RETENTION NOTES: GRANT RECORDS - The 7-year retention period frequently established for records of school districts derives from federal requirements in 34 CFR 75.734, 76.734, and 80.42(a)(1) and (c) governing the retention of financial and programmatic records, including supporting documents, statistical reports, and other records pertinent to program regulations or the grant agreement relating to projects or programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education through sub grants using federal funds from the Texas Education Agency. These requirements are reiterated in the Texas Education Agency's Bulletin 679: Financial Accounting Manual.

Federal regulations require that all records of the types mentioned must be available for audit for 5 years after the date of submission of the single or last expenditure report by the Texas Education Agency as sub grantor, not by the school district. Because final expenditure reports are submitted by the Texas Education Agency after all reports from districts are received, a 7-year retention period for many records of school districts is necessary to satisfy this requirement adequately.

If an audit is pending in which an expenditure or the eligibility of a student to participate in a federal program is questioned, then all records affecting the outcome of the audit must be retained until the audit is settled.

Copies of reports or records submitted to the Texas Education Agency must be retained by school districts in accordance with this schedule.

3275-01 ATTENDANCE CONTROL DOCUMENTATION.

a) Correspondence to and from parents or guardians concerning absences and tardiness. RETENTION: 1 year

b) Correspondence with law enforcement or other agencies concerning violations of the compulsory school attendance law, including all associated documentation. RETENTION: 2 years

c) Attendance officer's logs and reports of parents or guardians visited. RETENTION: 2 years

3275-02 ATTENDANCE REPORTS.

a) Copies of attendance and enrollment reports submitted to the Texas Education Agency, including those term and period reports submitted to the superintendent by principals for the purposes of compiling state-mandated reports. RETENTION: 5 years

b) Daily Registers of Pupil Attendance (or an equivalent locally-designed record) and similar daily or periodic reports used to document the attendance and absences of students. RETENTION: 5 years

3275-03 SCHOLASTIC CENSUS RECORDS - Census cards or rolls of school age children residing in the county or district. RETENTION: Permanent, but see retention note.

RETENTION NOTE: The Local Government Records Act (Local Government Code 201.008) transferred custody of all scholastic census records still in the possession of elected county officials to the custody of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission for preservation as historical records. Some census documents, which were compiled by the office of the county superintendent of schools from 1909 through 1969, may have passed into the custody of independent school districts. These census cards must be retained PERMANENTLY, as well as those from the state-mandated enumeration, which was conducted by school districts. Although the Local Government Records Act did not automatically transfer any scholastic census records in the custody of school districts to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, districts may offer to transfer census records to the commission for preservation. Census cards or rolls compiled by school districts in 1971 and after for local administrative reasons need be retained only as long as administratively valuable and are exempt from the destruction request requirement.

3275-04 TRANSFER, APPLICATIONS FOR, AND ASSOCIATED REPORTS - Documentation concerning the transfer and enrollment of students in districts other than those in which they are resident. RETENTION: 7 years