3.054 - Records Retention Manual
3.054 - Records Retention Manual
3.054 - Records Retention Manual
and
COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Prepared by
CASBO Southern Section
Accounting Research and Development Committee
This report has been prepared by the Southern Section CASBO Accounting Research and Development Committee,
- - has not been reviewed for approval by State CASBO, and is not an official statement of CASBO.
Acknowledgements
We also appreciate the efforts and guidance provided by others who went before in
developing the original CASBO Records Retention Manual, and to all those who
responded to our many inquiries.
Sal Gumina ,
Sal Gumina, Chairperson,
Southern Section Accounting Research and Development Committee
El Monte City School District
Robin Chavez
Robin Chavez, Vice Chairperson
Southern Section Accounting Research and Development Committee
El Rancho Unified School District
Suggested Forms
Introduction 17
Example: Classification Statements ... 18
Example: Destruction Statements (For Board Approval) ... 19
Example: Letter (to the Governing Board) for Reclassification Request ... 20
Example: Letter (to the Governing Board) for Destruction Approval 21
Example: Letter (to the Superintendent) Witnessing Document Destruction ... 22
Example: Class 1 Records Inventory 23
Example: Class 1 Records Storage Inventory ... 24
Example: Class 2 Records Inventory ... 25
Example: Class 2 Records Storage Inventory ... 26
Example: Class 3 Records Storage Inventory ... 27
Example: Storage Label 28
Example: Storage Label ... 29
The subject of records is very broad and includes several functions. Records Retention is
the holding (period) of records/documents for further use. A record may be any document
containing information. Records Management is a broader concept and fixes
responsibility for and exercises controls over all records/documents, within an
organization, from their creation to their final disposition. Records Storage is a function
of Records Management, addressing the retention of original records or copies (whether
photographed, micro-photographed, or other-
wise reproduced on film or electronic media); and the development of a systematized
storage plan and indexing with respect to preservation, easy retrieval for later use, or final
destruction and disposal.
This Manual is intended for Records Retention purposes only. While suggested
procedures and sample forms have been included, this publication is not intended as a
Records Management manual. The development of detailed procedures for Records
Management must be left to
individual districts to meet their own specific needs.
The Records Retention Manual is designed as a quick reference to the retention period of
documents. While the lists of documents may not be totally inclusive, most documents
used in school districts are represented. Various documents may appear in more than one
area of
responsibility. Old documents, no longer required, remain listed because they must still
be
maintained. The retention periods indicated are to assist district personnel in both the
retention of permanent records and the timely destruction of documents.
Disclaimer
The contents of this manual are appropriate as of the time of publishing the manual. Future
administrative decisions, regulations, or legislative action could result in major changes.
CASBO is not responsible for any legal conflicts resulting from the use of this manual.
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 is a continuing record until the pupil ceases to be
enrolled in the district. It is then classified as a Class 1- Permanent Record.
While the required retention period for some records is dependent upon the date of the
applicable audit, varying audit practices of federal, state, and other agencies must also be
considered.
Before January 1, the superintendent (or a person designated by the district not
employing a superintendent) shall classify and review every record originating during the
prior school fiscal year. The retention period for Class 3 records should be designated
and such records should be physically segregated by the fiscal year in which they are
scheduled for destruction. In the inventory process, those carbons or other copies which
are no longer useful to the district (except one copy of an original required by law to be
filed with another agency) may be destroyed without making an inventory record.
Destruction of Records - All Class 3 records which have been held for the required
retention periods and any permanent records which have been classified as Class 3 after
having been duly microfilmed and held for the required retention period may be destroyed
as per Title 5, Sections 16026 - 16027 of the California Code of Regulations.
The governing board should be notified of pending action to dispose of records and such
notification be recorded in the board minutes. Notification should also be given to the
governing board attesting to the fact that the documents had been properly destroyed.
Examples of various statements, letters, records inventories, and storage labels appear on
the following pages. They are not intended as official forms that must be used but are
simply provided to assist you in the task of records retention/destruction.
Class 1
The documents on the attached list are permanent records originating in the school year
__/__. The Superintendent requests that these records be classified as Class 1 records.
Class 2
The documents on the attached list are disposable records originating in the school year
__/__. These records require a retention period longer than three (3) years and the
Superintendent requests that these records be classified as Class 2 records.
Class 3
The documents on the attached list are disposable records originating in the school year
__/__. The Superintendent requests that these records be classified as Class 3 records.
Class 2
The documents on the attached list have been previously classified as Class 2 records.
The Superintendent requests that these records be reclassified as Class 3 records.
These records have met the retention period requirements of Article 2, Sections 16023
through 16028 of Title 5, California Code of Regulations, and are of no further use to the
district. The Superintendent requests permission to destroy the documents listed above.
Class 3
The documents on the attached list have been previously classified as Class 3 records.
These records have been retained for the legal period of time as per Article 2, Sections
16023 through 16028, of Title 5, California Code of Regulations. There is no further need
to retain these records for use in the district. The Superintendent requests permission to
destroy the documents listed above.
Date
Governing Board
District
California
Gentlemen:
These records have met the retention period requirements of Article 2, Sections 16023
through 16028 of Title 5, California Code of Regulations, and are of no further use to the
district.
Records Officer
Date: _______________
Disposition:
Date
Governing Board
District
California
Gentlemen:
The attached list of documents is considered Class 3. These records have been
retained for the legal period of time as per Article 2, Sections 16023 through 16028, of
Article 5, California Code of Regulations.
This list also contains Class 1 documents that have been microfilmed, and Class 2
documents that have been reclassified to Class 3 per letter to the Board of Trustees, dated
.
There is no further need to retain these records for use in the district. The
Superintendent requests permission to destroy the documents listed.
Records Officer
Date:
Disposition:
Destruction
Date
Superintendent
District
California 00000
Dear Sir:
Class 1 Records
Department Fiscal Year of Origin
Class 1 Records
Department Fiscal Year of Origin
Class 2 Records
Department Fiscal Year of Origin
For Classification
OSHA Records
Class 2 Records
Department Fiscal Year of Origin
For Classification
Class 2 Records
Department Fiscal Year of Origin
For Classification
School or Department
Contents:
Microfilmed: Yes No
Date:
Box of
Carton Contents
DEPARTMENT:
DIVISION:
Destruction Data
Box of
Introduction
This section of the Manual has been designed to be distributed to the appropriate depart-
ments. It is suggested that a copy of the Legal Provisions beginning on page 121
accompany each section distributed.
Various documents may appear in more than one area of responsibility. Old documents,
no longer required, remain listed because they still must be maintained. This manual
update reflects new additional documents as well as all the previous ones.
In some instances the documents listed have retained the same title but have a new
document number. The new number appears in the far left column and the old number is
printed, just below it, in parenthesis.
To assist the reader in understanding the Column Headings on the subsequent pages, the
following explanations are provided:
Form No. (if any) - If the document or form has a number, the number will be listed in
the far left column for each document. If there is no form or document number, the space
will be blank.
Record Title - The title or heading on the document or form is listed in this column.
Required Hard Copy Retention Period - The required legal retention period as
found in Title 5, the Education Code, Civil Code, etc. (refer to the Table of References) is
listed in this column. If other characters appear, refer to the footnote.
If Filmed - If the documents have been filmed or copied, the legal retention of the
original document is 4 years and the copy must be retained permanently. If dashes ()
appear in the column it refers to the footnote "Feasibility to Microfilm or copy
electronically at District Discretion". The usual rule of thumb is if a document must be
retained from 15 to 20 years it may be considered appropriate to microfilm or otherwise
copy it.
Footnotes are provided at the bottom of each page to assist in the understanding of the
information.
(a) 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
(a) 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
(b) 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 pupils cumulative record, if not transferred, is a continuing record
until the pupil cease to be enrolled in the district.
(e) 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.
(f) The microfilm copy was placed in a conveniently accessible file, and provision was made
for preserving permanently, examining and using the same.
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).
(a) 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:
(A) Those containing information relating to property, activities, financial
condition, or transactions.
(B) Those declared by board minutes to be permanent
(b) 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 agencys action with
respect to district reorganization.
(c) Personnel Records
(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 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.
(B) 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:
(a) 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.
Records Retention Manual 117
Title 5 California Code of Regulations (K-12) ... continued
(b) Periodic Reports, including daily, weekly, and monthly reports, bulletins and
instructions.
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.
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).
(a) For purposes of this subchapter, "records" means all records, maps, books, papers, data processing
output, and electronic documents that a Community College district is required by law to prepare or
retain by law or official duty. "Records" includes "student records" as defined in section 76210 of
the Education Code.
(b) The following documents are not "records" and may be destroyed at any time:
(1) Additional copies of documents beyond the original or one copy. (A person receiving a
duplicated copy need not retain it.)
(2) Correspondence between district employees that does not pertain to personnel matters or
constitute a student record.
(4) Textbooks used for instruction, and other instructional materials, including library
books, pamphlets and magazines.
The provisions of this chapter apply only in the event that the destruction or retention of records by
the district is not otherwise authorized or provided for by law.
(a) The governing board of each Community College district shall establish an annual procedure by
which the chief executive officer, or other designee shall review documents and papers received or
produced during the prior academic year and classify them as Class 1-Permanent, Class 2-Optional,
or Class 3- Disposable.
(b) All records not classified prior to July 1, 1976, are subject to the same review and classification
as in (a). If such records are three or more years old and classified as Class 3-Disposable, they may
be destroyed without further delay, but in accordance with article 3.
(c) Records originating during a current academic year shall not be classified during that year.
(d) 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.
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 copied or reproduced in accordance with Subsection (e) of Section
59022.
(a) The following annual reports:
(1) official budget;
(2) financial report of all funds, including cafeteria and
student body funds;
(3) audit of all funds;
(4) full-time equivalent student, 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.
Records Retention Manual 120
Title 5 California Code Of Regulations (C.C.) continued
(b) The following official actions:
(c) The following personnel records of employees. All detail records relating to employment,
assignment, employee evaluations, 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.
(E) entering and leaving date for each academic year and
for any summer session or other extra session;
(e) 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:
Any record worthy of further 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 chief executive officer, or other designee, determines that classification should not be made by
the time specified in section 59022, all records of the prior year may be classified as Class 2-
Optional, pending further review and classification within one year.
All records, other than Continuing 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:
(a) records basic to audit, including those relating to attendance, full-time equivalent student, or a
business or financial transaction (purchase orders, invoices, warrants, ledger sheets, canceled
checks and stubs, student body and cafeteria fund records, etc.), and detail records used in the
preparation of any other report; and
(b) periodic reports, such as daily, weekly, and monthly reports, bulletins, and instructions.
Records Retention Manual 122
Title 5 California Code Of Regulations (C.C.) continued
(a) Generally, a Class 3-Disposable record, unless otherwise specified in this Subchapter, should be
destroyed during the third college year after the college year in which it originated (e.g., 1993-94
plus 3 = 1996-97). Federal programs, including various student aid programs, may require longer
retention periods and such program requirements shall take precedence over the requirements
contained herein.
(b) With respect to records basic to an audit, 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 84040 or of any other legally required audit, or that period specified by Section 59118, or
after the ending date of any retention period required by any agency other than the State of
California, whichever date is later.
(c) With respect to continuing records, a continuing record shall not be destroyed until the third
year after it has been classified as Class 3- Disposable.
(a) The chief administrative officer, or the designee of that officer, shall:
(b) The chief administrative officer or designee shall submit to the governing board a list of records
recommended for destruction, and shall certify that no records are included in the list in conflict
with these regulations.
(c) Order by action recorded in the minutes (with lists attached) the destruction of records in
accordance with these regulations.
Upon the order of the governing board that specified records shall be destroyed, such records shall
be permanently destroyed by such foolproof methods as shredding, burning, or pulping; and such
destruction shall be supervised by the chief executive officer or other designee.
Whenever in any college year the community college register of any instructor, or other records of
any district are destroyed by conflagration or public calamity, preventing the instructor and college
officers from making their annual reports in the usual manner and with accuracy, affidavits of the
instructor, the president, or other officers of the district, certifying as to the contents of the
destroyed register or other records, shall be accepted by all college authorities for all purposes
pertaining to the district, except that of calculations of full-time equivalent students (FTES).
Section 59031. Full-time Equivalent Student Records Where Area Hit by Calamity.
Whenever the full-time equivalent student of a community college district has been materially
affected in any college year by conflagration, public calamity, or epidemic of unusual duration and
prevalence, the regular annual reports of the instructor, the president, or officers of the district, shall
be accepted by all
Records Retention Manual 124
Title 5 California Code Of Regulations (C.C.) continued
Note: Authority cited: Sections 66700 and 70901,
Education Code. Reference: Section 70901, Education
Code.
Whenever any attendance records have been lost or destroyed by conflagration or public calamity,
attendance accounting related to such records shall be made in accordance with section 58031.
If the chief administrative officer or his designee sustains any or all of the
allegations, he shall order the correction or removal and destruction of the information.
If the chief administrative officer or his designee denies any or all of the
allegations and refuses to order the correction or removal of the information, the student
may, within 30 days of the refusal, appeal the decision in writing to the governing board
of the community college district.
(c) Within 30 days of receipt of such an appeal, the governing board shall, in
closed session with the student and the certificated employee who recorded the
information in question, if any, and if such employee is presently employed by the
community college district, determine whether to sustain or deny the allegations.
If the governing board sustains any or all of the allegations, it shall order the
chief administrative officer or his designee to immediately correct or remove and destroy
the information.
The decision of the governing board shall be final.
Records of these administrative proceeding shall be maintained in a confidential
manner and shall be destroyed one year after the decision of the governing board, unless
the student initiates legal proceedings relative to the disputed information within the
prescribed period.
(d) If the final decision of the governing board is unfavorable to the student, or
if the student accepts an unfavorable decision by the chief administrative officer, the
student shall have the right to submit a written statement of his objections to the
information. This statement shall become a part of the student's record until such time as
the information objected to is corrected or removed.
The certified reproductions shall be deemed to be original public records for all
purposes, including introduction in courts of law and state agencies.
Background
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.
Child Nutrition and Food Distribution Division Office of Child Nutrition Services,
Policy Memorandum
Commercial Code
Government Code