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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Public schools have
students’ records on fileQuestion: As the school year ends, I was wondering what happens to student records. Identity theft is a big concern and we parents do provide a lot of information. What do all the public schools do with student records -- does the Department of Education have a policy? Is it left up to each school? I hope they don't just toss everything in the trash.
Answer: School records are not just tossed into the trash.
There is a general department policy regarding school records, but we were told to contact any school principal directly to find out what happens at the end of the school year.
We spoke to Kaiser High School Principal Gayle Sugita, who said schools are required to keep transcripts indefinitely.
At Kaiser, for example, student transcripts -- which reflect test results, grades, credits and a notation whether the student graduated -- up to 1991 are on microfilm. From 1992 on, Kaiser has original transcripts at the school.
Health records, on the other hand, are returned to students. If they somehow are not picked up, they are included in the student's transcript file, Sugita said.
The state Department of Education's record-keeping is regulated by a number of state and federal laws aimed at protecting the rights and privacy of students and parents, said spokesman Greg Knudsen.
There are "many provisions in place to safeguard student records," he said.
On the state side, Title 8, Chapter 34 of Hawaii Administrative Rules, outlines "Protection of Educational Rights and Privacy of Students and Parents," much of which Knudsen said is patterned after the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
That chapter addresses "destruction of records," but mainly to say the Department of Education "may destroy or expunge any records of a student when they no longer are appropriate, relevant, or required under department rules. However, when an eligible student or parent requests access to the records, access shall be granted prior to the destruction of records."
It does not address how the records are to be destroyed.
(Chapter 34 is being revised and eventually will be renumbered as Chapter 58, according to Knudsen.)
Meanwhile, Sec. 94-3 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes deals with the "disposal of government records generally."
It requires each public officer in charge of any government records, except those of the Judiciary, to give the state comptroller a list of records for disposal. The comptroller has "full power of disposal of all records" submitted.
The comptroller "shall determine the disposition of the records; stating whether such records should be retained by the office, department, or bureau; be transferred to the public archives, the University of Hawaii, the Hawaiian Historical Society, or other agency; or be destroyed."
Auwe
To whoever stole my 1989 red Toyota in Kaimuki. I'm handicapped and that was my transportation and my independence. I hope when you get old, you experience what it's like to have your car stolen. -- D.L.
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