An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 14 – Pupil Records

b. Period Of Retention Permitted pupil records may be destroyed when their usefulness ceases or six months after the pupil’s completion or withdrawal from the school. 2108 B. D ESTRUCTION O F R ECORDS For student records not governed by the California regulations, private schools are free to establish their own standards. 2109 Therefore, we recommend as a best practice that private schools adopt policies regarding the retention and destruction of records. These policies should not only comply with the California regulations, but also track applicable statutes of limitations. LCW Practice Advisor Pupil records – including those maintained electronically – should not be destroyed if they are related to pending or anticipated litigation. A. T RANSFER O F P ERMANENT P UPIL R ECORDS It is clear under the law that private schools are required to transfer permanent pupil records upon the request of a public school. 2110 California statutes and regulations do not, however, explicitly address the transfer of pupil records between two private schools. While the available guidance is somewhat ambiguous, private schools likely are required to transfer pupil records to another private school. Moreover, this obligation likely applies even where a family owes outstanding tuition or fees. The reasons are based on a close reading of the applicable statutes, regulations, Constitutional provisions, and relevant public policy. The requirement to transfer a pupil’s permanent record under the Education Code and the California Code of Regulations is absolute and the record must be transferred “upon request.” The transfer must occur no more than 10 school days following the date the request is received from the public or private school where the pupil intends to enroll. If a request is made during the summer, a “school day” is considered to be a non-holiday week day. A school may not refuse to transfer the permanent pupil record because of any charges or fees owed by the pupil or his parent. 2111 This regulatory requirement applies to both public and private schools. 2112 One reason why a school should not withhold records even if parents have not fully paid tuition, and even if the pupil is transferring to another private school, is that doing so may impinge on the parents’ constitutional rights. The right of parents to send their children to a private school is a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution. 2113 Similarly, California’s compulsory education statute has been deemed constitutional since it permits parents to send their children to private schools. 2114 Section 6 H OW A ND W HEN A RE P UPIL R ECORDS T RANSFERRED ?

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 508