• Title 5 California Code of Regulations (K-12)
• California Education Code (K-12)
• Government Code Section 14756 (of the California Codes)
• Child Nutrition and Food Distribution Division Office of Child Nutrition Services

California Code of Regulations (K-12)

Title 5, Division 1, Chapter 16

Subchapter 2 – Destruction of Records of School Districts

Article 1 General Provisions

Section 16020. Definition of Records

1. As used in this article, “records” means all records, maps, books, papers, and documents of a school district required by law to be prepared or retained or which are prepared or retained as necessary or convenient to the discharge of official duty.

Amended effective 1-13-84

Section 16021. Repealed effective January 13, 1984.

Section 16022. Classification of records

1. Prior Year Records – Before January 1, the district superintendent (or a person designated by the district not employing a superintendent) shall review documents and papers originating during the prior school year and classify them as Class 1 – Permanent, Class 2 – Optional, Class 3 – Disposable
2. Continuing Records – Records of a continuing nature, i.e., active and useful for administrative, legal, fiscal, or other purposes over a period of years, shall not be classified until such usefulness has ceased. A pupil’s cumulative record, if not transferred, is a continuing record until the pupil cease to be enrolled in the district.
3. Microfilm Copy – Whenever an original record is photographed, micro-photographed or otherwise reproduced on film, the copy thus made is hereby classified as Class 1 – Permanent. The original record, unless classified as Class 2 – Optional, may be classified as Class 3 – Disposable and may then be destroyed in accordance with this chapter if the following conditions have been met:
4. The reproduction was accurate in detail and on film of a type approved for permanent, photographic records by the United States Bureau of Standards.
5. The superintendent has attached to or incorporated in the microfilm copy has signed and dated certification of compliance with the provisions of Section 1531 of the Evidence Code.
6. The microfilm copy was placed in a conveniently accessible file, and provision was made for preserving permanently, examining and using the same.
7. Any “historical inventory of equipment” shall be a continuing record as provided in subdivision (b) and shall not be subject to classification for retention or destruction until the inventory is superseded or until the equipment is removed from district ownership

Amended effective 1-13-84

Article 2 Period of Retention

Section 16023. Class – 1 Permanent Record

The original of each of the records listed in this section, or one exact copy thereof 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 Section 16022(c).

1. Annual Reports
   1. Official Budget
   2. Financial report of all funds, including cafeteria and student body funds.
   3. Audit of all funds.
   4. Average daily attendance, including Period 1 and Period 2 reports.
   5. Other major annual reports, including:
      1. Those containing information relating to property, activities, financial condition, or transactions.
      2. Those declared by board minutes to be permanent
2. Official Actions
   1. Minutes of the Board of Committees Thereof, including the text of a rule, regulation, policy, or resolution not set forth verbatim in the minutes but included therein by reference only.
   2. Elections, including the class, if any, for and the result (but not including detail documents, such as ballots) of an election called, conducted or canvassed by the governing board for a board member, his recall, issuance of bonds incurring any long-term liability, change in maximum tax rates, reorganization, or any other purpose.
   3. Records transmitted by another agency that pertain to that agency’s action with respect to district reorganization.
3. Personnel Records
   1. Employees
      1. 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 detail records, a complete proven summary payroll record for every employee of the school district containing the same data may be classified as Class 1 – Permanent, and the detail records may then be classified as Class 3 – Disposable.
      2. Information of a derogatory nature defined in Education Code Section 44031 shall be Class 1 – Permanent only after it becomes final. This information becomes final when:
         1. The time for filing a grievance has lapsed, or
         2. The document has been sustained by the grievance process.
      3. Information of a derogatory nature as defined in Education Code Section 44031 shall be Class 3 – Disposable if prior to the effective date of this section the document was subject of grievance process and was not sustained.
   2. Pupils
      1. The records of enrollment and scholarship for each pupil required by Section 432.
      2. All records pertaining to any accident or injury involving a minor for which a claim for damages has been filed as required by law, including any policy of liability insurance relating thereto, except that these records cease to be Class 1 – Permanent records one year after the claim has been settled or the statute of limitations has run.
4. Property Records

   All detail records relating to land, buildings, and equipment. In lieu of such detail records, a complete property ledger may be classified as Class 1 – Permanent, and the detail records may then be classified as Class 3 – Disposable, if the property ledger includes:

   1. All fixed assets.
   2. An equipment inventory.
   3. For each unit of property, the date of acquisition or augmentation, the person from who acquired, an adequate description or identification, and the amount paid, and comparable data if the unit is disposed of by sale, loss, or otherwise.

Amended effective 1-13-84

Section 16024. Class 2 – Optional Records

Any record worthy of temporary preservation but not classified as Class 1 – Permanent may be classified as Class 2 – Optional and shall then be retained until reclassified as Class 3 – Disposable. If the superintendent and governing board agree that classification should not be made by the time Specified in Section 16022, all records of the prior year may be classified as Class 2 – Optional Pending further review and classification within one year.

Amended effective 1-13-84

Section 16025. Class 3 – Disposable Records

All records not classified as Class 1 – Permanent or Class 2 – Optional shall be classified as Class 3 – Disposable, including but not limited to detail records relating to:

1. Records Basic to Audit, including those relating to attendance, average daily attendance, or a business or financial transaction (purchase orders, invoices, warrants, ledger sheets, cancelled checks and stubs, student body and cafeteria fund records, etc.), and detail records used in the preparation of any other report. Teachers’ registers may be classified as Class 3 – Disposable only if all information required in Section 432 is retained in other records or if the General Record pages are removed from the register and are classified as Class 1 – Permanent.
2. (b) Periodic Reports, including daily, weekly, and monthly reports, bulletins and instructions.

Section 16026. Retention Period

A Class 3 – Disposable record shall not be destroyed until after the third July 1 succeeding the completion of the audit required by Education Code Section 41020 or of any other 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.

Section 16027. Destruction of Records

Unless otherwise specified in this chapter, all Class 3 – Disposable records shall be destroyed during the third school year after the school year in which they originated (e.g., 1976-77 records may be Destroyed after July 1, 1980).

Amended effective 1-13-84

Section 16028. Repealed effective January 13, 1984.

Article 3 repealed effective December 9, 1979.

California Education Code (K-12)

Chapter 2 Governing Boards

Article 8 Records and Reports

Duty to Keep Certain Records and Reports

35250. The Governing Board of every school district shall:

1. Certify or attest to actions taken by the governing board whenever such certification or attestation is required for any purpose.
2. Keep an accurate account of the receipts and expenditures of school moneys.
3. Make an annual report, on or before the first day of July, to the county superintendent of schools in the manner and form and on the blanks prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
4. Make or maintain such other records or reports as are required by law.

Certification as to Contents of Destroyed Records

35251. Whenever in any school year the school register of any teachers, or other records of any school district are destroyed by conflagration or public calamity, preventing the teacher and school officers from making their annual reports in the usual manner and with accuracy, affidavits of the teachers, the school principals, or other officers of the school district, certifying as to the contents of the destroyed register or other records, shall be accepted by all school authorities for all school purposes appertaining to the school district, except that of average daily attendance.

Average Daily Attendance Records Where Area Hit by Calamity

35252. Whenever the average daily attendance of any school district has been materially affected in any school year by conflagration, public calamity, or epidemic of unusual duration and prevalence, the regular annual reports of the teacher, the school principal, or officers of the school district shall be accepted by all school officers for all school matters appertaining to the school district, except that of average daily attendance.

Regulations to Destroy Records

35253. Whenever the destruction of records of a district is not otherwise authorized or provided for by law, the governing board of the district may destroy such records of the district in accordance with regulations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction which he is herewith authorized to adopt.

Microfilming or Photographic Copies of Records.

35254. The governing board of any school district may make microfilm or photographic copies of any records of the district. The original of any records of which a photographic or microfilm copy has been made may be destroyed when provision is made for permanently maintaining such photographic or microfilm copies in the files of the district, except that no original record that is basic to any required audit shall be destroyed prior to the second July 1st succeeding the completion of the audit.

Records of Joint School District

35255. In any joint school district, all returns, reports, certificates, estimates, petitions, and other papers of any kind relating to schools and school districts, required by law to be filed with or presented to the board of supervisors or county superintendent of schools, shall be filed with or presented to the supervisors or superintendent of schools of each county in which any portion of the district is situated.

Chapter 3 Reorganization of School Districts - General Provisions

Article 7 Disposition of Records, Funds, Property, and Obligations When Reorganized

Disposal of Records

35562. If all the territory of any school district becomes part of two or more districts of any type, and the inclusion in the two or more new school districts of the several portions of territory comprising the whole of the original district is effective for all purposes on the same date, the records of the original district shall be disposed of as follows:

1. All records of the original district which are required by law to be kept on file shall be deposited with the governing board of the district which, after the reorganization has become effective for all purposes, has located within its boundaries the former office of the superintendent of the original district.
2. Records of employees shall be transferred to the district thereafter employing the personnel or thereafter maintaining the last place of employment.
3. Records of pupils shall be transferred to the district which, after the date on which the reorganization becomes effective for all purposes, maintains the school in which a pupil was last enrolled.

Chapter 6.5 Pupil Records

Article 2 Definitions

Definitions

49061. As used in this chapter:

1. "Parent" means...
2. "Pupil record" means any item of information directly related to an identifiable pupil, other than directory information, which is maintained by a school district or required to be maintained by an employee in the performance of his duties whether recorded by handwriting, print, tapes, film, microfilm or other means "Pupil record" shall not include informal notes related to a pupil compiled by a school officer or employee which remain in the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any other person except a substitute. For purposes of this subdivision, "substitute" means a person who performs the duties of the individual who made the notes on a temporary basis, and does not refer to a person who permanently succeeds the maker of the notes in his or her position.

Article 3 General Provisions

Records Establishment, Maintenance and Destruction

49062. School districts shall establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. Pupil records shall include a pupil's health record. Such regulations shall establish state policy as to what items of information shall be placed into pupil records and what information is appropriate to be compiled by individual school officers or employees under the exception to pupil records provided in subdivision (b) of Section 49061. No pupil records shall be destroyed except pursuant to such regulations or as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 49070.

Transfer of Permanent Enrollment and Scholarship Record

49068. Whenever a pupil transfers from one school district to another or to a private school, or transfers from a private school to a school district within the state, the pupil's permanent record or a copy thereof shall be transferred by the former district or private school upon a request from the district or private school where the pupil intends to enroll. Any school district requesting such a transfer of a record shall notify the parent of his right to receive a copy of the record and a right to a hearing to challenge the content of the record. The State Board of Education is hereby authorized to adopt rules and regulations concerning the transfer of records.

Article 4 Rights of Parents

Challenging Content of Records

49070. Following an inspection and review of a pupil's records, the parent of a pupil or former pupil of a school district may challenge the content of any pupil record.

1. The parent of a pupil may file a written request with the superintendent of the district to correct or remove any information recorded in the written records concerning his child which he alleges to be: (1) inaccurate, (2) an unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference, (3) a conclusion or inference outside of the observer's area of competence, or (4) not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted.
2. Within 30 days of receipt of such request, the superintendent or his designee shall meet with the parent and the certificated employee who recorded the information in question, if any, and if such employee is presently employed by the school district. The superintendent shall then sustain or deny the allegations.
   If the superintendent sustains any or all of the allegations, he shall order the correction or the removal and destruction of the information. However, in accordance with Section 49066, the superintendent shall not order a pupil's grade to be changed unless the teacher who determined such grade is, to the extent practicable, given an opportunity to state orally, in writing, or both, the reasons for which such grade was given and is, to the extent practicable, included in all discussions relating to the changing of such grade.
   If the superintendent denies any or all of the allegations and refuses to order the correction or the removal of the information, the parent may, within 30 days of the refusal, appeal the decision in writing to the governing board of the school district.
3. Within 30 days of receipt of such an appeal, the governing board shall, in closed session with the parent and the certificated employee who recorded the information in question, if any, and if such employee is presently employed by the school district, determine whether or not to sustain or deny the allegations. If the governing board sustains any or all of the allegations, it shall order the superintendent to immediately correct or remove and destroy the information from the written records of the pupil. However, in accordance with Section 49066, the governing board shall not order a pupil's grade to be changed unless the teacher who determined such grade is, to the extent practicable, given an opportunity to state orally, in writing, or both, the reasons for which such grade was given and is, to the extent practicable, included in all discussions relating to the changing of such grade. The decision of the governing board shall be final. Records of these administrative proceedings shall be maintained in a confidential manner and shall be destroyed one year after the decision of the governing board, unless the parent initiated legal proceedings relative to the disputed information within the prescribed period.
4. If the final decision of the governing board is unfavorable to the parent, or if the parent accepts an unfavorable decision by the district superintendent, the parent shall have the right to submit a written statement of his objections to the information. This statement shall become a part of the pupil's school record until such time as the information objected to is corrected or removed.

Right to Include Statement or Response to Disciplinary Actions

49072. Whenever there is included in any pupil record information concerning any disciplinary action taken by school district personnel in connection with the pupil, the school district maintaining such record or records shall allow the pupil's parent to include in such pupil record a written statement or response concerning the disciplinary action.

Article 5 Privacy of Pupil Records

Access to Records by Any Person with Written Parental Consent

49075. A school district may permit access to pupil records to any person for whom a parent of the pupil has executed written consent specifying the records to be released and identifying the party or class of parties to whom the records may be released. The recipient must be notified that the transmission of the information to others without the written consent of the parent is prohibited. The consent notice shall be permanently kept with the record file.

Government Code Section 14756 (of the California Codes)

Government Code Section 14756 states: The public records of any state agency may be microfilmed, electronically data imaged, or otherwise photographically reproduced and certified upon the written authorization of the head of the agency. The microfilming, electronic data imaging, or photographic reproduction shall be made in compliance with the minimum standards or guidelines, or both, as recommended by the American National Standards Institute or the Association for Information and Image Management, and as adopted by the Department of General Services in consultation with the Secretary of State, for recording of permanent records or nonpermanent records.

The certification of each reproduction or set of reproductions shall be in accordance with the standards, or have the approval, of the Attorney General. The certification shall contain a statement of the identity, description, and disposition or location of the records reproduced, the date, reason, and authorization for the reproduction, and other information that the Attorney General requires.

The certified reproductions shall be deemed to be original public records for all purposes, including introduction in courts of law and state agencies.

Child Nutrition and Food Distribution Division Office of Child Nutrition Services

Policy Memorandum No.85-306, February 1990

Policy

Effective January 1, 1990, Child Nutrition Program records shall be retained for a period of three years after the submission of the fiscal year's final Claim for Reimbursement. In cases where audit findings have not been resolved, records shall be retained beyond the three-year period until the audit issues are resolved. This policy also applies to adult day care food program sponsors.

Background

Federal regulations governing Child Nutrition Programs stipulate a three-year record retention period; however, based on requirements of the California Education Code, Section 33421, a five-year record retention period for Child Nutrition Program records has been in effect.

On July 21, 1989, Assembly Bill 1226 was signed into law as Chapter 194, Statutes of 1989, effective January 1, 1990. This legislation specifies that Child Nutrition Program records shall be retained in accordance with regulations adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture. The enactment of this legislation establishes consistency between state law and federal regulation with regards to the retention of child Nutrition Program records.