EHB-R - DATA / RECORDS RETENTION PROCEDURE

EHB-R - DATA / RECORDS RETENTION PROCEDURE

The following schedule shall apply to all records obtained, created or maintained by the District, irrespective of the specific medium of the record, i.e., paper, electronic, digital, cloud, etc..

A.  Special Education Records. 

1.  Upon a student's graduation from high school, his or her parent(s)/guardian(s) may request in writing that the District destroy the student's special education records, including any final individualized education program.

2.  The parent(s)/guardian(s) may, at any time prior to the student's twenty-sixth birthday, request, in writing, that the records be retained until the student's thirtieth birthday.

3.  Absent any request by a student's parents to destroy the records prior to the twenty-sixth birthday, or to retain such records until the student's thirtieth birthday, the District shall destroy a student's records and final individualized education program within a reasonable time after the student's twenty-sixth birthday, provided that all such records be destroyed by the student's thirtieth birthday

4.  A permanent record of a student's name, address, and phone number, his or her grades, attendance record, classes attended, grade level completed, and year completed may be maintained without time limitation. 34 CFR 300.624. 

5.  The District shall provide parents/guardians, or where applicable, the adult student, with a written notice of the District's document destruction policies upon the student's graduation with a regular high school diploma or at the transfer of rights, whichever occurs first. 

6.  The District shall provide public notice of its document destruction policy at least annually.

B.  Litigation Hold.

On receipt of notice from legal counsel representing the District that a litigation hold is required, the routine destruction of governmental records, including paper and electronic records, which are or may be subject to the litigation hold shall cease.  The destruction of records subject to a litigation hold shall not resume until the district has received a written directive from the attorney representing the district authorizing resumption of the routine destruction of those records.

C.  Right-to-Know Request - Hold.

On receipt of a Right-to-Know law request to inspect or copy governmental records, the Superintendent shall cease any destruction of governmental records which are or may be the subject of the request.  The records shall be retained regardless of whether they are subject to disclosure under RSA Chapter 91-A, the Right-to-Know law.  If a request for inspection is denied on the grounds that the information is exempt, the requested material shall be preserved for no less than 90 days and until any lawsuit pursuant to RSA 91-A:7-8 has been finally resolved, all appeal periods have expired, and a written directive from the attorney representing the District authorizing destruction of the records has been received. 

D.  Electronic Records.

For legal purposes, electronic records and communications are no different than paper documents.  The state law on preservation of electronic records, RSA 33-A:5-a Electronic Records, does not explicitly apply to school districts, but does provide guidance: "Electronic records as defined in RSA 5:29, VI and designated on the disposition schedule under RSA 33-A:3-a to be retained for more than 10 years shall be transferred to paper or microfilm, or stored in portable document format/archival (PDF/A) on a medium from which it is readily retrievable. Electronic records designated on the disposition schedule to be retained for less than 10 years may be retained solely electronically if so approved by [Superintendent as the party] responsible for the records. The [Superintendent] is responsible for assuring the accessibility of the records for the mandated period."  [Italics represent modified language to reflect Superintendent's responsibility for record retention and access.]

E.  Retention Period Schedule.

The following schedule shall apply to all records obtained, created or maintained by the District, irrespective of the specific medium of the record, i.e., paper, electronic, digital, cloud, etc.. [The superintendent should include language to this administrative procedure identifying one or more persons responsible for either assuring retention/destruction in accordance with the schedule, as well as any specific means of retention/destruction] 

Note regarding records relating to federal funds (items marked below with "*"):  Before any records related to federal funds are destroyed, however, the requirements of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) 20 U.S.C. 1232f shall be observed.  Namely, that statute requires that district "shall keep records which fully disclose the amount and disposition by the recipient of [federal] funds, the total cost of the activity for which the funds are used, the share of that cost provided from other sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective financial or programmatic audit . . . . for three years after the completion of the activity for which the funds are used." Therefore, to the extent that the below schedule, or other authorities, suggest that a purchase order, with accompanying documentation, may need to be retained only until the records are audited, plus 1 year, if the purchase is in part or in whole with federal funds the record must be retained for three years after the completion of the activity for which the funds are used, a much longer period of time. 

Revised 11/1/2020