Adopted: 6-29-76
Revised: 9-14-05 (Approved)
The South Sanpete Board of Education is committed to see that District personnel records are managed in a confidential, efficient, and responsible manner in correlation with the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) Utah Code 63-2.
The school administration shall maintain a personnel file in the office of the Superintendent for each teacher it employs. The personnel file shall include the following sections:
1. Evaluation Section: The evaluation section shall include all complaints against and commendations of the teacher, written suggestions for corrections and improvements, and evaluation reports made by the administration.
2. Supplementary Section: The supplementary section shall include teacher certificates, health certificates, standard test scores, academic records, pre-employment references, and application forms.
Additions to the Evaluation Section
No complaint, commendation, suggestion, or evaluation may be placed in the evaluation file unless it meets the following requirements:
1. The comment is signed by the person making the complaint, commendation, suggestion, or evaluation; and
2. The Superintendent or teachers principal has notified the teacher by letter or in person that the comment is available in the Superintendent's office for inspection prior to its placement in the teacher's evaluation section.
The teacher may offer a denial or explanation of the complaint, commendation, suggestion, or evaluation, and any such denial or explanation shall become a part of the teacher's evaluation section.
General Access to the Teacher's Personnel File
Access to a teacher's personnel file may be given to the following persons without the consent of the teacher:
1. The Superintendent, the teacher's principal, the teacher's supervisor, and a school Board member if it relates to his or her duties or responsibilities as a Board member.
2. Members of a review panel if the teacher requests review by a professional review committee of the local teachers association.
No other person may have access to a teacher's personnel file except under the following circumstances:
1. When the teacher gives written consent to the release of his or her records. The written consent must specify the records to be released and to whom they are to be released. Each request for consent must be handled separately--blanket permission for release of information shall not be accepted.
2. When subpoenaed or under court order.
Teacher's access to His or Her Personnel File
A teacher may have access to his or her own personnel file at all reasonable times, i.e., during regular school hours. The right to access includes the right to make written objections to any information contained in the file. Any written objection must be signed by the teacher and it shall become part of the personnel file.
Records Management
The Superintendent shall be the records manager for teacher personnel files and shall have the overall responsibility for maintaining and preserving the confidentiality of teacher personnel files. The Superintendent may, however, designate another official to perform the duties of the records manager. The records manager is responsible for granting or denying access to records on the basis of these regulations.
Non-Teaching Personnel
The District shall maintain an individual record on non-teaching personnel. These records may contain information relating to their employment and shall be protected under the same guidelines as other records.