How long should a school keep its paper/electronic records?
• There is no simple answer to this question. Each organization should establish records retention and disposition schedules or a retention bylaw for its records, including electronic and transitory records. • A records retention and disposition schedule is a document that identifies and describes records, and indicates the length of time they shall be retained as active before transfer to semi-active storage; the length of time they should be retained as semi-active prior to final disposition; and the final disposition of the records. • The FOIP Act allows the destruction of records in accordance with your records retention bylaw. If a school does not have such a bylaw, the Act allows destruction as authorized by the board (section 3(e)(ii)). • Under section 53(1)(a), the Commissioner has the power to conduct an investigation into how a school is managing its records. Specifically, the Commissioner can check to make sure that a school is following any bylaw it has regarding the destru
