I am concerned because this school has no records of our kids’ attendance.
For context, my daughter should have graduated in 2020. She dropped out of school in 2019 because she was sick and nobody cared. Anyway, I got curious about their records, so I called the school the other day to obtain her records. They have no school records of her attendance there. I am now confused because I thought they had to keep them until they were requested, am I wrong?
I don’t know the exact duration but if the school is saying they don’t have them then they may have been sent to the district record-keeping facility. This is because school records are supposed to be kept indefinitely.
For instance, I am in my 40s and surprisingly I was able to get my elementary school records a few years back for a social security name change, and youth records from school are one of the easiest options to obtain for legal ID purposes.
I think you were lucky enough because sometimes they are not kept because there are no strict laws or even policies to govern the same.
I am saying all this because I have a 16yo in my custody and we couldn’t get her k-3 records in 2019, not even in an off-site storage location
Were you specific with your request? It can be a possibility that the guys were only checking graduation records.
I am also trying to understand your goal with requesting these records because it’s possible at this point for her to just get the credits needed to graduate. A GED might be a better option for her at this point.
I have worked at an elementary school. From my time experience there, files are only kept for a few years, then they are sent to the district office. Supposing that the children left for any reason. Children who transfer to more prestigious schools take their files with them.
Can you imagine the storage required for a school to keep all records indefinitely on-site?
Your school probably does not have them at the moment. Those files often get archived each year. The district office most definitely does or can point you to the appropriate contact at the state level who would have them.
Have you tried the parent portal? 2020 wasn’t long ago, you should have had online access to her account on whatever platform they used. From that platform I believe you will get her records at an instant.
If you talked with the district office, then you need to call back and request to speak to the school superintendent. After the call, follow it up with an email documenting what was said.
After that, you may merely file a FOIA request or give a lawyer a call. Call your local office of education (OR Education Service Center, depending on your location) if they are unable to provide the necessary paperwork. The more official and trouble it becomes, the more they want to make it go away. Good luck.
It sounds funny but what I should tell you is that what they should have and what they do have always differs in this fucked system. I went to get mine in my early 20s and all they had were three report cards from high school. Nothing else.
Permanent records (such as transcripts, grades, and attendance records) are often kept for at least 60 years after a student leaves the school on the other hand, temporary records are kept for at least 5 years after a student leaves.