A 7-part series presented as seven “strategies” that can be followed by any Texas School District to better manage their records in compliance with TSLAC requirements. The seven “strategies” include:
- Series Introduction & Make Sure All of Your TSLAC Documentation is Up to Date
- Identify Who Owns Responsibility for Which District Records
- Establish a Centralized Records Retention Center (RRC)
- Decide When Records Should be Processed and Moved to the RRC
- Routinely Process and Move Newly Inactive Records to the RRC
- Conduct Records Training for District Staff
- Stay Up to Date with TSLAC Changes & Series Conclusion
(Note: This series was originally published in the TASBO Report magazine and in subsequent editions in the online TASBO Business News email newsletter.)
The second Strategy for successful records management is to identify who in the District is responsible for which District records, from creation to ultimate disposition. Understanding how records are initiated and how they will be managed is key, but so is documenting that information. This includes understating things such as:
Where Does the Record Originate?
Knowing what actions or activities result in the creation of a record is important, not only for consistency in capturing every incidence of that action or activity, but also capturing complete information about each occurrence.
Who Is Responsible for Creating the Record?
Knowing what actions and activities to record is important, but it is also important to know whose responsibility it is to capture and generate the formal document to record an occurrence.
Who Will Fill a Request for an Open Records Request for the Record?
Creating and maintaining a record is essential but knowing how you will provide appropriate constituencies the appropriate access to the record is also critical. Having a clear process in place to identify the responsible party for providing access to each record will help ensure that records requests are acted upon in compliance with the law.
Have You Documented Your Process?
Once you have determined the Department and individual with primary responsibility for creating, managing, and providing access to each record, document it. This includes making sure the appropriate individuals are aware of and trained on the District’s procedures.
