Volume 9 Issue 1 - January 2026
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State Software in 2025: Growth, Enhancements, and What’s Next
Wow—time really does fly. It’s hard to believe we’re in January 2026! As we look back on 2025, it’s clear that it was a banner year for the SSDT, marked by growth, collaboration, and continued progress across our software suite.
One of the biggest milestones of 2025 was the addition of a new application to the SSDT portfolio with the implementation of the Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) in July. Following the initial release, ITCs were provided a six month window to assist active legacy IPDP districts with converting to the new application. We are now tying up the final loose ends to bring the IPDP conversion process to a close. Districts should no longer be processing in legacy IPDP. If your district is still using legacy IPDP, please contact your ITC as soon as possible to get scheduled for conversion—time is running out!
We truly appreciate the tremendous amount of work that went into this conversion effort. Importing several years’ worth of plans, activities, and attachments was no small task and certainly presented challenges along the way. We would like to sincerely thank the ITCs for their dedication and persistence in completing this monumental effort, as well as the districts for their patience and cooperation throughout the process.
As with any new application, the rollout of IPDP generated valuable feedback from the user community. Your engagement helped our development team better understand where improvements and enhancements were needed to strengthen both functionality and user experience. Throughout the conversion period, our developers responded quickly with bug fixes and enhancements, while our support team worked diligently to document and support the new application. User documentation continues to expand and will include the addition of FAQs and other helpful resources in 2026. For districts that did not convert from legacy IPDP (and are currently using USPS), if you are interested in starting IPDP this year, please contact your ITC for assistance. SSDT has documented ‘New IPDP District Setup’ guidelines for information on the required steps for new districts.
In addition to implementing IPDP, SSDT continued to enhance our existing applications throughout 2025 by prioritizing feedback from our user community, including input from the State Software Steering Committee and the Prioritization Working Group. Numerous user-requested features and enhancements were delivered to improve usability, efficiency, and overall user experience. Highlighted below is a brief snapshot of some of the most impactful updates completed in 2025.
USPS
Several enhancements made in USPS to support W2 Digital Delivery in ESS
Group Manager Roles able to view or run a report on Users
Job Calendar>Type values can be edited
GASB101 Report was added
Added the ability to run the Employer Distribution Report after a payroll is initialized and posted to help determine account issues sooner
Implemented pay slip/direct deposit updates to comply with HB106 Pay Stub Protection Act (PSPA)
Added several new load options in Mass Load
Updated HSA Submission option to allow a pay date to be entered
Improvements made to the text area of the W2 forms
Added a new Blended Overtime Pay Type
Several updates were made for reporting qualified overtime - per IRS guidelines (refer to this month’s Resource Buzz for more information)
Ohio State Tax Tables updates per Ohio Department of Taxation’s October 1st changes
Updated Social Security wage base and federal tax tables for CY2026
USAS
Implemented a lock field on accounts when an Account Change is in process
Account Change performance and job improvements
Several mass importing capabilities added for software conversion purposes
Ability to delete a workflow from the Workflow Admin grid
Added both a running fund balance and remaining encumbrances on the canned Financial Detail report
Implemented various account code dimensions per Auditor of State’s USAS manual updates
Ability to mass enable/disable report bundles on report bundles grid
Implemented five year forecast changes in USAS as directed by Ohio’s HB 96
Inventory
Acquisition/Original Cost Mismatch Report created
Various enhancements made to the Location Worksheet report
Implemented the SOC1 Audit Bundle
ESS
Added the W2 Digital Delivery Acknowledgement view and configuration to allow users to opt in or out of W2 Digital Delivery
Leave Calendar filter settings are now retained
Added ‘extract to CSV’ option to several grids
Optional Registration Configuration added to automatically set external authentication for self registered users
Added a new PDF report for the Approval Audit Trail on Leave Requests and Timesheet grids
Added email notifications for password expirations
Several in-app notifications were added
Added options for users to view their USPS Job calendar
Added an Audit Report
Allow users to see their own Data Change requests
W2C tab added to the View/Print W2 grid
All Applications
Implemented OpenID Connect Integration
Application login page updated to include the SSDT/MCOECN logos and increase the length of the username and password fields
Implemented a user hard lockout
Implemented “immediate' option for sending District and SOC1 Audit jobs in USAS and USPS (only)
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we move into 2026, SSDT’s primary focus will be on core framework modernization efforts within the USAS and USPS applications. These behind-the-scenes upgrades are critical to maintaining the long-term health, stability, and performance of our core systems. Because this work requires significant development effort, the number of requested enhancements will be more limited than in previous years. This investment ensures USAS and USPS remain reliable and sustainable well into the future.
We are excited to announce the upcoming implementation of the Document Management and Archival System (aka Document Store) scheduled for this winter. Document Store is a centralized solution designed to securely store, manage and retrieve district documents (i.e. File Archive PDF files) within the State Software environment. For districts currently using our IPDP application, Document Store was a required component to support the storage of imported or attached documentation (such as CEUs, etc.). The winter release will extend Document Store functionality to the remaining applications - USAS, USPS and Inventory. A future newsletter article will provide a deeper dive into Document Store, including details on the migration of existing File Archive reports and an overview of the new in-application Document Store options.
In additional to these enhancements, SSDT will be expanding its application suite in 2026 with the introduction of two new systems:
SubHub Ohio - A substitute-calling platform that will integrate directly with ESS, scheduled for release in late spring/early summer.
SchoolComms - A new communications platform designed to support student-focused communication needs, planned for release this fall.
Together, these initiatives reflect SSDT’s continued commitment to evolving alongside our users and delivering modern, dependable software solutions that support districts statewide. We look forward to another productive and collaborative year ahead!
Useful links:
Would you like to know more about what the Proration Utility in USAS is and what it’s used for? Check out a recent recording SSDT support covered with ITC staff on examples of usage, options in the menu and a demo showcasing usage examples such as prorating workers compensation premiums or insurance costs.
2026 Ohio Tax Update
Standard Withholding Rate:
Regarding Ohio’s standard state withholding, Ohio Department of Taxation’s October 2025 tables are the most current regarding the Ohio employer withholding rates and will remain in effect until updates are posted to the employer withholding tables (provided in the link below).
If you have questions about the current tax withholdings, please reach out to your legal or tax advisors for further assistance.
Supplemental Compensation Rate:
The State of Ohio has reduced the withholding rate on supplemental compensation, such as bonuses, to 2.75%. The software has been updated to reflect this change.
For reporting purposes, Total Gross minus Total Annuities from the pay report is used in the calculation.
For example, if “Apply Annuities to Supplemental” is selected, the system will apply applicable annuities to supplemental wages first (provided the employee also has regular wages in the same payroll). Any remaining annuity amounts will then be applied to regular wages. The opposite is true when the option to ‘Apply the Annuities to Regular Wages’ is selected
For additional details on Ohio tax withholdings for 2026, please refer to the following resource:
In our December newsletter, we featured an article on overtime reporting. Beginning January 2026, employers are required to track and report qualified overtime compensation paid to non-exempt employees. To help districts understand how to process overtime starting in CY2026 within the USPS application, please refer to the wiki document titled Reporting Overtime Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
This document is a living resource and will continue to be updated as questions and feedback are received. A list of commonly asked questions is included to help guide districts through OBBBA-related overtime tracking in USPS.
DUO Certificate Authority Expiration
SSDT is aware of the upcoming DUO Certificate Authority expiration on February 2, 2026. To ensure continued authentication services without interruption, we are proactively updating our applications to DUO version 1.3.1 ahead of the deadline.