3580.1 - Records Retention and Destruction - Procedure

A Custodian of Records for each division/department will be assigned responsibility for the records management, retention, and destruction within that specific area. The Director of Business Support Services shall serve asthe Organizational Custodian of Records andwill be responsible for records during interdivisional audits. A Custodian of Records (Exhibit A) will be designated by a division/department head and approved by the Assistant Superintendent, Business Services for the following:

Administrative Services
Business Services
Education Support Services
Desert Mountain SELPA
East Valley SELPA
Human Resources
Information Technology
Student Services
Superintendent’s Office
West End SELPA

Each division/department will maintain, store, and destroy its recordsconsistent with state statutes and SBCSS Policies and Procedures. No records will be destroyed without prior notification being given to the Custodian of Records of the division/department and without approval from the OrganizationalCustodian of Records.

The Custodians of Records shall meet periodically, but no less than once a year, to review the process related to policies, procedures, and guidelines pertaining to records management, retention, and destruction. Items to be reviewed shall include, but not be limited to, organizational policies and procedures related to records, current technology and storage methodology, the effectiveness of the current process, and proposed changes to divisional guidelines. The AssistantSuperintendent, BusinessServicesshall be responsible for scheduling and chairing these meetings.

Records shall mean all records, maps, books, papers, and documents of the County Superintendent’s office that it is required by law to prepare or retain or which it prepares or retains as necessary or convenient to the official duties of the office, except that:

1. The record, map, book, paper, or document shall have been prepared, preserved, or maintained by the County Superintendent with respect to a matter of state concern, including but not limited to: (a) County School Service Fund; (b) activity financed by the County School Service Fund; (c) one exact copy of an original when the original is required by law to be filed with another agency; and (d) all other records prepared, preserved, or maintained pursuant to a state statute, except as specified below.
2. Records do not include those items for which destruction is governed by the Government Code such as records relating to county matters, such as expenses and travel costs financed for the county general fund, matters imposed by county ordinances, and records of a County Board of Education and of a County Committee on School District Organization.

Any record other than an original record required to be filed with the County Superintendent of Schools by a school district shall be classified as Class 3 (Disposable) or as Class 2 (Optional). Copies of district invoices, warrants, ledger sheets, attendance reports, and correspondence are examples of records that may be classified.

Prior to archiving records, each departmentshall review documents and classify them as Class 1 (Permanent), Class 2 (Optional), and Class 3 (Disposable).

Staff should complete a “Warehouse Storage Request Form” (Exhibit B) listing the boxes to be sent to the Warehouse. Department staff must order record storage boxes through the on-line Stores system. Box labels (Exhibit C) can be found on the SBCSS e-Net webpage (enet.sbcss.k12.ca.us). The “Warehouse Storage Request Form” should be attached to a work order submitted to the Warehouse for pick-up of the boxes. Warehouse staff will reply to the department with a warehouse box number that is to be written on each box in the “BOX #” space before the box is picked-up. (Warehouse staff will be responsible for assigning a box number).Warehousedelivery staff will pick upall box orders from the requestor’s site. Warehousestaff will assign a warehouse location to each box received and this information will be maintained in a warehouse database for access control purposes (retrieval, destruction, or return to storage).

Boxes without destruction or review dates or without a “Permanent” designation will not be accepted at the Warehouse. (See Procedure 3580.2 for storage of items other than records).

Department staffs are required to maintain an inventory of box contents and the warehouse issued box number. The inventory of box contents must be submitted to the Divisional Custodian of Records for any boxes that are to be destroyed.

Fireproof Storage: Certain documents should be maintained in a fireproofsafe with restricted access. Examples of the type of documents to be maintained in this manner are deeds to real estate owned by the County Board of Education and documents validating ownership (pink slips) to vehicles purchased by SBCSS.

Records of continuing nature (active and useful for administrative, legal, fiscal, or other purposes over a period of years) shall be classified as Class 1 (Permanent)until such usefulness has ceased. A student’s cumulative record is a continuing record until the student ceases to be enrolled in the program. (See Policy 5125 Student Records).

The original of each of the following records, or one exact copy of it when the original is required by law to be filed with another agency, is a Class 1 (Permanent) Record and shall be retained indefinitely unless microfilmed in accordance with California Administrative Code, Title 5, Section 16022(c).

1. Annual Reports, including: (1) official budget; (2) financial reports of all funds; (3) audit of all funds; (4) average daily attendance, including Period 1 and Period 2 reports; and (5) other major annual reports, including: (a) those containing information relating to property, activities, financial condition, or transactions and (b) those declared by Board minutes to be permanent.
2. Official Actions, including: (1) minutes of Board or Board committees, including the text of rules, regulations, policies, or resolutions included by reference only; and (2)records transmitted by another agency pertaining to its action with respect to school district reorganization.
3. Personnel Records, including:(1) Employees, (a) all detail records relating to employment, assignment, amounts and dates of service rendered, termination or dismissal of an employee in any position, sick leave record, rate of compensation, salaries or wages paid, deductions or withholdings made and the person or agency to whom such amounts were paid. In lieu of the detailed records, a complete proven summary payroll record for each employee containing the same data may be classified as Class 1 (Permanent), and the detail records may then be classified as Class 3 (Disposable); (b)information of a derogatory nature as defined in Education Code 44031 shall be Class 1 (Permanent) only when the time for filing a grievance has passed or the document has been sustained by the grievance process; (2)Students, (a)the records of enrollment and scholarship for each student required by the Code of Regulations, Title 5, 432; and (b) all records pertaining to any accident or injury involving a minor for which a claim for damages had been filed as required by law. This includes any related policy of liability insurance except that these records cease to be Class 1 (Permanent), one year after the claim has been settled or the statute of limitations has run out.
4. Property Records, including: (1) all detail records relating to land, buildings, and equipment. In lieu of detail records, a complete property ledger may be classified as Class 1 (Permanent), andthedetailrecordsmay then be classified as Class 3 (Disposable) if the property ledger includes: (a) all fixed assets; (b) an equipment inventory; and, (c) for each piece of property, the date of acquisition, name of previous owner, a legal description, the amount paid, and comparable data if the unit is disposed of by sale, loss, or otherwise.

Class 2 Optional Records

Any record worthy of temporary preservation, but not classified as Class 1 (Permanent), may be classified as Class 2 (Optional) for one year following the date sent to archivesand shall be reviewedannuallyuntil it is reclassified as Class 3 (Disposable). Boxes and lists should specify that the records are Class 2 and therefore will be destroyed on the identified date, but will be sent to the department for a future destruction date to be assigned.

Class 3 Disposable Records

All records not classified as Class 1 (Permanent) or as Class 2 (Optional) shall be classified as Class 3 (Disposable). These include, but are not limited to, detail records relating to: (1) recordsbasic to audit, including those relating to attendance, average daily attendance, or business or financial transactions (purchase orders, invoices, warrants, ledger sheets, cancelled checks and stubs, student body and cafeteria fund records, etc.), and; detail records used in preparing another report. Teachers’ registers, if all information required by the Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 432 is retained in other records or if the General Records pages are removed from the register and classified as Class 1 (Permanent); and (2)Periodic reports, including daily, weekly and monthly reports, bulletins and instructions.

Retention Period

Class 3 (Disposable) records shall notbe destroyed until after the third July 1 succeeding: the completion of the audit required by Education Code §41020 orany legally required audit; or after the ending date of any retention period required by any agency other than the State of California, whichever date is later.

A continuing record shall not be destroyed until the fourth year after it has been classified as Class 3 (Disposable).

All other Class 3 (Disposable) records shall be destroyed during the third school year after the school year in which they originated.

Records Destruction Procedures

In September of each year, Warehouse staff will forward a “Records Destruction” memo (Exhibit D) listing all boxes with destruction or review dates during the prior fiscal year for all divisions/departments of SBCSS to the Organizational Custodian of Records. The Organizational Custodian of Records will disseminate these Records Destruction memos to each division/department Custodian of Records.

Within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Records Destruction memo, each division/department Custodian of Records shall review the information with department staff, modify destruction dates as appropriate, sign the form, secure the signature of the division/department head, and return the form to the Organizational Custodian of Records. For each box that is to be destroyed an inventory of box contents must be kept on file by the division/department Custodian of Records and a copy forwarded to the Organizational Custodian of Records.

After the initial thirty (30) day period, if the division/department Custodian of Records has not returned the completed Records Destruction memo, the Organizational Custodian of Records will notify the Assistant Superintendent, Business Services and schedule to meet with the division/department Custodian to complete the required process within the next thirty (30) days.

All Class 2 boxes must be given a new Class 2 date 12 months in the future or identified as a Class 3 Disposable Record with a Destruction Date.

All Class 3 Disposable boxes on the Records Destruction memo for the prior fiscal year that have not had the destruction date changed will be destroyed no later than November 30.

Approved: August 24, 1993
Revised: March 5, 2002
Revised: December 3, 2002
Revised: June 3, 2003
Revised: September 22, 2006
Revised: January 8, 2009