Public Records & Retention Schedule

Public Records

The School Educational Service Center’s public records are available for public inspection and/or copying in accordance with State law.

Book

Policy Manual

Section

8000 Operations

Title

PUBLIC RECORDS

Code

po8310

Status

Active

Adopted

July 1, 2014

Last Revised

September 26, 2019

Public Records

8310

Designation of Officers

The CFO shall be the Center Records Officer (CRO)

Definitions

“Public record” includes any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, including an electronic record, created or received by or coming under the jurisdiction of the Board or its employees, which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Center.

“Public record” does not mean any of the following: medical records; documents containing genetic information; trial preparation records; confidential law enforcement investigatory records; and other records the release of which is prohibited by State or Federal law, including, but not limited to, student personally identifiable information and student directory information when the student’s parents have affirmatively withdrawn consent for release of it in writing.

“Electronic record” includes any record having been created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.

“Redaction” means obscuring or deleting any information that is exempt from public inspection or copying from an item that otherwise meets the definition of a “public record”.

Location and Time

Public records are to be available for inspection during regular business hours, with the exception of published holidays. The Center shall organize and maintain public records in a manner such that they are promptly made available for inspection or copying. “Prompt” and “reasonable” take into account the volume of records requested, the proximity of the location where the records are stored, and the necessity for any legal review of the records requested. No record shall be removed from such a location. A member of the staff must be present throughout the inspection and copying of such records.

While requests to inspect and/or obtain copies of records are best made in person, telephone and written requests are permitted.

While the Center is responsible for promptly preparing and making available public records, State law does not require the Center to provide additional information that may be related to a record but is not part of a record. In addition, the Center is not required to create a new record to respond to a public request for information if no public record is available that is responsive to the request or to respond to requests for information when the information requested is not contained in a public record.

While personnel files contain public records, some specific information and/or records contained in such files may be confidential and not subject to disclosure (see AG 8320).

Procedures

The following procedures shall be followed in connection with requests to inspect and secure copies of School Center’s public records:

Requests to inspect and/or obtain copies of public records shall be submitted to the Treasurer/CFO. A public records request must at least identify the records requested with sufficient clarity to allow the Center to identify, retrieve, and review the records. If it is not clear what records are being sought, the DRO shall contact the requester for clarification.

Individuals requesting to inspect and/or obtain copies of public records do not have to put records requests in writing and do not have to provide his/her identity or the intended use of the requested public record(s).

The Center may ask that the requester’s identity and the reason the information is sought to be in writing. The Center, however, must first inform the requester that such disclosure is not mandatory unless the request is for student directory information. The Center must also inform the requester that providing such information in writing enhances the Center’s ability to identify, locate, and/or deliver the records sought. The Center may ask that records requests be put in writing, but must also notify the requester that it is not mandatory to do so.

Each request shall be evaluated for an estimated length of time required to gather the records. Routine requests for records should be satisfied immediately if feasible to do so. Routine requests include, but are not limited to, meeting minutes (both draft and final form), budgets, salary information, forms and applications, personnel roster, etc. If fewer than twenty (20) pages of copy are requested or if the records are readily available in an electronic format that can be e-mailed or downloaded easily, these should be made as quickly as the equipment allows.

All requests for public records must either be satisfied (as above) or be acknowledged in writing by the DRO promptly following the Center’s receipt of the request. If the request for records was in writing, the acknowledgment shall also be in writing.

If a request is deemed significantly beyond “routine” (such as seeking a large volume/number of copies or requiring extensive research), the acknowledgment must include the following:

an estimated number of business days necessary to satisfy the request

an estimated cost if copies are requested

any items within the request that may be exempt from disclosure and the reason for such exemption, including legal authority

With respect to public records that are determined to be available, the CFO/Superintendent will direct the requester to the place where the requested records may be inspected and will arrange for the preparation and certification of copies upon tender of any required fee.

Any denial of public records requested must include an explanation, including legal authority. If portions of a record are public and portions are exempt, the exempt portions are to be redacted and the rest released. If there are redactions, each redaction must be accompanied by a supporting explanation, including legal authority.

With respect to records that are determined not to be available, the CFO/Superintendent will notify the requester of the same, noting the reason for unavailability on the request form if one is submitted, and return one (1) copy of the form to the requestor. The CFO/Superintendent shall also notify the requester of the estimated time necessary to process and fulfill the request, make arrangements with the requester for delivery of the requested records, and arrange a method of communication between the requester and the School Center in the event that further information is needed by the Center to fulfill the request.

Fees

Upon request, copies of public records will be provided at the actual cost of making copies:

The charge for paper copies is based on Board approved copy rates.

There is no charge for documents e-mailed.

A person who requests a copy of a public record may choose to have that record sent to him/her by United States mail or by other means of delivery or transmission provided the person making the request pays in advance for said record as well as the costs for postage and mailing supplies.

Electronic Mail

Documents in electronic mail format are records as defined by the Ohio Revised Code when their content relates to the business of the Center (i.e., they serve to document the organization, functions, policies, decision, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Center). E-mail shall be treated in the same fashion as records in other formats and shall follow the same retention schedule.

Records in private e-mail accounts are subject to disclosure if their content relates to public business, and all employees or representatives of the Center are responsible for retaining e-mails that meet the definition of public records and copying them to their District e-mail account(s) and/or to the records custodian.

The records custodian shall treat such e-mail/records from private accounts as records of the Center. These records shall be filed appropriately, retained in accordance with the established schedules, and made available for inspection and copying in accordance with the Public Records Act.

Private e-mail, electronic documents, and documents (“private records”) that do not serve to document the District’s organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities are not public records. Although private records do not fall under Policy 8315 – “Public Records” or this guideline, they may fall under Policy 8315 – “Information Management” or AG 8315 – “Litigation Hold Procedure”.

RETENTION OF RECORDS

The Center Records Commission is responsible for completing an “Application for One-time Disposal of Obsolete Records” Form RC- 1, and for developing the Center’s “Schedule of Records Retention and Disposition – Form RC-2” Both forms must be submitted to and approved by the Ohio History Connection and the State Auditor. Subsequent revisions to the RC-2 Form must also be approved using this same process.

To facilitate the development, updating and/or revision of the Schedule of Records Retention and Disposition, the Center Records Commission shall utilize the following guidelines recommended by the State Auditor’s office.

Schedule Of Records Retention And Disposition

(Please Note: The State Archives retains RC-2 forms permanently. It is strongly recommended that the Records Commission retain a permanent copy of this form.)

This schedule lists records commonly created by school centers, educational service centers, and career technical schools. The retention periods specified herein are either required by statute or have been determined by best practice. Local Records Commissions may edit retention periods based on the administrative, fiscal, legal, and historical value of the records.

The local school center, education service center, or career technical school should also notate the media type of the records on the schedule in column 4. The records can be maintained on separate formats (i.e. paper and electronic) for different amounts of time.

Permanent records existing solely in electronic format may become inaccessible through media decay and/or hardware/software obsolescence. The Ohio History Connection recommends that digital records with greater than a ten (10) year retention period also be maintained in either paper or microfilm formats.

Records may not be disposed of until all audits are released and audit discrepancies have been settled. Where a lawsuit or agency proceeding is pending, a legal hold on relevant records is required. Records shall be retained until the legal hold has been removed.

ELECTRONIC MAIL (e-mail) is a format on which records are sent, received and/or drafted using electronic mailing systems. E-mail is NOT a record series. Instead, each individual e-mail should be evaluated according to its content and retained in accordance with the record series adopted within this schedule that the content most closely fits.

Before this records retention schedule is considered in effect for a particular school center it must first be signed by a local responsible official and local records commission chair, the State Archives, and the State Auditor’s Office.

#	Description	Retention Period	Media Type	RC-3 Required by LGRP
101	Minutes	Permanent	Paper & Digital	x
103	Board Meeting Notes	One (1) year	Paper
104	Agendas	One (1) calendar year provided audited	Paper
105	Board Meeting Packets	Retain until minutes transcribed and approved	Paper
109	Board Policy Books and Other Adopted Policies	One (1) year after superseded	Digital
110	Administrative Regulations	One (1) year after superseded	Paper
113	Administration of Federal and Stated Categorical Grant Programs	Retain until completion of State Auditor’s examination report or retain for period required by grant or program, whichever is later, then destroy
114	Boundary Records	Permanent	Paper	x
116	Historical Records, Materials and Artifacts	Permanent	Paper	x
117	Monthly Administrative Reports & Supporting Documentation	One (1) calendar year	Paper
119	Records Retention and Disposition Forms	Permanent	Paper
122	Workers Compensation Claims	Ten (10) years after financial payment made	Paper & Digital
123	Bank Depository Agreements	Four (4) years after completion	Paper
126	Adopted Special Education Program	Until superseded	Paper
127	Adopted Special Programs	Until superseded	Paper
128

MEDIA TYPE DEFINITIONS:

PAPER=THESE RECORDS WILL BE SHREDDED AFTER THE IDENTIFIED RETENTION PERIOD

PAPER & DIGITAL=THESE RECORDS WILL BE MAINTAINED AS PAPER DOCUMENTS UNTIL THEY ARE SCANNED AS DIGITALIZED RECORDS. ONCE THEY ARE DIGITAL, THE PAPER RECORDS MAY BE SHREDDED. HOWEVER, SOME RECORDS MAY BE MAINTAINED AS BOTH PAPER AND DIGITAL.

Revised 4/21/16

Revised 10/9/18

Revised 4/18/19

Legal

R.C. 9.01, 102.03(B), 111.41, 111.42, 111.43, 111.46, 111.47, 111.99

R.C. 149.011, 149.41, 149.43, 1306.01, 1347 et seq., 3313.26

R.C. 3319.32, 3319.321

20 U.S.C. 1232g

42 U.S.C. 2000ff, et seq., The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

29 C.F.R. Part 1635