General information about record keeping in District 300

Many records and forms are created in the course of the educational process and in D300's administration. As the records of a public institution, D300 records are governed by federal and state laws. Federal laws (Illinois Student Records Act) protect against unauthorized access to student records and state laws (Local Records Act) regulate the retention and disposition of official records in Illinois. D300's Local Records Representative and the district’s legal department developed a record retention schedule for D300 Central Office records. This schedule identifies record series and types and gives the required retention period (how long such records must be kept) for legal, administrative, fiscal, and historical purposes.

District staff should carefully identify the appropriate series and retention period for the records in their custody. Remember, the records schedule is written as a statewide document, which may not follow local district department names or other local information. Some sections are general, such as financial records, and staff should consult the entire schedule rather than only check specific sections that apply to their activities. Any questions should be referred to Everlean Dodson, by calling x8388 or e-mailing everlean.dodson@d300.org.

Staff may keep short-term records on site and oversee their destruction at the proper time. This will reduce the documentation they need to create and will simplify the record management and destruction process. In general, records with a retention period of two years or less should be kept on site. Smaller volumes of records with longer retentions should also be retained in schools and offices.

Record identification and retention in offices

Identifying type of correspondence Official correspondence documents the major functions of the office and the important events in its history. It has a permanent retention period. Correspondence of department heads, superintendents, board members, and principals concerning major policies and functions of their offices would fall in this category. Less official correspondence and other materials should be screened from the files periodically and removed before archiving.

General correspondence is not crucial to the preservation of the history of the office. It is typically of a non-policy nature and deals with general operations (i.e., purchase orders and requisitions). This type of correspondence is kept for only two years.

New technologies and record keeping 

Records are defined by their content and type, not their medium such as paper or electronic files. Use of new technologies to create and store records does not change the requirement to maintain the records for specified retentions for legal, fiscal, administrative, and historical reasons.