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Special Education: Individual Student Records

School District and BOCES

Special Education: Individual Student Records
Title Major Revision Previous Schedules Schedule Item
Special education file

of student (including both school-age students and preschool children) with a disability
NOTES: This does not cover summary data found in the student's cumulative education record which are covered under item no. 948.
Records documenting students' Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) commencement credentials and Skills and Achievement Commencement Credentials for Students with Severe Disabilities are covered by item 948a in the Student Records subsection.

 2020 (♦)
 ED1 267 931

a: Student information sheet, most recent year's IEP (Individualized Education Program), evaluation record, student exit summary, and summary record (if created):
RETENTION: 6 years after student graduates/would normally have graduated from high school or 6 years after student attains age 21, whichever is shorter
NOTES: These records may be needed more than 6 years beyond the student's graduation or 21st birthday to verify previous disability, especially in connection with applications by former students for social security or other benefits. At the same time, unnecessarily long retention of these records may jeopardize the personal privacy safeguards contained in Section 300 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. School districts and BOCES should weigh these concerns carefully and consult their attorney or counsel before establishing policy concerning retention of these records beyond their legal minimum retention periods.

b: Other special education records including but not limited to attendance record, copy of high school transcript or student progress reports, referral form, individual evaluations, IEP's (except most recent), behavior intervention plan (except most recent) parent communication, agency communication, and attendance/staff reports, behavior/staff changes records, test papers, psychologists' notes and "protocols," regardless of whether or not student is declassified from special education:
RETENTION: 6 years
NOTES: Health records should be filed in the student's health record in the Health subsection.

c: Federal Medical Assistance records for Special Education and Case Management Services, including but not limited to all documentation, logs, surveys, reports, remittance statements and memoranda of advisements pursuant to the School Supportive Health Services Program (SSHSP) and the Preschool Supportive Health Services Program (PSHSP):
RETENTION: 6 years after date of payment to school district or BOCES
Records of special education "committee minutes,"

where needs of various students and their progress and problems are discussed, when significant information is transferred or posted to individual student special education records:
RETENTION: 6 years
NOTES: If significant information is not transferred or posted to the special education file for each individual student, then these records must be retained for 6 years after student graduates/would normally have graduated from high school or 6 years after student attains age 21, whichever is shorter, as per item no. 931a.
Committees covered by this item include committees on special education, committees on preschool special education, and subcommittees on special education.

 ED1 365 932
Referral service records of preschool student with a disability,

including but not limited to intake information record, record of referral for services, follow-up review record, and correspondence:
RETENTION: 6 years

 ED1 271 933
Basic record listing special education student's name, address, phone number, grades, attendance record, classes attended, grade level completed, and year completed,

created pursuant to Section 300.624(b) of 34 CFR:
RETENTION: 6 years after student graduates/would normally have graduated from high school or 6 years after student attains age 21, whichever is shorter
NOTES: This item covers the "basic record" for special education students which some schools maintain separate from the student’s "permanent record card" (see item no. 948 in the Student Records subsection). If information from this separate "basic record" is included in the student's "permanent record card",

which must be retained permanently, then the retention period for this record is 0

after no longer needed. If the student's "permanent record card" does not, however, contain any reference to specific education status, then school districts and BOCES should consider retaining this record permanently. Federal regulations permit the maintenance of a "permanent record" containing this information "without time limitation." Schools which maintain a single “permanent record” for all students, including special education students, should use item no. 948, from the Student Records subsection, to authorize records disposition.

 ED1 366 934
Basic data on any student contained in an automated special education records system,

including name, age, sex, personal identification (social security number or other number used to identify student), address, grade and/or class, type of disability, referral date, date service initiated, date of declassification, and level of service:
RETENTION: 0 after no longer needed
NOTES: School districts and BOCES should consider permanent retention of the basic data elements of these special education records systems on an annual or biannual basis, such as at the beginning and/or end of the school year. This information may be useful for long-range planning purposes, such as projecting trends in special education needs and services. Contact the State Archives for additional advice in this area.

 ED1 367 935
Documentation of regular updates made to basic data contained in special education data file,

such as covering corrections, deletions or additions to data:
RETENTION: 1 year

 ED1 376 936