It is the policy of the Board of Education to inform members of the public about the administration and operation of the public schools in accordance with the Freedom of Information Law of the State of New York.    

Retention and Destruction of Records

The Board hereby adopts the Records Retention and Disposition Schedule LGS-1 issued pursuant to Article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, which contains the legal minimum retention periods for district records.  In accordance with Article 57-A, the district will dispose of only those records described in the schedule after they have met the minimum retention periods set forth in the schedule.  The district will dispose of only those records that do not have sufficient administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value to merit retention beyond the established legal minimum periods.

The manner of destruction will be determined by the format of the record (i.e., paper, digital, etc.).  In addition, destruction will be appropriately documented.

Employee Notification of Disciplinary Record Requests

As required by Public Officers Law §87, the district will notify current and former employees in writing that the district has responded to a Freedom of Information Law request for their disciplinary records within 5 working days after the district provides information in response to the request.  For former employees, the district will send notification to the last known address or email address, and if current contact information cannot be found, the district will document its attempts.

For purposes of this policy, the district defines “disciplinary records” as any law enforcement disciplinary records.  

The Superintendent or designee, with assistance from the Records Management Officer, is responsible for developing and disseminating department-specific retention schedules and guidance to staff, as necessary, to ensure adherence to this policy.

Cross-ref: 5500, Student Records

8630, Computer Resources and Data Management

8635, Information and Data Privacy, Security, Breach and Notification

Ref:    Public Officers Law §84 et seq. (Freedom of Information Law)

Education Law §§2-d; 2116

          Arts and Cultural Affairs Law §57.11

Arts and Cultural Affairs Law Article 57-A (Local Government Records Law)

         Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 16, 26            

8 NYCRR §185.15 (8 NYCRR Appendix L) – Records Retention and Disposition Schedule LGS-1 for New York Local Government Records; Part 121

21 NYCRR Part 1401

NYS Department of State, Committee on Open Government, Advisory Opinions OML-AO-#19867 (9/16/24)