been run or re-run, click Yes.
The MTPS creates a ZIP file called SDRP_ssccc_Return.zip where ssccc is a code based on the
state and county FIPS codes. The MTPS puts the file in the corresponding county subfolder
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS
36

within the MTPSData folder on the drive or server where you have the data stored. Once the
MTPS completes this process, it displays a message with the path to the archive.

Click OK to close the message.
Remember: You will submit only those counties where changes or corrections have occurred
to your school district boundaries since the last survey.
You will submit the SDRP Return.zip files with your changes or corrections using
the Census Bureau’s new Secure Web Incoming Module (SWIM) file transfer
application.
If you have digital reference files that you used to update our files and/or a
statewide file, please submit those, too. Reference files help us understand your
changes, which also facilitates the update process at our end.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Sending SDRP updates to the Census Bureau
The Secure Web Incoming Module (SWIM) is a new one-stop location for submitting your
geographic program files to the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau now requires that all SDRP
participants use the Census Bureau’s SWIM for submitting update materials. Please do not send
your submission as an email attachment, because we cannot accept it in that format due to new
security policies at the Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau will email a SWIM registration token and digital submission
instructions to the State Mapping Coordinator when they inform the SDRP Team that they
have changes to report.
This token is good for one account within the SWIM. Once you have registered for an account
in SWIM, you will no longer need the token to login into the system. If you require additional
individual SWIM accounts within your organization, please contact the SDRP Team by phone or
by email. Moreover, if you are a participant for other Census Bureau geographic programs such
as the annual Boundary and Annexation Survey, you only need one SWIM account to submit
files for all geographic programs.
At this time, the SWIM only accepts ZIP files. Please zip all your update materials (e.g., spatial
updates and other relevant update documents) into one ZIP file for your entity’s submission, and
follow the instructions listed below:
1. In a web browser, go to https://respond.census.gov/swim

2. Login:
a. New Users: You must have a registration token to create a new account. (Please see
above.) Once you have your token, please sign-up by clicking the ‘Register Account’
button. Registration is self-serve, but does require the new user to enter a SWIM
registration token to validate their rights to the system.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

SWIM Account Registration screen

b. If you already have a registered account, please login with your user credentials.
SWIM Account Login screen

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

3. If you have submitted files before, the SWIM lists them on the startup screen upon login.
Click 'Start New Upload' to continue.
SWIM Welcome screen with upload history

4. On the next screen, select the School District Review Program (SDRP) option as the geographic
partnership program, and click ‘Next’ to continue.
SWIM Geographic partnership program selection screen

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

5. On this screen, you will select a geographic level. This is the geography type of your agency (e.g.,
if you are a county government submitting data, select county. If an incorporated place, then select
place...etc.). Click 'Next' to continue.
SWIM Geographic level selection window

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

6. Use the drop-down selectors to find the name of your geographic entity. These options
dynamically update based on the geography type selected from the previous screen. Click
‘Next’ to continue.
SWIM Geographic entity selection window

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

7. On the file upload screen, please click on the '+ Add file', and a file browser dialog will appear.
SWIM File upload screen

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

8. In the file browser dialog box, select the ZIP file you would like to upload. Please be aware that
the SWIM website only accepts ZIP files. Click 'Open' to continue.
SWIM File Browser dialog box

9. At this time, you may enter any comments that you wish to include with your file. Click 'Next' to
upload your submission.
Entering comments into the SWIM file upload window

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

The last and final screen will be a ‘thank you’ screen confirming receipt of your file submission. If
you do not see this screen, or you encounter any issues during this upload process, please contact the
Census Bureau’s SDRP Team.
SWIM Thank you screen

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

To View Your SDRP Changes
1. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the drive or server where your MTPSData folder
is stored and open SDRP_ssccc_Return.zip where ssccc is a code based on the state and
county FIPS.
2. Extract (unzip) all of the files into a folder, such as c:\Temp.
3. Choose File-Open or click
on the Standard toolbar, choose ESRI Shapefile from the
Files of Type drop-down list, navigate to the folder where you extracted the Shapefiles,
choose a Shapefile, and click Open. The MTPS displays the ESRI Shapefile dialog box,
where the settings are correct.
4. Click OK. The MTPS displays a map with the Shapefile. You can return to Step 3 to
open another Shapefile, or you can add one or more Shapefiles to the map by:
•

Choosing Map-Layers to display the Layers dialog box.

•

Clicking Add Layer to display the Layers dialog box.

•

Choosing ESRI Shapefile from the Files of Type drop-down list.

•

Highlighting one or more Shapefiles.

•

Clicking Open; The MTPS displays the ESRI Shapefile dialog box, where the
settings are correct.

•

Clicking OK for each Shapefile; The MTPS returns to the Layers dialog box.

•

Highlighting each added Shapefile, clicking Style, and choosing a different border
color.

•

Clicking Close; The MTPS displays the map with the added layers.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Appendix A
How to Add Lines in the MTPS
If you have not read the Guide to Reporting School District Updates, please read it for
important information about when it is appropriate to add a line. After reviewing the
Guide to Reporting School District Updates, if you determine that you need to add a
line, this document will provide guidelines on adding a line in the MTPS.

What scale is appropriate to use in order to add a line?
The scale at which you view your map when adding a line is important! However, what
scale to use depends on the geography that you are viewing. Here are some guidelines to
consider:
First, locate the scale information in the bottom left corner of the screen:

It important to know that a smaller number (1:1000) means the map is more
zoomed in and a larger number (1:100,000) means less zoomed in.
A ratio scale like 1:1000 means that 1 unit on the map represents 1000 of the same units
on the earth. So, for example, at a 1:1000 scale, one inch on the map represents 1000
inches (about 81 feet) in reality on the earth.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Urban and Suburban Areas (densely populated)

For urban and suburban areas,
where there are many roads, you
should zoom in to add your line.
Generally, a scale of 1:1,000 to
1:5,000 is best to add lines in an
urban or suburban area like the
one shown here.

Rural Areas (less population and roads)

For rural areas, generally you can zoom
out more to add a line, providing that you
carefully draw it. Generally, a scale of
1:5,000 to 1:20,000 should work well for
adding lines in rural areas.

Further Information about choosing the appropriate line
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

for your boundary
When you compare
your boundaries to
Census Bureau
School District
shapefiles, your
shapefiles and
Census Bureau
shapefiles will
probably not match
perfectly as
demonstrated in the
example to the left.
The purple and grey
school districts
represent the Census
Bureau’s records.
Your shapefile may look like the green boundary line, which does not perfectly
match the boundaries.
Here are four important points to keep in mind:
a. Which file is right? For this program, the “right” representation of a
road (or other feature) is not generally of vital importance because the
spatial accuracy of roads is not updated through the school district
review program. The Census Bureau updates its road network via
programs like the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). You may,
however, add a new road if you will use it as a school district boundary.
b. Your road file may indeed be more spatially accurate, but your school
district and poverty data will be tabulated using Census Bureau features,
including roads. Therefore, it is very important that you use Census
Bureau features for your boundaries.
c. When you designate a road for your boundary, that information is attached
to the road in our geographic database. If the road is spatially inaccurate, it
will likely soon be adjusted in our geographic database. When that
happens, your school district boundary will be moved along with the road
because the road is the boundary of the school district. If you didn’t use
the Census Bureau’s road and digitized your own representation of the
same road, your boundary would not be corrected when the Census
Bureau corrects its road and there would likely be a sliver of land between
your school district boundary and the newly corrected road in our
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

database. This can compromise data quality and possibly your Title I
Estimates.
d. The Census Bureau receives updates to roads and boundaries (such as school districts,
cities, voting districts, Census tracts, American Indian reservations and more) from
thousands of local governments as often as every year! In order to produce quality files
for accurate data tabulation every program must use the same lines as building blocks for
their boundaries. We are constantly updating our database with improvements and
continuing to improve the spatial accuracy of our roads and other features. If you have
questions, please contact the SDRP Team and we will address any concerns you
have.
Below are some examples on how to choose the appropriate line or decide to add a
line for your school district boundary.

Boundary Examples:
I. Roads as Boundaries, II. Other Boundaries and III. PLSS
Example I: Roads as Boundaries

This is an example where the state mapping coordinator has added their own boundary
line shown here in orange. The existing road is blue.
In a scenario like this one, the Census Bureau will use the existing road boundary (in
blue) for the school district boundary and delete the orange line because there are no
housing units between the two boundaries and the distance is less than 30 feet.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Unfortunately, drawing in new lines is time consuming for the mapping coordinator, and
in this case, it is just deleted in the end. Please be aware of these situations so that you do
not’t spend time adding unnecessary lines. The only reason to add a line like this one is if
your school district boundary is not the road AND there’s housing between the road and
your boundary, or there’s at least 40 feet between your boundary and the road.
We will NOT modify roads through the School District Review Program.
Please do not use your time to correct roads. If you find roads that need to be adjusted in
our database, contact your local BAS official and they can submit updates through the
BAS program. There are specific procedures and legal requirements for updating roads
and features and because these are not components of the SDRP program, we cannot
accept any road or feature modifications from you though the SDRP program.
However, you may add a road if:
1. It is not already in our database, and
2. You will use the road for your school district boundary.
Please contact the SDRP Team if you have any questions.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Example II: Matching School District and Other Boundaries
(for example, incorporated place)

In this example, the purple line represents your shapefile of the school district boundary.
Should you add it to use as a boundary? Let’s look at a few different scenarios:
1. Scenario A: Your files show your school district boundary north of the river and
not the boundary of the river. Should you add a new line? It’s important to look at
the already existing lines in this scenario. The MTPS has additional layers for
reference including incorporated places, townships, towns, villages, boroughs,
and county divisions. The red line here is an incorporated place boundary. If your
school district boundary is supposed to be coincident with the incorporated place
boundary, even just for a section of the boundary, you should put the school
district boundary on the same line as the incorporated place boundary.
2. Scenario B: The boundary of the school district is the river and your file shows
the river as 15 feet away from where the Census Bureau’s files show the river.
Remember, in the decision flow chart (in the Quick Start Guide) the first question
is “do your records show the school district boundary on a road or feature or
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS
52

another boundary?” Since your school district boundary is on a river, you need to
find the same river in the MTPS and use that as the boundary. It does not matter
that your files show the same river 15 feet away from where the MTPS shows the
river. Since population counts will be tabulated based on our database, your
estimates will be accurate even if the location of our river is spatially inaccurate.
3. Scenario C: The boundary of the school district is not the river but is about 30
feet north of the river. Refer to the decision flow chart, question one: Do your
records show the school district boundary on a road or feature? Using the decision
flow chart, the answer to the first question is “no” (because your boundary is not
on the river but north of the river) so move onto the second question: Are there
housing units between the river and your boundary? If your records do not show
the location of housing, you may be able to use imagery in the MTPS or through
internet mapping websites such as Google maps. If the imagery does show
housing between the two boundaries, you would add your non-visible boundary
and use that as the boundary. If the imagery does not show housing or you can’t
determine if there’s housing from the imagery, move on to the third question: Is
the different significant? Since your non-visible boundary is 30 feet north of a
feature, in this case a river, you would answer “no” and accordingly use the
nearest Census Bureau road or feature, in this case the river, as your boundary.

Example III: Using PLSS (Public Land Survey System) Township and Section Lines
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

In some parts of the country, especially in the Mid-West and West, land was surveyed
and divided into sections under the Public Land Survey System or PLSS. PLSS lines
often match visible features such as roads. Look at the screenshot below. The pink PLSS
reference shapefile closely follows much of the road network.

Unfortunately, at this time, the Census Bureau does not have PLSS layers in our
database. We are working to incorporate these into our database and products. When your
school district boundaries follow a PLSS line, it is important to view your PLSS shapefile
lines relative to the other Census Bureau geography. This means that you will use your
PLSS lines as a guide but consider existing Census Bureau lines when choosing your
school district boundaries.
For example, in the screenshot below, the pink line is a PLSS shapefile layer imported
into the MTPS. If your school district boundary follows this PLSS line, you will need to
add a new line for the portion of this line that runs north-south because there is not any
road or other features in the Census Bureau database near the PLSS line. The portion of
the line that runs east-west is parallel with the road (W Harlan Road) shown here. In most
cases, roads like this are on the PLSS line. Therefore, although your files show the PLSS
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

line as the school district boundary (rather than the road) you would still use the road as
your school district boundary because the road likely follows the PLSS line in reality.

The final boundary would look like this: (notice the east-west part of the boundary uses
the road rather than adding a line to follow the pink PLSS shapefile.) Please don’t
hesitate to call us if you have any questions.

Here is another example of adding lines using a PLSS layer:
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Suppose you needed to use the pink PLSS line as your school district boundary. The
nearby parallel road is very likely the PLSS boundary. Rather than adding a new line
following your PLSS shapefile, you should use the existing road and add a line where the
road has a gap.
In situations like these, use the road as reference to add the PLSS line rather than
the PLSS shapefile itself, as long as the road and the PLSS line are not more than 45 feet
away from each other. The green line (shown below) will be used for the boundary along
with the roads on either side. Although the boundary will be slightly spatially off from
your PLSS shapefile, using the road (which very likely follows the real PLSS line) will
ensure correct boundaries and data. Remember, all data will be tabulated using the
Census Bureau’s geographic database and therefore adding a new line to represent a line
that already exists in the database will make the boundary “off” in the Census Bureau
database and could affect your estimates. Again, please contact the SDRP Team and we
will answer any questions you may have.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Above, a line is added to connect the existing roads. Rather than adding the PLSS line
along the PLSS shapefile, use the roads that match the PLSS lines and add the new line
according to the roads.
The final
new
boundary
will look
like this.
Notice, the
school
district
boundary is
on the road
rather than
the pink
PLSS
shapefile
line.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Here is the MTPS showing imagery for the same area. Imagery can help you make
boundary decisions because it will give you an idea about land use, housing and distance.
Use imagery when possible to help you make your boundary decisions.
Refer to the Section titled To Use Images in a Map for more information on adding
imagery to your MTPS project.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Adding a New Line in the MTPS
The User Guide for the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software describes the basics of
adding a new line in the MTPS. Below are some tips to help make the process more
efficient.
To open the line editing toolbox, click the School District Menu, and select “Line Editing
Toolbox” as shown below.

Once the toolbox appears on your screen, use the green “plus” icon to add a line.

In order to add a line, you must “stop” at every feature that the new line will
intersect. This will insure that you properly create a node (a connection point between
two lines) at every “intersection” your new line will cross.

Example: Adding a line and how to “stop” at every intersection
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

For example, you may need to add a line like the one shown below in orange. Notice that
the line intersects two roads. Therefore, you will have to add the line in three segments.

Segment 3

Segment 2

Segment 1

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

To add this line, draw the first
segment, stopping at the first
line your segment intersects as
shown here.
Make sure that the line your
segment intersects highlights
with vertices (squares) and
nodes (circles) to ensure that
you properly connected the line
you are drawing to the
intersecting line. Once you have
done this, click the “green light”
to create the line.

After your first line has been
saved (by clicking the “green
light” button.) it will turn green.

Now you can add and save the
next segment. Carefully draw
the next segment of your new
line. Again, make sure to stop at
the next intersecting line. Also
check that the intersecting line
“highlights” with vertices and
nodes.

Finally, add the final line
segment. (Not shown here.)

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Now that all the line segments
have been added, you can
complete your boundary
change, using your new line
as the boundary.
If you cannot use your new
line as a boundary, you may
have incorrectly added your
line segment. Please contact
the SDRP Team if you have
any questions.

The “stopping” at intersections principle applies if you add a line that crosses other
features as well, not just roads. You will need to stop and click at the intersection with
any feature to create a node and label the line. In this example, the user has stopped at a
face boundary (purple line at the edge of the river) to create a segment of a line. (See
screenshot below)

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Then add another segment of
the line stopping at the next
face boundary (purple line in
the center of the river.)

Note, the MTPS has a predefined snapping tolerance of 50 feet, so if you find that your
new line is not snapping exactly where you would like, it’s because there are existing
nodes on our lines within 50 feet of the line that you are adding. For example, if you
intend to add a line following the orange dashed line, and the end of your line “veers off
course” (as shown here by the blue arrow) you may need to zoom in closer or adjust the
snapping tolerance.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

To change the snapping tolerance, click ‘Edit’ from the top menu bar, and select
‘Preferences’.

Ensure that the open tab is set on
‘System’ and locate the section labeled
‘Snap Tolerance’.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Set the snapping tolerance to your desired unit of measurement and click ‘OK’.

Note, if you have inadvertently added a new line that you wish to delete, please do
not use the ‘Delete Line’ tool in the Line Editing Toolbox! In fact, you will never use
this tool as part of the School District Review Program. The ‘Delete Line’ tool is used by
other Census Bureau program participants to flag lines for deletion (e.g., a road that no
longer exists). The tool does not actually physically remove lines from the line coverage;
it only flags them. If you wish to remove a line
that you would like to redo or just undo, please
use the ‘Undo Geographic Editing’ tool located
within ‘Edit’ on the menu bar to remove your
last line edit.

Lines with “spikes”
You may encounter lines that are distorted due to various issues that the Census Bureau
encountered when we uploaded spatially enhanced features using a new upload process.
The Census Bureau is in the process of repairing these lines in the Census Bureau
geographic database. Please do not attempt to straighten or fix the line in the MTPS
software. If you need to use a road with a “spike” for a boundary, use the road as shown
in the MTPS and the Census Bureau will repair the road in their geographic database,
keeping the school district boundary on that road. Please do not attempt to repair a
road or feature in the MTPS. See the example of using a road with a “spike” as a
school district boundary on the next page.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

In this example, the road pictured below is actually straight in reality but appears to have
a “spike” in the MTPS. If this road is a boundary for a school district, please follow the
directions below to use the road as a boundary.

Add the area necessary to use “New Road” as the boundary for the school district and
complete the boundary change. The boundary may look odd, but it shows “New Road” as
the boundary for the school district. The Census Bureau determines its population counts
using the real road as the boundary, and the Census Bureau will correct the road and the
school district boundary that follows it, in their geographic database.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Do not attempt to straighten the road as displayed below. This may cause an error in
the MTPS, which will require you to send your file to the Census Bureau for repair
before you can continue your work.

Below, the user has incorrectly added a line segment to correct a distorted line. Do not
attempt to do this.
School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

If the MTPS shows the following error message, please stop working immediately.
This error will not resolve itself and continuing your work after receiving an error
message often will make the problem worse. Please contact the Census Bureau SDRP
Team as soon as you receive an error message, or if you have any questions.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Appendix B
In your state, you may need to Define Small Land Parcels or Define Shorelines. Please
read the section(s) you think it might apply to your state.
Defining Small Land Parcels
Sometimes it is necessary to put an individual house in a different school district than the
school district by which it is surrounded. It is important to do this correctly, or the Census
Bureau may code your house to the wrong school district. Please read the following and
call us if you have questions.
Three important principles to remember:
1. The parcel should include the entire driveway.
2. You must attach the parcel to the road on which the house has its address. The
Census Bureau “attaches” a housing unit to an address on a road. In order to
ensure that the data from a household is associated with the correct school district
(or any particular geographic area), the road where the address is located must be
part of the parcel.
3. This boundary is only for statistical purposes and does not indicate property or
ownership. Therefore, it is fine to draw the boundary outside of the property
boundaries shown on your records, as long as there is no nearby housing.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Below is an example of the incorrect way to place a house in a different school district.
Your records may only show a small parcel, but you will need to evaluate the parcel and
decide if you need to adjust it and possibly expand it.

This screenshot below shows an example of how to define a school district for a single
house more accurately. The boundary consists of extra distance around the house and
portion of the street near the driveway. Remember, especially in an area with sparse
housing, it is better to expand the parcel than accurately represent property. As long as
expanding the parcel will not come close to another house or driveway, you should make
the parcel large enough to cover the house, driveway, and portion of the street where the
driveway connects to the street.
We cannot guarantee we have completely spatially accurate locations for all housing
units. Buffering the parcel, where possible, helps to ensure the housing unit won’t be
inadvertently coded to the wrong school district.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Shorelines with School District Not Defined in Water
The Census Bureau’s geographic database covers the entire United States including the
ocean coastline, the Great Lakes, and large unpopulated areas. Some states have areas of
their state (large water bodies such as the Great Lakes or large National Parks) in which
they do not have a school district and use “School District Not Defined” to cover the
area. The following provides some guidelines on determining boundaries for “School
District Not Defined” for water.
If your school district follows the shoreline, we strongly advise you to define school
districts into the water, buffering the shoreline. This will ensure the best boundaries for
your Title I estimates. The shoreline can be a difficult boundary to define because it is
often represented differently between different sources and because the Census Bureau is
often reshaping the shoreline to be more accurate. This can result in population counted
in “School District Not Defined” when you use the shoreline as the boundary. We
strongly encourage you to add a buffer of water to your costal school districts to ensure
that the school district receives a complete count and therefore correct Title I funding.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Your records may show the shoreline as the school district boundary, but you do not need
to follow the boundary exactly in this case because Census Bureau boundaries are only
for data collection purposes. It is best to evaluate your boundary to determine if the
shoreline is the best boundary between the school district and the area of “School District
Not Defined”.
Look at the imagery below. The orange line represents both the shoreline and school
district boundary in the Census Bureau database, and the blue dashed lines represent the
“School District Not Defined” area. The orange shoreline boundary poorly represents the
school district boundary. It consists of housing in “School District Not Defined” and
water and if you leave the boundaries unmodified, it could alter your Title I estimates.
This example shows a shoreline that is a difficult boundary to follow. The Census Bureau
would like you to “buffer” an area of water around the school district boundary.

For example, here is a school district following the shoreline, and it has “School District
Not Defined” for the water.
There are many lines already in the Census Bureau database that parallel the shoreline for
the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. You can use these
lines for your school district boundary, and it is a simple operation using the
MAF/TIGER Partnership Software to move the shoreline boundary further out into the
water.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

We recommend that you move the boundary off the shoreline, as shown here, and out
into the water. This ensures that all areas of land are well within an actual school district
rather than having “School District Not Defined” so close to the land and housing.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

However, we strongly recommend adding a buffer if you do choose to use the shoreline
for your school district boundary. Moreover, please do not include inlets, deltas, or
canals like the one shown below.

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

Here is the recommended way (if you do choose to use the shoreline as your
boundary rather than adding a “buffer”):

School District Review Program: User Guide for the MTPS

File Type	application/pdf
File Title	MTPS Module II – Web Viewer – Design Document
Author	Giovanni Flammia
File Modified	2015-09-03
File Created	2015-09-03