- A Guide to Privacy and Access to Information in Ontario Schools
- Introduction
- Ontario’s Access and Privacy Legislation
- Collecting personal information
- Using and disclosing personal information
- Consent to collect, use and disclose personal information
- Safeguarding and retaining information
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Access to information
- How do students and parents access personal information?
- Do individuals have a right to access general records from a school board?
- Do students need to reach a certain age before they can exercise their access rights?
- How does a child’s age affect the parent’s right of access to personal information?
- Do non-custodial parents have a right to access a child’s school records?
- Correction of Personal Information
- Special Topics
- Back to Information for Individuals
Safeguarding and retaining information
How long are school boards required to keep student records?
The OSR Guideline establishes the minimum retention schedules for OSRs. The main parts of an OSR must be retained for 55 years from the date the student leaves school. Other records in the OSR including report cards and the documentation file must be retained for five years after the student leaves school.
It is a good practice for school boards to develop retention schedules for records that are not in the OSR. In doing so, school boards must be aware of the rules set out in MFIPPA, which requires personal information be retained for at least one year after use, or for a period set out in a bylaw or school board resolution, whichever is shorter.51 This requirement does not apply if the student, or their parent or guardian, in the case of a student under age 16, consents to an earlier disposal of the information, or if the information is credit or debit card payment data. This minimum retention period allows individuals to exercise their right to access and correct their records.