Records Management
Title 6, Subtitle C, local Government Code (Local Government Records Act) provides that a school district must establish an active and continuing records management program to be administered by a Records Management Officer. In January 1991, the Andrews Independent School District Board of Trustees adopted an ordinance for the purpose of prescribing policies and procedures consistent with the Local Government Records Act.
The board of trustees appointed the Assistant Superintendent of Operations to serve as the Records Management Officer (RMO).
Definition of School District Records:
All documents, paper, letters, books, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic media, or other information recording media, regardless of whether public access to it is open or restricted under the law of the state, created or received by AISD or any other of its officers or employees pursuant to law or in the transaction of public business are hereby declared to be the records of AISD and shall be created, maintained, and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the adopted ordinance or procedures authorized by it and in no other manner.
Additional definitions:
Department Head - means the officer who is in charge of an office that creates or received records.
Essential Record - any record of AISD necessary to the resumption or continuation of operations of the AISD in an emergency or disaster, to the re-creation of the legal and financial status of AISD, or to the protection and fulfillment of obligations to the people of the state.
Permanent Record - any record of AISD for which the retention period on a records control schedule is given as permanent.
Records Control Schedule - a document prepared by or under the authority of the RMO listing the records maintained by AISD, their retention periods, and other records disposition information that the records management program may require.
Records Management - the application of management techniques to the creation, use, maintenance, preservation, and disposal of records for the purpose of reducing the cost and improving the efficiency of record keeping. The term includes the development of records control schedules, the management of filing and information retrieval systems, the protection of essential and permanent records, the economical and space-effective storage of inactive records, control over the creation and distribution of forms, reports, and correspondence, and the management of micro-graphics and electronic and other records storage systems.
Records Management Officer (RMO) - designated person in charge of records management.
Retention Period - the minimum time that must pass after the creation, recording, or receipt of a record, or the fulfillment of certain actions associated with a record, before it is eligible for destruction.
The Andrews Independent School District is currently under contract with the firm Angelo Archives & Security of San Angelo, Texas, to see that the district is in compliance with the law. Angelo Archives drafted and presented to the Texas Library Association a required Records Management Plan for the AISD. The plan was approved. Angelo Archives has in storage at their facility many of the permanent records of former students. These records can be retrieved as needed. Persons authorized to secure these records are the high school records clerk and a designated clerk in the administration office.
Angelo Archives & Security
P.O. Box 1352
San Angelo, Texas 76902
325-655-5605
AISD Archives - Documents and items of Historical Significance - The Assistant Superintendent of Operations shall monitor all items that could have historical significance for the school district or county. All files or documents should be identified and marked ARCHIVAL MATERIAL and stored in the archives storage room. Materials must be indexed. Old furniture, equipment, teaching aids, books, etc...are all considered historical items and should be preserved.
DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
Any records that are subject to destruction must be done through the RMO.