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III. H. Personnel Records
All teacher files shall be maintained by the central administration under the following conditions:
1. No material, be it confidential, nonconfidential or nonprivileged material, complimentary or derogatory to shall be placed in a teacher's file unless the teacher is notified that such material has been or may be included in his or her file. Upon request by either a teacher or the superintendent, a teacher shall be given an opportunity to read such material and may acknowledge that he or she has read such material by affixing his or her signature on the copy to be filed. Such signature merely signifies that he or she has read the material to be filed; it does not indicate agreement with its content.
2. A teacher shall have the right to comment upon any material filed and his or her comment shall be reviewed by the Superintendent of Schools and attached to the file copy.
3. Upon request by a teacher, he or she shall be given access to his or her file for good cause within a reasonable time, and, in any case, at least once a year in addition to any request made pursuant to Section 1 above. Confidential and privileged information, such as credentials, letters of reference from universities, individuals, or previous employers are exempted from such review. The superintendent shall remove such confidential and privileged material from the file prior to a review of the file by a teacher. Unsolicited derogatory material coming to the School Committee or Superintendent of schools shall not be regarded as privileged.
4. A teacher shall be permitted to reproduce material in his/ her file other than confidential or privileged material, provided that such reproduction is without cost to the committee.
5. Teachers shall keep their files up to date on forms supplied by the administration concerning names (beneficiaries, persons to be notified in case of emergency, dependents, etc.) addresses, telephone numbers, marital status, higher education related to professional advancement, health and medical status, pregnancy, and other matters required for good cause in personnel administration.
6. File copies shall not be removed from the offices of the School Administration.
7. A representative of the School Administration shall be present at any inspection or reproduction of a teacher's file.
8. The Administration shall provide a facility by which teachers may reproduce material in their files at cost.
Policy adopted: 4/23/81