The district shall organize, compile and maintain personnel records and files for each staff member of the district which shall be kept secure under the authority of the Superintendent/designee.  The contents of the personnel files shall be available to the superintendent/designee and to those staff authorized by the superintendent to organize, compile and maintain the personnel files.  Staff members who have access to the files shall be required to maintain the confidentiality of the files and their contents.  Any confidential college or university credentials or other confidential pre-employment materials received by the district shall be returned to the sender or maintained in the personnel records, such as an application file.

With prior notice to the Human Resources Department, a staff member shall be permitted, during normal district business hours, to review the contents of his/her personnel file in the presence of an authorized staff member.  Personnel files may be maintained by the district in hard copy or in an electronic format.

A staff member annually may request that the superintendent/designee review all information in the staff member’s personnel file(s) to determine if there is any irrelevant or erroneous information in the file(s), and shall remove all such information from the file(s).  If a staff member does not agree with the superintendent’s determination, the staff member may at his or her request have placed in the staff member’s personnel file a statement containing a rebuttal or correction.

Cross Reference:
Public Access to District Records - Policy 4040

Legal Reference:
Certificated employees, applicants for certificated position, not to be discriminated against—Right to inspect personnel file - RCW 28A.405.250
Certain personal and other records exempt (from public inspection) - .RCW 42.56.230(3)
Employee inspection of personnel file - RCW 49.12.240-260

Management Resources:
October 2015 - Policy & Legal News

Highline School District 401
Adopted by the Board: August 2000
Revised by the Board: 3.04, 1.16
Classification: Priority