Vital Records Management & Retention

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Vital Records are housed under Business Services and serve to identify, classify, store, secure, retrieve, and track all records essential to the business of the district and its operations. Ultimately, the Vital Records Department is responsible for the final destruction or archiving of records at the end of their retention schedule.

 

Vital Records also provides guidance and technical assistance necessary to departments and school employees who are charged with records coordination activities as part of their office responsibilities.

There are measurable benefits of employing a comprehensive and effective system for managing school records by:

 

  • Enabling the district to safeguard confidential and archival records and information
  • Provide cost-effective use of organizational resources
  • Promoting open and accountable management of public records

 


 

Legal Responsibility

 

RCW 40.16.020 - Injury to and Misappropriation of Record

Every officer who shall mutilate, destroy, conceal, erase, obliterate, or falsify any record or paper appertaining to the officer's office...is guilty of a class B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not more than ten years, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by both.

 

Chapter 40.14 RCW

All public records shall be and remain the property of the state of Washington. (RCW 40.14.020)

They shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall be preserved, stored, transferred, destroyed or disposed of, and otherwise managed, only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

 


 

What is a Public Record?

For the purposes of retention and destruction, two criteria: (RCW 40.14.010):

  1. Made or received in connection with the transaction of public business.
  2. Regardless of format

*For public disclosure, refer to chapter 42.56 RCW.

 


 

Public Records Requests 

(Click for further guidance)

 


 

"Born Digital" Records

 

(WAC 434-662-040)

Electronic records must be retained in electronic format...for the length of the designated retention period.  Printing and retaining a hard copy is not a substitute for the electronic version. 

 

OSD Filing and Records Coordination Defined here(RCW 40.14.010)

 


 

District Retention Schedule

(Retention Schedule)

See tabs for individual records areas within schools and for departments.  This retention schedule is not all inclusive, but focuses on the most common "bucket" retention items.  Questions about records that are not stated or records you think should be added can be sent to [email protected] for review.

 

RECORDS SCAN & TOSS LOG

 


 

Contact Information

Questions, materials requests, or requests to send boxed records to Knox for retention and/or destruction:

 

Help ticket[email protected]

David LaGarde, Vital Records Supervisor

Voice:  (360) 596-8570

 

DOCUPHASE (Formerly Treeno) New User/Change Request Form (HERE)


 

Monthly Records Management Blog

 (View Here)

 


 

Employee Records Management Documents (See Below)

The document container below contains useful technical guides and resources for employees seeking guidance on records management and retention. Resources are sorted by categories for easy access. If you do not find what you are looking for, please contact Vital Records and we will be happy to help answer your questions.

 

Note: Some files in the container are managed by secondary sources and may be updated or removed as the information changes per the State of Washington, Secretary of State, Records Retention Regulations.