Management Bulletin 2018-02

Career and College Transition Division

To: Adult Education Programs funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Title II: federal grant funding and the Adult Education Program state funding

Number: 2018-02

Subject: Retention of Records

Date: October 4, 2018

Authority: California Education Code, sections 35250 et seq. and sections 49060 et seq.,
California Code of Regulations, Title 5, 430-437 and 16020-16027,
Code of Federal Regulations Title 2, sections 200.333-200.337; Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, sections 76.730 and 76.7

Attention

Local educational agencies (LEAs) (school districts, county offices of education, charter schools); Community Colleges, Community-Based-Organizations (CBO), Library Literacy Programs, and Other Non-LEA Organizations

Purpose

This Management Bulletin provides guidance, information, and directions about retention of records for local educational agencies (school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools), Community Colleges, CBOs, Library Literacy Programs, and Other Non-LEA Organizations maintaining adult classes for which they receive federal funding under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Adult Education Program state funding.

Federal Grant Requirements

All entities that are recipients of federal grant funds under the WIOA, Title II, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act— regardless of the type of entity—must comply with federal regulations governing record keeping and retention. The recipient must keep records that fully show its compliance with all of the grant’s programmatic and fiscal requirements, including records necessary to facilitate an effective audit. See Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, sections 76.730 and 76.731. Generally speaking, and subject to certain exceptions noted below, financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to the grant must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the last expenditure report for the grant period (usually June 30 of each year). See Code of Federal Regulations, Title 2, section 200.333 (hereinafter, 2 C.F.R. § 200.333).

The following are exceptions to the general “three years from final expenditure report” rule:

(1) if any litigation, claim, or audit is started before the three year period expires, then the records must be retained until all litigation, claims, or audit findings involving the records have been resolved and final action taken;

(2) if the recipient is notified in writing by the California Department of Education, United States Department of Education, or other federal agency to extend the record retention period;

(3) records regarding real property or equipment acquired in whole or in part with federal funds must be retained for three years after the recipient’s final disposition of the property, even if that final disposition occurs after submission of the final expenditure report;

(4) when a recipient is required to report program income after the grant’s period of performance, the three year retention period for records relating to such income begins running at the end of the recipient’s fiscal year in which the program income is earned. 2 C.F.R. § 200.333.

Additional State Requirements Applicable to Local Educational Agencies

In addition to the federal grant requirements discussed above, there are state laws and regulations that impose record retention requirements on local educational agencies, such as school districts.

Generally, under Education Code (EC) sections 35250 et seq. and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR) sections 16020-16027, school districts must periodically classify their “records” (defined broadly, see 5 CCR Section 16020 [definition of records]) as Class 1-Permanent, Class 2-Optional, or Class 3-Disposable, in accordance with directions found in the regulations.

Class 1-Permanent records, such as, for example, board minutes, must be retained indefinitely. 5 CCR Section 16023. Any record worthy of temporary preservation but not classified as Class 1-Permanent may be classified as Class 2-Optional and must then be retained until it is reclassified as Class 3-Disposable. 5 CCR Section 16024. All records not classified as Class 1-Permanent or Class 2-Optional are to be classified as Class 3-Disposable. 5 CCR Section 16025. A Class 3-Disposable record must be retained until at least the third July 1 succeeding the completion of the audit required by EC Section 41020 or of any other legally required audit, or after the ending date of any retention period required by any other government agency, whichever date is later. 5 CCR Section 16026.

In addition, EC sections 49060 et seq. and 5 CCR sections 430-437 impose various notice, confidentiality, retention, and destruction requirements on school districts with respect to pupil-related records. Under these rules, pupil-related records constitute either “mandatory permanent pupil records,” which schools must maintain indefinitely, “mandatory interim pupil records,” which may be adjudged to be disposable when the student leaves the district or when their usefulness ceases, or “permitted records,” which may be destroyed when their usefulness ceases. 5 CCR sections 432 and 437.

Statutory Requirement

California EC sections 35250 et seq. and sections 49060 et seq.

Regulatory Requirement

5 CCR sections 430-437 and 16020-16027
2 C.F.R. sections 200.333 – 200.337
34 C.F.R. sections 76.730 – 76.731

If you have any questions regarding this topic, please contact your assigned Regional Consultant in the Adult Education Office, Career and College Transition Division at 916-322-2175.