CREIGHTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 14

PERSONNEL RECORDS AND FILES

Professional employees are required to supply the District office with current and complete official transcripts of all college credits.

It is the duty and responsibility of each certified employee to keep such certification current.

The District will maintain a complete and current official personnel file for each District employee. Employees will be advised of and will be permitted to review and comment on all information of a derogatory nature to be placed in their respective personnel files. The employee may prepare a written reply to such information, and such reply, if any, will be appended to the information in the file.

Records reasonably necessary or appropriate to maintain an accurate knowledge of disciplinary actions regarding staff members and the staff members' responses will be maintained. Disciplinary action records shall be open to inspection and copying unless such inspection and disclosure of records or information in the records is contrary to law.

The District may create such subfiles within a personnel file as are appropriate to ensure confidentiality of those files made confidential by law and efficient use of the file. Access to personnel files will be limited to authorized district officials and employees who are authorized to handle personnel files. Individual Board members may only inspect confidential staff files when specifically authorized by the Board, as evidenced by the action of a quorum of the Board in a legal meeting properly noticed. Employees may review their own files by making written requests to the Superintendent. Materials obtained prior to an employee's employment, such as confidential recommendations or interview notes, will not be available for review by the employee.

Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, a school district shall not:

A. Use an individual's social security number on forms of identification.

B. Transmit to another individual material that contains both the individual's social security number and the individual's financial institution account number. This does not preclude the transmission of documents of enrollment, amendment, termination, or contracting for financial services, nor does it preclude transmitting documents confirming the accuracy of the numbers previously submitted.

The Superintendent shall prepare procedures to implement this policy and A.R.S. 44-1373, which restricts the use of personally identifiable information.

Legal References

• A.R.S. 15-302
• A.R.S. 15-502
• A.R.S. 15-537
• A.R.S. 23-926
• A.R.S. 23-1361
• A.R.S. 23-1362
• A.R.S. 38-233
• A.R.S. 39-121 et seq.
• A.R.S. 41-1482

PERSONNEL RECORDS AND FILES

Personnel Files

There shall be only one (1) official personnel file maintained by the human resources department. Any file retained by the supervisor at the employee's work location shall not be deemed "official." Each employee is responsible for providing the District with current information, such as address and telephone number. Only the following documents shall become part of the official personnel file:

A. Application materials including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Transcripts.
2. Authorization to release information.
3. Emergency notification information.
4. Background checks.

B. Employment contracts.

C. Arizona State retirement documents.

D. Certification or other licensing information.

E. Computer and network use agreement.

F. Payroll information.

G. Continuing education information.

H. Loyalty oaths as required by A.R.S. 38-231.

I. Evaluations.

J. Records of disciplinary action.

K. Other documents or materials reflecting the historical record of the employee's service, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Requests for leave of absence.
2. Letters of resignation.
3. Separation forms or letters acknowledging a change of employment status.
4. Exit interview forms.
5. Unemployment claim requests.
6. Official letters of commendation, evidence of awards, certificates, or licenses, etc.

L. Other materials required by law.

M. Any response to information in the file deemed necessary by the employee.

N. Requests to inspect the file.

Ethnic identification forms, I-9 forms supporting identification documents, and medical information shall not be part of the official personnel file and shall be maintained in separate files.

Access to Official Personnel Files

The following individuals shall have access to the official personnel files:

A. Superintendent or designee.

B. Human resources administrator(s) or designee.

C. Current or prospective principal or supervisor of the employee.

D. Site hiring committees may have access to applications, resumes, and other documents submitted by an applicant for a position. Other information contained in the personnel file may not be accessed by site hiring committees. Hiring authorities shall have an obligation to advise site hiring committees that any information provided to them in the hiring process is confidential and that site hiring committees have an obligation not to disclose any information they may receive during that process.

1. Employee or designee identified in writing.

2. Any person authorized by court order or applicable law.

Confidentiality of Personnel Files

Except for individuals entitled to access as specified above, only the following information may be released to the general public about individual employees:

A. Name. B. Work location. C. Position held. D. Dates of employment. E. Salary. F. Any other information required by applicable law. G. The public may review other documents within a personnel file only to the extent that disclosure is compelled as a public record.

Purging of Files

Information more than three (3) years old in the official personnel file and of a derogatory nature about individual employees may, at the sole discretion of the human resources administrator, be removed upon written request of the employee. Human resources shall respond to such written request within five (5) days by removing the material requested or with a written explanation of the reasons for the non-removal. If the employee is dissatisfied with the decision of the human resources administrator, the employee may invoke the provisions of Level II of the grievance procedure as outlined in the policy.

The following are some of the factors that shall be considered by the District in the exercise of its discretion as outlined above:

A. Date the incident occurred. B. Nature and seriousness of the incident. C. The overall employment history of the individual and the employment history of the employee subsequent to the incident, including whether other instances of misconduct of any kind have occurred. D. Whether a lawsuit is pending or likely and whether the statute of limitations has expired. E. Whether other legal standards or considerations apply. F. Any other factor of relevance to the decision.

Site-Based Files

Principals or supervisors may keep site-based files on their employees.

A. Employees shall have the opportunity to acknowledge by signature the placing of any derogatory information in the site-based file.

B. Access shall be as outlined above, except that site hiring committees shall not have access to site-based files.

C. Information in the site-based files may be removed at any time at the sole discretion of the principal and upon the written request of the employee. The factors outlined above shall be considered by the principal or supervisor in the exercise of discretion. The principal or supervisor shall respond to such written request within five (5) days by removing the material requests or with a written explanation of the reasons for non-removal. If the employee is dissatisfied with the decision of the principal or supervisor, the employee may invoke the provisions of Level II of the grievance procedure as outlined in the policy.

D. At the employee's request, documents reflecting the historical record of the employee's service, as described above, as well as other non-official letters of commendation, shall be included in the site-based file.

Derogatory Information

Derogatory information originating within the District that concerns an employee's conduct, such as disciplinary information and evaluations, shall not be placed in the official personnel file unless the employee has had an opportunity to first read the information.