Your Permanent Record

September 18, 2005
Section: Local News

School keep files on students
TIM BOTOS
Repository staff writer
For generations, teachers and principals have threatened and enlightened students with a simple
warning: This will be placed on your permanent record.
As in forever.
Is the existence of such a record a myth or reality?
Could that playground fight in the third grade, or gum-chewing incident the next year actually
follow us like a Scarlet Letter?
What would our parents say?
Our future employers?
What if we want to run for president?
Turns out, permanent records are for real, though theyre not as incriminating as many of you
would fear. The records are stored in file cabinets, warehouses and vaults all over Stark County. In
many instances, theyre now on microfiche or microfilm and may be moved to computer discs.
We have records that go back into the 1800s, said Richard Crawford , a Minerva High School
guidance counselor.
Minervas oldest student documents were first transferred to microfilm in the 1980s. Each
students record includes results of standardized or aptitude tests, grades in each class from
kindergarten through high school graduation, Social Security number, birth certificate copy, health
records, and instances of suspension or expulsion.
The records are pretty simple, Crawford said.
Permanent student records of more recent Minerva graduates remain on paper, not yet
converted to an easier-to-store format. Hard-copy versions are liable to also include annual photos
of the student as he or she progressed through elementary school.
The title of permanent record is kind of a misnomer, said Massillon Superintendent Al Hennon.
Its really nothing more than a kids transcript.
Most districts in the county have signed onto the Ohio auditors offices recommendation for
records retention. The 20-page document, last revised in 2002, details how long every record a
school system touches should be retained.
Student records identified as permanent are: Enrollment and withdrawal, grades, extracurricular
activities, attendance, standardized aptitude and proficiency tests, intervention, suspensions and
expulsions, foreign exchange, vocational cosmetology, psychological and individual education
plans.
Health records can be destroyed seven years after graduation. Free or reduced-price lunch
applications should be held for four years. Teachers should hang onto their grade books or similar
records for at least three years.
Discipline records with the exception of suspensions and expulsions are not permanent.
They should be held for only one year after a student graduates. That means any notes about
discipline, including letters to or from parents, for example, are purged from a permanent record.
Or at least they should be.
Stark districts that have not adopted the auditors guidelines are Canton Local, Marlington Local,
Lake Local, Massillon City, Plain Local and Sandy Valley Local.
Jim Irvin, director of pupil services for Canton City Schools, said his district is looking into
electronic storage of older student records. It takes less space and makes them easier to find. For
now though, many remain on hard copy.
Records of McKinley High School graduates are stored in the business service center warehouse
on Fifth Street SW. Records of Timken High School graduates are in a vault at Timken, similar to a
vault at Hoover High School where that district holds its permanent records.
In Canton, educators typically refer to a permanent record as a cumulative file. As in other
districts, the file (a manila folder) follows the student as he or she moves from elementary to
middle school, then high school. Ideally, Irvin said, building principals throw away unnecessary
information from the file along the way.
Typically, most requests to view a permanent record come from colleges and universities or
employers. And even they cant look at them unless you grant permission.
No one can access your permanent record, except you.

You can reach Repository writer Tim Botos at (330) 580-8333 or e-mail:
Copyright 2005, The Repository, All Rights Reserved.

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September 18, 2005

Section: Local News

No one can access your permanent record, except you.

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