Records
The Records Department is responsible for storing, organizing, protecting and disposing of records in a responsible manner that protects the privacy of the data.
ABOUT THE ACS RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Did you know that ACS now has an official Records Room to store a myriad of school records, some of which date back to 1883?
In 2005, the District was awarded a state grant to inventory the school records. Some records were found beneath the auditorium balcony or in the former fall-out shelter below the elementary gym. Others were found in file cabinets or boxes in other storage locations throughout the building. They are now centrally located in a refurbished storage facility in the basement of the high school. While the inventory had been completed, there was still much work to be done to organize the records that would be retained permanently and those with limited or long-term retention periods.
The District applied for and was awarded two grants in 2007 from the New York State Archives Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund.
One grant, in the amount of $30,962, was used to make some additional renovations to the Records Room including installation of glass block windows, a smoke detection system and a security system to protect vital records from theft, vandalism and fire. Additionally, uniform shelving was installed for the storage of newly reorganized and boxed records. Records management computer software helps with the retrieval of records and a heavy duty shredder is used to dispose of confidential records. The grant provided for temporary staffing to complete many of these tasks.
An Imaging and Document Management grant in the amount of $39,905 was awarded to convert the District's payroll records to digital images for ease of retrieval from a PC and to microfilm for long term storage. This was the District's first project in working toward a comprehensive Electronic Document Management System or EDMS. The grant also funded temporary staff to prepare the records prior to a vendor's work scanning the images, creating the digital media and the microfilm. Staff was also charged with verifying the quality and completeness of the digital images.
The State Education Department has outlined the amount of time certain records must be maintained in a publication called the Records Retention and Disposition Schedule ED-1 for use by School Districts. In addition to student records and the day to day financial records of the district, there is a great deal of information of historical value. Some may remember the one room school houses that dotted the town before the district was centralized. Or maybe, you remember when a good deal of the school property was farmland before the elementary school was built. There are records that document these transactions and changes.
So, if you're wondering if that note from a parent to sign out a student for the orthodontist must be saved by the district, the answer is, yes, at least for a limited time. And you might be surprised what your first grade teacher had to say about your developing personality if you were to look at your permanent record card. Akron Central School District is committed to the maintenance of the Records Room to be compliant with state regulations, but more importantly, to document the vibrant history of our school.
Records