Personnel Records and Files
NEPN/NSBA Code: GBJ
The Yarmouth School Department shall maintain a personnel file in the office of the Superintendent for each employee. The maintenance of that file, both in terms of its content and its access by various individuals, shall be governed by the following policy.
I. CONTENTS
A. Directory Information
A record of Directory Information for each employee shall be maintained, and shall be open to inspection and copying by any person.“Directory Information”shall contain:
1. Name of employee;
2. Date(s) of employment by the school unit;
3. Regular and extracurricular duties, including all courses taught and any other responsibilities of the employee since the beginning of his/her employment by the Yarmouth School Department;
4. Post-secondary educational institutions attended by the employee;
5. Major and minor fields of study recognized by the post-secondary institutions attended; and
6. Degrees received and dates degrees were awarded.
B. Confidential Information
The following information may/shall be maintained and categorized as confidential as it pertains to an employee or an applicant for employment of the immediate family of either.
1. All information, working papers and examinations used in the examinations or evaluation of all applicants for employment;
2. Medical information of any kind, including information pertaining to the diagnosis or treatment or mental or emotional disorders;
3. Performance evaluations; personal references and other reports and evaluations reflecting on the quality or adequacy of the employee’s work or general character compiled and maintained for employment purposes;
4. Credit information;
5. Except as provided by the section on Directory Information, the personal history, general character or conduct of the employee or any member of the employee’s immediate family;
6. Except as provided by the following section on Disciplinary Action Information, complaints, charges of misconduct, replies thereto and memoranda and any other materials pertaining to disciplinary action;
7. Social Security number; and
8. Any teacher action plan and support system documents and reports maintained for certification purposes.
C. DISCIPLINARY ACTION INFORMATION
Any written record of a decision involving disciplinary action taken with respect to an employee by the Yarmouth School Committee shall NOT be included within any category of confidential information set forth in Section B.
II. PROCEDURES FOR REVIEW AND ACCESS
An employee of the Yarmouth School Department shall be entitled to review his/her personnel file as follows:
A. Employee Review
1. The Superintendent shall, upon written request from an employee or former employee, provide the employee or former employee of his/her duly authorized representative(s) with an opportunity to review his/her personnel file, (if the Superintendent has a personnel file for the former employee).
2. Reviews of personnel files shall take place at the location where the personnel files are maintained and during normal school hours.
3. For purposes of this section, a personnel file shall include, but not be limited to, the employees teacher action plan and other support system documents and reports maintained for certification purposes, formal or informal employee evaluations and reports relating to the employee’s character, credit, work habits, compensation and benefits which the Superintendent has in his/her possession. Also available for review shall be any confidential records or documents provided to the Commissioner of the Department of Education pursuant to 20-A MRSA§6101(3) if those were not simultaneously provided to the employee.
B. General Access to Personnel Files
Access to personnel files of employees of the Yarmouth School Department shall be made available to persons not described in Section A. as follows:
1. The record of directory information for each employee shall be opened to inspection and copying by any person.
2. In addition, access to a personnel file may be given to the following persons without the consent of the employee:
a. The Superintendent or his/her designee, the employee’s principal or other supervisor(s). Personnel files are not accessible to individual School Committee members.
Relevant portions of an employee’s personnel file may be summarized for the School Committee by the Superintendent when consideration is being given to performance evaluation and continuance of employment; and
b. The general public shall have access only to the Directory Information as outlined above.
3. No other person shall have access to a personnel file except under the following circumstances:
a. When employee gives written consent to the release of his/her records. The written consent must specify the record(s) 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 will not be accepted; and
b. When subpoenaed or under court order.
III. RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The Superintendent shall charge a staff member with the overall responsibility for maintaining and preserving the confidentiality of personnel files. This staff member shall be responsible for granting or denying access to records on the basis of the above guidelines.
Full and appropriate written reports are to be maintained in personnel files to document implementation of and compliance with federal and state laws and regulations and Yarmouth School Committee policies regarding evaluations of staff.
Once it is determined by established procedures of the Yarmouth School Department that a document be placed in the personnel file of any employee, that document is to remain in that file permanently.
Legal Reference: 20-A MRSA§§6101, 6102
Adopted: October 8, 1998
Revised: ________