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California School District Records

A practical guide for employees who create, receive, store, share, or dispose of district information.

The rule to remember

Do not delete, shred, overwrite, or move district records into a personal account unless the district’s approved retention process authorizes the action and no hold, audit, request, investigation, claim, grant condition, or longer retention requirement applies.

What employees are responsible for

Employees generally should not invent legal retention periods. They should:

  • Recognize district records in every format.
  • Store official records in approved district systems.
  • Use the adopted classification and retention schedule.
  • Protect confidential and restricted information.
  • Pause routine destruction when a hold or request applies.
  • Ask the records custodian when uncertain.

1. What counts as a district record?

A record is information created, received, used, or maintained while conducting district business. Its format and location do not decide whether it is a record.

Common examples

  • Email, attachments, texts, and work chats
  • Student information, IEPs, assessments, service logs, and notices
  • Personnel, payroll, budgets, invoices, contracts, and grants
  • Board agendas, minutes, policies, and resolutions
  • Photos, video, audio, maps, and security footage
  • Paper files, databases, cloud documents, and metadata

Location does not change the rule

District business may remain a district record on a personal phone, personal email account, messaging platform, shared drive, or vendor system.

Use approved district accounts. If work is created elsewhere, follow local procedures to preserve and transfer it.

Convenience copies are different from official records. A duplicate may be disposable after it is no longer useful—but only after confirming the official copy exists in the approved repository and no hold applies.

2. California’s three record classes

Education Code sections 35250 and following and Title 5, California Code of Regulations, sections 16020–16027 establish the general district classification framework.

Class 1—Permanent

Records retained indefinitely, including specified reports, budgets, audits, board actions, personnel information, pupil enrollment and scholarship records, and property records.

Action: File the official copy in its permanent repository.

Class 2—Optional

Records worthy of temporary preservation but not classified as permanent. They remain Class 2 until formally reclassified as Class 3.

Action: Retain until the authorized process says otherwise.

Class 3—Disposable

Records not classified as Class 1 or Class 2. “Disposable” means eligible after applicable requirements—not “delete now.”

Action: Destroy only through the authorized process.

Class 3 timing is not simply “three years from creation”

Title 5 section 16026 generally prevents destruction until after the third July 1 following completion of the legally required audit—or the end of another government agency’s required retention period, whichever is later. Continuing records have an additional rule, and section 16027 supplies a general third-school-year rule when the chapter does not specify otherwise.

3. The employee workflow

  1. Identify the record. What activity, student, employee, program, grant, contract, or decision does it document?
  2. Identify the official copy. Determine which office and system own it; avoid unnecessary duplicates.
  3. Classify it. Use the district schedule, record series, and California classification rules.
  4. Check for a longer rule. Grants, audits, contracts, pupil records, special education, employment, claims, and other programs may extend retention.
  5. Check for a hold or request. Do not destroy potentially responsive information.
  6. Store and protect it. Follow the approved repository, naming, access, and backup procedures.
  7. Dispose only when authorized. Use secure, documented destruction after every controlling period ends.

When rules appear to conflict: preserve the record and ask. Follow the longest potentially applicable period until the records custodian or authorized legal counsel resolves the issue.

4. Records needing extra care

  • Pupil records

    Title 5 sections 432 and 437 distinguish mandatory permanent, mandatory interim, and permitted pupil records.

    • Mandatory permanent records are preserved in perpetuity.
    • Mandatory interim records may become disposable after the pupil leaves or their usefulness ends, subject to transfer and destruction rules.
    • Permitted records may be destroyed after usefulness ends, but not earlier than six months after completion or withdrawal from the educational program.

    Education Code section 49068 generally requires transfer of the permanent record or a copy within 10 schooldays after the new school’s request.

  • FERPA-protected education records

    FERPA governs privacy, access, and disclosure; it does not establish one universal retention period for ordinary education records. A school may not destroy records while a parent’s or eligible student’s inspection request is outstanding.

  • Special education records

    Do not apply a blanket “five-year” rule. IDEA requires the agency to notify parents when PII collected, maintained, or used under IDEA is no longer needed to provide services. It must be destroyed at the parent’s request, subject to specified permanent basic information and other applicable requirements. Route requests to the special education and records offices.

  • Federal grant and fiscal records

    The general framework in 2 CFR section 200.334 is commonly measured from submission of the final financial report, with important exceptions for litigation, claims, audits, notices extending retention, property, and other circumstances. Award terms or state rules may be longer.

  • California public records

    The California Public Records Act is codified at Government Code section 7920.000 and following. Send requests immediately to the district coordinator. Do not independently decide whether a record is public, exempt, confidential, or ready for destruction.

  • Electronic systems and vendors

    Cloud storage does not transfer the district’s responsibility. Contracts and configurations should address ownership, access, export, preservation, security, return, deletion, and usable metadata. Confirm export before replacing a system or ending a contract.

5. When routine destruction must stop

A preservation hold can cover paper, email, chats, drafts, calendars, databases, recordings, personal devices used for district business, and vendor-held information—even after the normal retention period has expired.

Stop and contact the designated office after receiving:

  • A litigation hold or preservation notice
  • A subpoena, court order, or attorney request
  • A public-records or pupil-record request
  • An audit or monitoring notice
  • A discrimination, employment, safety, or misconduct complaint
  • A claim, accident report, or potential-litigation notice
  • A law-enforcement or regulatory inquiry
  • Another formal preservation instruction

Preserve relevant versions and metadata. Do not rename, edit, “clean up,” move, or delete information unless the hold instructions expressly permit it.

6. Secure and documented destruction

Expiration of a retention period makes a record eligible for review; it does not automatically authorize destruction.

Before destruction

  • Confirm the record series and official copy.
  • Confirm the cutoff date.
  • Apply the longest relevant period.
  • Check every hold and request.
  • Obtain required authorization.

During and after

  • Use approved secure destruction.
  • Include copies, exports, and vendor versions as directed.
  • Protect information during disposal.
  • Document what, when, why, and by whom.
  • Retain the authorization or certificate.

7. New-employee checklist

  • I know my department’s records contact.
  • I can find the current retention schedule.
  • I know which system holds the official copy of my work.
  • I use district accounts for district business.
  • I know how to route public-records and pupil-record requests.
  • I understand how holds are communicated.
  • I know where confidential paper records belong.
  • I know how authorized destruction is requested and documented.
  • I will ask before deleting anything I cannot classify confidently.

8. Quick answers

9. Official sources

Important: This is a general training aid—not a complete retention schedule or legal opinion. The adopted schedule, current law, award terms, contracts, audit requirements, holds, and authorized district instructions control. Reviewed August 2, 2026.