Document Retention, Policy No. 252

Printable PDF Board Policy 252

The district will maintain all documents and records in a manner consistent with current legal requirements and administrative best practices. School employees are required to treat confidential information appropriately and to take reasonable precautions to ensure that private information is not unnecessarily disclosed to those who do not need such access. Health records will always be stored separately from other student and employee files.

Paper records will be stored in secure locations based on the sensitivity of the information. Electronic records will be properly secured and will be archived with adequate safeguards implemented to ensure that technological advancements do not cause the records to become inaccessible. The Chief Officer of Business and Operations will regularly evaluate the district’s overall document retention program to determine whether the district’s retention practices are current and will make recommendations regarding the program as needed to the superintendent.

No document will be destroyed if it pertains to a pending claim, even if the document was otherwise scheduled for destruction.

Education Operations

The superintendent is responsible for maintaining adequate records to effectively plan, operate, evaluate, and make required reports on the district’s education program. These records will be maintained as long as the superintendent determines appropriate based on the specific records.

Student Records

All student education records will be maintained in compliance with the district’s policy regarding FERPA, Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, and Oklahoma State Department of Education. In addition to those standards, school personnel will comply with the following document retention standards:

• Student Transcripts

The registrar is responsible for maintaining student transcripts for 80 years from the student’s last day of enrollment in the district. The transcript shall contain the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone listing
• Date of birth
• Inventory of courses taken, with grades
• GPA and/or class rank
• Certifications
• Program completions
• Medical

Various district staff are responsible for maintaining medical records. Immunization verifications for students in health program are kept in the office of the Program Director for Health while students are actively enrolled, then transferred to custody of the Records Management department. Allergy or diabetes plans are kept in the office of the Disability Coordinator. Child abuse reports are kept by the Chief Officer of Instruction. These records will be maintained 5 years from the student’s last date of enrollment.

• Special Education

The Disability Coordinator is responsible for maintaining special education records. All special education records will be retained for 5 years from the student’s last date of special education services. Sixty days prior to destroying any special education record, the district will notify parents and eligible students of their right to retrieve the records rather than having the records destroyed.

Board Records and District Financial Records

The board of education minute clerk is responsible for permanently maintaining all board agendas and minutes, as well as the deeds and titles to all district owned real property.

The board of education minute clerk is also responsible for maintaining records related to the district’s banking transactions and all federal and state program expenditures. The duration of records retained under this section will be determined by the schedule maintained in the board of education minute clerk’s office.

Employee Records

The Director of Human Resources is responsible for retaining employee records. These records include wage and hour information, routine personnel records, and drug/alcohol testing records. The duration of records retained under this section will be determined by the schedule maintained in the Director of Human Resource’s office.

Electronic Records

All district emails will be retained as long as is practical given the district’s technology constraints.